Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
We recommend that children and child restraints be secured in a rear seat, including: an infant or a child riding in a rear-facing child restraint; a child riding in a forward-facing child seat; an older child riding in a booster seat; and children, who are large enough, using safety belts.
A label on your sun visor says, "Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front." This is because the risk to the rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger airbag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating airbag. A child in a forward-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger airbag inflates and the passenger seat is in a forward position.
Even if the passenger sensing system has turned off the right front passenger frontal airbag, no system is fail-safe. No one can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. Secure rear-facing child restraints in a rear seat, even if the airbag is off. If you secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat, always move the front passenger seat as far back as it will go. It is better to secure the child restraint in a rear seat. See Passenger Sensing System for additional information.When securing a child restraint in a rear seating position, study the instructions that came with your child restraint to make sure it is compatible with this vehicle.
There are a couple of things you need to know about using child restraints in your rear seat:
If you use a child restraint in the center rear seating position (A), the safety belts and the child restraint LATCH anchors for the rear outside seating positions (B) will not be accessible.
Therefore, you will not be able to secure child restraints or have passengers ride in the rear outside seating positions.
If you use two child restraints (A) in the rear outside seating positions, the safety belt for the center rear seat position (B) will not be accessible.
Therefore, you will not be able to secure a child restraint or have a passenger ride in the center rear seating position.
Wherever you install a child restraint, be sure to secure the child restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child restraint in your vehicle -- even when no child is in it.
