Your vehicle may have airbags. A rear seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing child restraint. See Where to Put the Restraint .
There may be a switch on the instrument panel that you can use to turn off the right front passenger's frontal airbag. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.
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 airbag switch 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.Caution: If the airbag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the airbag, it means that something may be wrong with the airbag system. The right front passenger's airbag could inflate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identified as a member of a passenger airbag risk group sit in the right front passenger's position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger's seat) until you have your vehicle serviced. See Airbag Off Switch and Airbag Readiness Light for more on this, including important safety information.
If your vehicle does not have a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, we recommend that rear-facing child restraints not be transported in your vehicle, even if the airbag is off.
Do not secure a child restraint in a position without a top tether anchor if a national or local law requires that the top tether be anchored, or if the instructions that come with the child restraint say that the top strap must be anchored.
In Canada, the law requires that forward-facing child restraints have a top tether, and that the tether be attached.
You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Follow the instructions that came with the child restraint.
- Move the seat as far back as it will go before securing the forward-facing child restraint.
- Put the child restraint on the seat.
- Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle's safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how.
- Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
- Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock.
- To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may find it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
- Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.
If you have no other choice but to install a rear-facing child restraint in this seat, make sure the airbag is off once the child restraint has been installed.
When the airbag off switch has turned off the right front passenger's frontal airbag, the off indicator in the airbag off light should light and stay lit when you start the vehicle. See Airbag Off Light .
Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if necessary.
To remove the child restraint, unbuckle the vehicle’s safety belt and let it go back all the way. If the top tether is attached to a top tether anchor, disconnect it.
If you had turned the airbag off with the switch, remember to be sure to use the airbag off switch to turn on the right front passenger's airbag when you remove the child restraint from the vehicle unless the person who will be sitting there is a member of a passenger airbag risk group. See Airbag Off Switch .
Caution: If the right front passenger's airbag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identified by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of an airbag. In a crash, the airbag will not be able to inflate and help protect the person sitting there.
Do not turn off the passenger's airbag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group identified by the national government. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.