Essential Safety Equipment; Child Restraint; Only on Tether-Equipped Rear Seats:- Page 36

2–24

Essential Safety Equipment

Child Restraint

 Installing  Child-Restraint 
Systems

            Accident  statistics  reveal  that  a  child  is 
safer in the rear seat. The front passenger's 
seat is clearly the worst choice for any 
child under 12, and with rear-facing child-
restraint systems it is clearly unsafe due to 
air bags.

   NOTE

  Even if your vehicle is equipped with 
front passenger occupant classifi cation 
sensor (page  2-52 ), which automatically 
deactivates the front passenger air bag, a 
rear seat is the safest place for a child of 
any age or size.

  Some child-restraint systems now come 
with tethers and therefore must be 
installed on the seats that take tethers 
to be effective. In your Mazda, tethered 
child-restraint systems can only be 
accommodated in the three positions on 
the rear seat.

  Some child-restraint systems also employ 
specially designed LATCH attachments; 
refer to "Using LATCH Lower Anchor" 
(page   2-31 ).

WARNING

  Tethered Child-Restraint Systems Work 
Only on Tether-Equipped Rear Seats:

  Installation of a tether equipped 
child-restraint system in the front 
passenger's seat defeats the safety 
design of the system and will result in 
an increased chance of serious injury if 
the child-restraint system goes forward 
without benefi t of being tethered.
  Place tether equipped child-restraint 
systems where there are tether 
anchors.

 Anchor  Bracket

    Anchor  brackets  for  securing  child-
restraint systems are equipped in the 
vehicle. Locate each anchor position using 
the illustration.
  To install a child-restraint system, remove 
the head restraint. Always follow the 
instruction manual accompanying the 
child-restraint system.

Anchor bracket location

  Use the indicated anchor bracket locations 
when installing a child-restraint system 
equipped with a tether.

For left

For right

For center

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Except Mexico