Whenever possible,larger children should sit in the backseat, on a booster seat if needed, andbe properly restrained with a seatbelt (see page for importantinformation about protecting largerchildren).Front airbags have been designed tohelp protect adults in a moderate tosevere frontal collision. To do this,the passenger’s front airbag is quitelarge, and it can inflate with enoughforce to cause very serious injuries.If the vehicle seat istoo far forward, or the child’s head isthrown forward during a collision, aninflating front airbag can strike thechild with enough force to kill orvery seriously injure a small child.Even though your vehicle has anadvanced front airbag system thatautomatically turns the passenger’sfront airbag off under certaincircumstances (see page ), pleasefollow these guidelines:According to crash statistics,children of all ages and sizes aresafer when they are restrained in aback seat.The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration and TransportCanada recommend that all childrenage 12 and under be properlyrestrained in a back seat. Somestates have laws restricting wherechildren may ride.Children who ride in the back areless likely to be injured by strikinginterior vehicle parts during acollision or hard braking. Also,children cannot be injured by aninflating front airbag when they ridein the back.Ifthe airbag inflates, it can hit the backof the child seat with enough forceto kill or very seriously injure aninfant.5334Children who have outgrown childseats are also at risk of being injuredor killed by an inflating passenger’sfront airbag.Small ChildrenLarger ChildrenPlacing a forward-facing child seat inthe front seat of a vehicle equippedwith a passenger’s front airbag canbe hazardous.Never put a rear-facing child seat inthe front seat of a vehicle equippedwith a passenger’s front airbag.InfantsAll Children Should Sit in a BackSeatThe Passenger’s Front AirbagCan Pose Serious RisksProtecting Children General Guidelines382/07/20 10:34:41 31TK4640_043
