8. Remove remaining slack from the belt.
Force the seat down with extra weight,
for example, by pressing down or
kneeling on the child restraint while
pulling up on the shoulder belt in order
to force slack from the belt. This is
necessary to remove the remaining
slack that will exist once the extra
weight of the child is added to the child
restraint. It also helps to achieve the
proper snugness of the child seat to
your vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
toward the buckle will additionally help
to remove remaining slack from the
belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat
is equipped).
E142534
10.
Before placing the child in the seat,
forcibly move the seat forward and
back to make sure the seat is securely
held in place. To check this, grab the
seat at the belt path and attempt to
move it side to side and forward and
back. There should be no more than
1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of movement
for proper installation.
Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is properly installed. In Canada,
check with your local St. John Ambulance
office for referral to a Certified Passenger
Seat Technician.
Using Lower Anchors and Tethers
for CHildren (LATCH)
WARNINGS
Never attach two child safety seats
to the same anchor. In a crash, one
anchor may not be strong enough to
hold two child safety seat attachments
and may break, causing serious injury or
death.
Depending on where you secure a
child restraint, and depending on the
child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle
assemblies or LATCH lower anchors,
rendering those features potentially
unusable. To avoid risk of injury, occupants
should only use seating positions where
they are able to be properly restrained.
The center of the rear seat is not
designed as a seating position and is
not equipped with safety belts. The
LATCH anchors were not designed to be
used with a child seat in the center position
and there is no tether anchor available at
the center. Attempted use of the center as
a seating position will increase the risk of
injury or death in the event of a crash.
The LATCH system is composed of three
vehicle anchor points: two lower anchors
located where seat back and seat cushion
meet (called the seat bight) and one top
tether anchor located behind that seating
position.
LATCH compatible child safety seats have
two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that connect to the two lower
anchors at the LATCH equipped seating
positions in your vehicle. This type of
attachment method eliminates the need
to use safety belts to attach the child seat,
23
Mustang (CZG) Canada/United States of America, enUSA, Second Printing
Child Safety
