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Secure unused safety be lts on the rear seat
¢ page
171 .
Children up to about 40 lbs. (18 kg) are bes t
protected in child safety seats designed for
their age and weight . Experts say that the
skeleta l structure, particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
must not use the vehicle safety belts without
a suitable ch ild restra int.
It is usually best to put these children in ap-
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
chi ld and reposition both the lap and shou lder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child's body in the right places. The
routing of the be lt over the child's body is very
important for the ch ild's protection, whether
or not a booste r seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft .
9 in. (57 in-
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's th ree po int lap and shoulder belts .
Never use the lap belt portion of the veh icle's
safety be lt a lone to restrain any child, regard-
less of how big the child is. Always remembe r
that children do not have the pronounced pe l-
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder be lts. The child's safety ab-
solutely requ ires that a lap be lt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
be lt portion of the safety belt pass over the
chi ld's stomach or abdomen.
In a cras h, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with cons iderable force. In orde r
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air-
bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of pos ition and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
inflat ing a irbag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she w ill be str uck violen tl y and
Child Sa f et y
17 5
will receive serious or possib ly even fatal in-
jury .
In orde r fo r the airbag to offer pro t ection, it is
important t ha t a ll veh icle occupants, espec ial-
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible. By keeping room between
the child's body and the front of the passen-
ger compartment,
the a irbag can inflate com -
pletely and provide supplemental
protection
in certain frontal collisions .
_&.
WARNING
Not using a booste r seat, using the boos-
ter seat imp roperly, incorrec t ly installing a
boos t er sea t or using the vehicle safety
belt imp roperly increases the risk of seri-
ous persona l injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situat ion. To he lp re-
d uce the risk of serio us personal injury
and/or death:
- The shou lder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possi-
ble and must lie f lat and snug on the up-
per body. It must never lie across the
throat or neck. The lap belt must lie
across the pelvis and neve r across t he
st omach o r abdomen. Make sure the belt
lies flat and snug. Pull on t he belt t o
tighten if necessary.
- Failure t o properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause seve re inju-
ries in an accident or othe r emergency
situation ¢page 137 .
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be pos itioned as close as possib le
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad-
just or remove the rear seat head re-
straint if it is diffic ult to install the ch ild
seat with the head restraint in p lace
¢
page
61. Install the head restraint
aga in immediately once the ch ild seat is
removed . Driving without head restraints
or w ith head restra int s tha t are not prop-
erly adju sted increases the risk of serious
.
or fatal neck injury drama t ically.
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