2001 Ford Escape Owner's Manual - Page 132

Seating and safety restraints 7. Pull the lap belt portion across the child seat toward the buckle and pull up on the shoulder belt while pushing down with your knee on the child seat. 8. Allow the safety belt to retract to remove any slack in the belt. 9. Before placing the child in the seat, forcibly tilt the seat forward and back to make sure the seat is securely held in place. To check this, grab the seat at the belt path and attempt to move it side to side and forward and back. There should be no more than one inch of movement for proper installation. 10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more belt out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat steps two through nine. Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use. Attaching child safety seats with tether straps Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. Tether straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats. Contact the manufacturer of your child seat for information about ordering a tether strap. The rear seating positions of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap anchors located behind the seats on the roof panel in the cargo area. 132