While the anchors closest to the center seat may also be usable, special
precautions must be followed. First, if those anchors are already in use
by a LATCH equipped child seat on either outboard seat,
you must not
attach two LATCH seats to the same anchor point
— it will
overload the anchor point. Either spread the two LATCH equipped seats
to the outboard positions or use the regular lap belt on the center one
(If the seat has a tether, be sure to also attach it to the center tether
anchor).
Secondly, those LATCH equipped child seats
with rigid LATCH
attachments
will not latch in the center rear position because those two
middle anchors are too far apart. You can only attach the rigid LATCH
equipped child seats to the outboard seat LATCH anchors that have the
proper spacing for that type of child seat. If your child seat has flexible
LATCH attachments, be sure that the manufacturer’s instructions say
that it can reach to anchors spaced at least 500 mm (19 in) apart.
WARNING: Never attach two LATCH 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.
The lower anchors for child seat
installation are located at the rear
section of the rear seat between the
cushion and seat back.
The LATCH anchors are below the
locator symbols on the seatback.
Seating and Safety Restraints
119