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Child Safety
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Children up to about 40 lbs (18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats des ig ned fo r their age and we ight . Exper t s say t hat the skel -
etal structure, particularly the pelv is, of these children is not fu lly
devel o ped, and t hey shou ld not use the vehicle safet y belt s
=> fig.
108.
Childre n who weigh more than 40 lbs. (18 kg) may genera lly use the
avail able t hree poi nt com bin ation lap and sho u lde r b elts w hen the y
sit on an app rop riate booster seat. Be sure the booster seat meets
all app licab le safet y st a ndard s.
Booster seats raise th e seating position of t he child and reposit ion
both t he lap and sho ulde r part s of th e safety belt so t hat t hey pass
across the chi ld 's body i n t he r igh t places. The rou ting of the belt
over t he ch ild 's body is very impo rtant fo r the chi ld 's p rotec ti on.
This appli es when ever a chi ld uses th e vehi cle's safet y belts, even
when the child is b ig enough to use them witho ut a booster seat.
In a crash, airb ags must infl at e with in a blink of an ey e and w ith
considerab le force . In order to do its job, the airbag needs room to
i nfl at e so t hat it wil l be t here to pr ot ect th e occupant as t he occu-
pant moves forward into the air bag .
A vehicle occupant including a chi ld who is o ut of position and too
close to t he airbag get s in t he way of an i nfl at ing airbag. When an
occupant is too close, he or she wi ll be struck violently and w ill
receive seri ous o r possibl y even f at al inj ury.
In ord er fo r t he air bag to offe r protection, it is impo rtant that all
ve hicl e o ccu pant s, especia lly any ch ildr en, w ho mu st be in th e fr ont
seat in except io nal ci rcumstanc es, be pro per ly restra ined and as far
away from t he airbag as possible . By keeping room between the
chi ld's or oth er occ up ant's body and th e fr o nt of the p assen ger
compa rtment, the air bag can infl ate fu lly and comp lete ly and
prov ide su pp lement al protecti on in cert ain fr o ntal crashes.
&
WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the booster seat improperly, incor-
rectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety belt
Safety first
&,
WARNING (continued)
improperly increases the risk of serious personal injury and death
in a collision or other emergency situation. To help reduce the risk
of serious personal injury and/ or death :
•
Always make sure to position the shoulder portion of the three -
point belt over the middle of child's shoulder.
•
Never let the shoulder portion of the belt rest against or across
the neck, face, chin, or throat of the child .
•
Always make sure the lap belt portion of the three-point belt is
worn snug and passes as low as possible across the child's pelvis.
Never let the belt pass over the soft abdomen.
•
Failure to properly route safety belts over a child's body will
cause severe injur ies in an accident or other emergency situation
=>
page 118.
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Children on the front seat of any car, even with Advanced
Airbags, can be seriously injured or even killed when an airbag
inflates. A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on
the front passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be killed
if the front airbag inflates .
•
Never let a child stand or kneel on any seat, for example the
front seat.
•
Never let a child ride in the cargo area of your vehicle.
•
Always remember that a child leaning forward , sitting side-
ways or out of position in any way during an accident can be
struck by a deploying airbag. This will result in serious personal
injury or death .
•
If you must install a rearward facing child safety seat on the
front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must come on and stay on, when-
ever the ignition is switched on.
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If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay
on, perform the checks described => page 138, "Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System ".
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