2004 Jeep Liberty Owner's Manual - Page 62

62 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE • When your child restraint is not in use, secure it in the vehicle with the seat belt or remove it from the vehicle. Do not leave it loose in the vehicle. In a sudden stop or collision, it could strike the occupants or seat backs and cause serious personal injury. LATCH - Child Seat Anchorage System (Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren) Your vehicle's rear seat is equipped with the child restraint anchorage system called LATCH. The LATCH system provides for the installation of the child restraint without using the vehicle's seat belts, instead securing the child restraint using lower anchorages and upper tether straps from the child restraint to the vehicle structure. LATCH-compatible child restraint systems are now available. However, because the lower anchorages are to be introduced over a period of years, child restraint systems having attachments for those anchorages will continue to also have features for installation using the vehicle's seat belts. Child restraints having tether straps and hooks for connection to the top tether anchorages have been available for some time. For some older child restraints, many child restraint manufacturers offer add-on tether strap kits or retro-fit kits. You are urged to take advantage of all the available attachments provided with your child restraint in any vehicle. All three rear seating positions have lower anchorages that are capable of accommodating LATCH-compatible child seats having flexible, webbing-mounted lower attachments. Child seats with fixed lower attachments must be installed in the outboard positions only. Regardless of the specific type of lower attachment, NEVER install LATCH-compatible child seats such that two seats share a common lower anchorage. If installing child seats in adjacent rear-seating positions or if your child restraints are not LATCH-compatible, install the restraints using the vehicle's seat belts.