Child Safety -
---------------''----
•
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 ts say t hat the skel -
etal structure, particularly the pelv is, of these children is not fu lly
devel oped, and t hey shou ld not use the vehicle safety belts
=> fig. 108.
Childre n who weigh more than 40 lbs. (18 kg) may genera lly use the
available t hree poi nt com bin ation lap and sho ulde r belts w hen the y
sit on an app rop riate booster seat. Be sure the booster seat meets
all app licable safet y standards.
Booster seats raise th e seating position of t he child and reposit ion
both the lap and sho ulde r part s of th e safety belt so t hat t hey pass
across the chi ld 's body in t he righ 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 protec ti on.
This appli es when ever a child uses th e vehi cle's safet y belts, even
when the child is big enough to use them witho ut a booster seat.
In a crash, airb ags must infl ate with in a blink of an eye and w ith
considerab le force . In order to do its job, the airbag needs room to
infl ate so t hat it wil l be t here to pr ot ect th e occupant as the occu-
pant moves forward into the airbag.
A vehicle occupant including a chi ld who is out of position and too
close to t he airbag gets in t he way of an infl at ing airbag. When an
occupant is too close, he or she wi ll be struck violently and w ill
receive seri ous or possibl y even fatal injury.
In ord er fo r t he airbag to offe r protection, it is impo rtant that all
ve hicl e occupant s, especia lly any ch ildr en, w ho mu st be in th e fr ont
seat in except ional ci rcumstanc es, be pro perly restra ined and as far
away from the airbag as possible . By keeping room between the
chi ld's or oth er occ up ant's body and th e fr ont of the passen ger
compa rtment, the airbag can infl ate fu lly and comp lete ly and
prov ide supplement al protecti on in cert ain fr ontal 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 injuries in an accident or other emergency situation
=> page 118.
• 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.
• 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 ". .,_
To Next Page
Loading...
