176 Ch ild Saf e ty
seat. The weight of a child restraint and its
"footprint" vary for different kinds of chi ld re-
straints and for the d ifferent models of the
same kind of child restraint offered by child
restra int manufacturers .
The weight ranges for the individual types,
makes and mode ls of ch ild restra ints that the
NHTSA has specified in the Safety Standard
together with the we ight ranges of typical in-
fants and typical 1 year-old child have been
stored in the control unit of the Advanced Air-
bag System. When a ch ild restrai nt is being
used on the front passenger seat with a typi -
cal 1 yea r-old ch ild, the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem compares the we ight measured by the
weight sensing mat with the information stor-
ed in the electronic contro l unit.
The ele ctron ic cont rol unit also registers the
tension on the front passenge r safety belt.
The tension on the safety be lt fo r the front
passenger seat will be different for an ad ult
who is properly using the safety belt as com-
pared to the tension on the be lt when it is
used to attach a child restraint to the seat.
The sensor below the latch for the safety belt
for the front seat passenger measu res the
tension on the be lt . The input from this sen-
sor is then used with the we ight to "dec ide",
whe t her there is a ch ild restraint with a typ ical
1 year-o ld child on the front passenger seat
and whether or not the airbag must be turned
off.
Child restraints and Advanced Airbags
Regardless of the child restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards a nd has been certified by its manu-
facture r fo r use with an airbag . Always be sure
that t he ch ild res t raint is prope rly insta lled at
one of t he rear seat ing pos itions . If in excep-
tional circumstances you must use it on the
front passenger seat, caref ully read all of the
info rmation on child safety and Advanced Air-
bags and heed a ll of the applicable WARN-
INGS. Make certain that the child restraint is
correctly recognized by the weig ht-sensing
mat inside the front passenger seat, that the
front passenger airbag is turned off and that
the a irbag stat us is a lways cor rect ly signa led
by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Many types and models of child res t raints
have been available over the years, new mod-
els are introduced regu larly incorporating new
and improved des igns and older models are
taken out of product ion. Child restraints are
not standard ized . Child restraints of the same
type typically have d ifferent weights and sizes
and different 'footpr ints,' the size and shape
of the bo ttom of t he ch ild restra int t hat sits
on t he seat, when they a re inst all ed on a vehi-
cle sea t . These differences make it virtually
impossible to certify compliance with the re-
quirements for advanced airbags with eac h
and every ch ild restra int that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of your veh icle.
For t his reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Adm inistrat ion has
published a list of spec ific type, makes and
models of child restraints that mus t be used
to certify comp liance of the Advanced Airbag
System in your veh icle with t he suppression
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd 208. These chi ld restraints are :
Subpart A - Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Angel Guard Angel September 2 5, 200 7
Ride AA2403FOF
Subpart B - Rear-facing child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century Smart Fit Decembe r 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 25, 2007
22-013PAW and base
22-999WHO
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
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