Safety Restraints For Children; Important Child Restraint Precautions - Ford Econoline 2008 Owner's Manual

SAFETY RESTRAINTS FOR CHILDREN

See the following sections for directions on how to properly use safety
restraints for children. Also see Airbag supplemental restraint system
(SRS) in this chapter for special instructions about using airbags.

Important child restraint precautions

You are required by law to use safety restraints for children in the U.S.
and Canada. If small children (generally children who are four years old
or younger and who weigh 40 lb [18 kg] or less) ride in your vehicle, you
must put them in safety seats made especially for children. Many states
require that children use approved booster seats until they are eight
years old. Check your local and state or provincial laws for specific
requirements regarding the safety of children in your vehicle. When
possible, always place children under age 12 in the rear seat of your
vehicle. Accident statistics suggest that children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating position.
WARNING: Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a collision.
Always follow the instructions and warnings that come with any infant or
child restraint you might use.
Ford recommends using child safety seats equipped with LATCH
attachments, attached to LATCH anchors and tether anchors. Some child
seat manufacturers sell LATCH accessory belts that attach child seats
that are not equipped with LATCH attachments onto LATCH anchors.
See Attaching child safety seats with LATCH attachments for child
seat anchors in this section for seating positions with LATCH anchors.
If you install a forward-facing child safety seat using the vehicle safety
belts:
• use only seats equipped with lap-shoulder belts;
• Ford recommends placing forward-facing safety seats in the 2nd row
and using top tether straps for added protection.
For more information on top tether straps, see Attaching child safety
seats with tether straps in this section.
Any booster seat that places the vehicle's lap belt or shoulder belt
around a shield above and ahead of the child's hips should not be used in
this vehicle.
2008 Econoline (eco)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA (fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
97