Older children who have outgrown booster seats should wear the vehicle's safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a window so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
Question:
What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
Answer:
If possible, an older child should wear a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt should fit snugly below the hips, just touching the top of the thighs. It should never be worn over the abdomen, which could cause severe or even fatal internal injuries in a crash.
According to accident statistics, children are safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating positions.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety belts properly.
Caution: Never do this.
Never allow two children to wear the same safety belt. The safety belt can not properly spread the impact forces. In a crash, the two children can be crushed together and seriously injured. A safety belt must be used by only one person at a time.
Question:
What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt, but the child is so small that the shoulder belt is very close to the child's face or neck?
Answer:
Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but be sure that the shoulder belt still is on the child's shoulder, so that in a crash the child's upper body would have the restraint that belts provide.
If the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still very close to the child's face or neck, you might want to place the child in a rear seat that has a lap belt, if your vehicle has one.
Caution: Never do this.
Never allow a child to wear the safety belt with the shoulder belt behind their back. A child can be seriously injured by not wearing the lap-shoulder belt properly. In a crash, the child would not be restrained by the shoulder belt. The child could move too far forward increasing the chance of head and neck injury. The child might also slide under the lap belt. The belt force would then be applied right on the abdomen. That could cause serious or fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching the child's thighs. This applies belt force to the child's pelvic bones in a crash.
