2003 Mazda B2300 Owner's Manual - Page 95

Seating and Safety Restraints WARNING: Placing a child, 12 years or younger, in the front seat is dangerous. The child could be hit by a deploying air bag and be seriously injured or even killed. Never place a child safety seat in a center facing rear jump seat. If you must place a child safety seat in a front seating position, make sure the passenger airbag is turned off. See Turning the airbag Off in this section. Never use a rear-facing child restraint system in the front seat with an air bag that could deploy. Child booster seats Children outgrow a typical convertible or toddler seat when they weigh 40 pounds and are around 4 years of age. Although the lap/shoulder belt will provide some protection, these children are still too small for lap/shoulder belts to fit properly, which could increase the risk of serious injury. To improve the fit of both the lap and shoulder belt on children who have outgrown child safety seats, Mazda recommends use of a belt-positioning booster. Booster seats position a child so that safety belts fit better. They lift the child up so that the lap belt rests low across the hips and the knees bend comfortably. Booster seats also make the shoulder belt fit better and more comfortably for growing children. When children should use booster seats Children need to use booster seats from the time they outgrow the toddler seat until they are big enough for the vehicle seat and lap/shoulder belt to fit properly. Generally this is when they weigh about 80 lbs (about 8 to 12 years old). Booster seats should be used until you can answer YES to ALL of these questions: • Can the child sit all the way back against the vehicle seat back with knees bent comfortably at the edge of the seat without slouching? • Does the lap belt rest low across the hips? • Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and chest? 95