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.
Air Suspension Seats
Caution: A child restraint cannot be secured properly in an air-suspension type seat. This is because an air-suspension seat is designed to move up and down for an adult passenger. Do not use a child restraint in an air-suspension seat.
If your vehicle is a regular cab model with an air-suspension seat in the right front passenger's position, there is no place in your vehicle to secure a child restraint. The only answer is to have infants and young children make the trip in another vehicle, where they can get the protection they need.
Bucket or Bench Seats
If your vehicle is a regular cab model with a bucket or bench seat in the right front passenger's position, the child restraint must be secured properly.
If your vehicle has airbags and you need to secure a child restraint in the right front passenger's seat, there is a switch on the instrument panel that you can use to turn off the passenger's airbag. See Airbag Off Switch and Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position 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.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.
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.
