204 Ch ild Saf e t y
Child Safety
Important things to
know
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your vehicle is in a crash apply also to children
~
page 176, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?.
But unlike adult s and
teenagers, their muscles and bones are not
fu lly developed. In many respects chi ldren are
at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than
adults.
Because children's bodies are not fully devel-
oped, they require restraint systems especial-
ly designed for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many countries and all states of the
United States and provinces of Canada have
laws requ iring the use of approved child re-
straint systems for infants and small children.
In a fronta l crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-po und
(6 kg) infant will be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child. This means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more t han
260 pounds (120 kg). Under these conditions,
only an appropria t e child restrai nt properly
used can reduce the risk of serious inju ry.
Child restra ints, li ke adult safety belts, must
be used properly to be effective . Used improp-
erly, they can increase the risk of serious in-
jury in an accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufactu rer's
instr uctions in order to be sure the seat is
right fo r your child's size ~
page 207, Impor-
tant safety instructions for using child safety
seats.
Please be sure to read and heed all of
the important informat ion and WARNINGS
about child safety, Advanced Air bags, and the
installation of child restraints in this chapter .
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad-
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they
wo rk when infants and children in child re-
stra ints are on the front passenger seat. Be-
cause of the large amount of impo rtant infor-
mation, we cannot repeat it all here. We urge
you to read the detai led information in t his
owner 's manual about airbags and the Ad-
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very importa nt information about transport-
ing childr en on the fro nt passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
are extremely import ant for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in-
f ants and small children .
A WARNING
- Accident statistics have shown that chil-
dren are generally saf er in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un-
der in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil-
dren must be restrai ned properly when-
ever riding in a vehicle. An unrest rained
or improp erly restrained child could be
injur ed by str iki ng the interior or by be-
ing ejected from the vehicle dur ing a
sudden maneuver or impact . An unre-
st rained or improperly restrained child is
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable chil d restrai nt properly instal -
led and used at one of the rear seating
positions provides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A WARNING
,_
Children on the front seat of any car even
wi t h Advanced Airbags can be seriously in-
j ured or even killed when an airbag in-
flates. A child in a rearward-fac ing child
safety seat insta ll ed on t he fro nt passen-
ger seat will be seriously injure d and can
be killed if t he front airbag inflates .
- The infla t ing air bag will hit t he child
safety seat or infan t carrie r wi t h great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door.
II>-
To Next Page
Loading...
