2002 Toyota RAV4 Owners Manual - Page 57

'02 Rav4_U (L/O 0108) Child restraint- -Child restraint precautions Toyota strongly urges the use of child restraint systems for children small enough to use them. The laws of all fifty states in the U.S.A. and Canada now require the use of a child restraint system. Your vehicle conforms to SAEJ1819. If a child is too large for a child restraint system, the child should sit in the rear seat and must be restrained using the vehicle's seat belt. See "Seat belts" on page 40 for details. In the following cases, contact your Toyota dealer as soon as possible: D Toyota strongly urges use of a proper child restraint system which conforms to the size of the child, installed on the rear seat. According to accident statistics, the child is safer when properly restrained in the rear seat than in the front seat. D Never install a rear-facing child restraint system on the front seat. In the event of an accident, the force of the rapid inflation of the airbag can cause death or serious injury if a rear-facing child restraint system is installed on the front seat. CAUTION D The SRS airbags have been inflated. D The front of the vehicle (shaded in the illustration) was involved in an accident that was not severe enough to cause the SRS airbags to inflate. D For effective protection in automobile accidents and sudden stops, a child must be properly restrained, using a seat belt or child restraint system depending on the age and size of the child. Holding a child in your arms is not a substitute for a child restraint system. In an accident, the child can be crushed against the windshield, or between you and the vehicle's interior. D Unless it is unavoidable, do not install a forward-facing child restraint system on the front seat. D A forward-facing child restraint system should be allowed to installed on the front seat only when it is unavoidable. Always move the seat as far back as possible, because the force of the deploying airbag could cause death or serious injury to the child. D The pad section of the steering wheel or front passenger airbag cover (shaded in the illustration) is scratched, cracked, or otherwise damaged. NOTICE Do not disconnect the battery cables before contacting your Toyota dealer. 2002 MY RAV4_U (OM42503U) 57