2001 Mercury Villager Owner Guide 2nd Printing - Page 146

Seating and safety restraints Attaching child safety seats with Lower Anchor and Tethers for Children (LATCH) attachments Some child safety seats are labeled as LATCH or LATCH-compatible child seats. These seats include two rigid or webbing mounted attachments that connect to two anchors at specific seating positions in your vehicle. This type of child seat eliminates the need to use seat belts to attach the child seat. For forward-facing child seats, the tether strap must also be attached to the proper tether anchor point. For information on using tether straps with the child safety seats, refer to Attaching safety seats with tether straps in this chapter. LATCH anchors for child seat installation have been provided in your vehicle at the following locations: The anchors at the center of the rear seat are further apart than the sets of lower anchors for child seat installation at other seating positions. A child seat with rigid LATCH attachments cannot be installed at this seating position. A LATCH compatible child seat (with attachments on belt webbing) can be used at this seating position only if the child seat instructions state that the child seat can be installed to anchors that are 400 mm apart. Do not attach a child seat to any lower anchor if an adjacent child seat is attached to that anchor. Do not attach a child seat to any lower anchors used for child seat installation if an adjacent child seat is attached to that anchor. In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough to hold two child seat attachments and may break, causing serious injury or death. 146