Transporting children safely, Airbags transporting children safely – BMW X5 4.8is SAV 2004 User Manual

Page 61

Overview

Controls

Maintenance

Repairs

Data

Index

Airbags

Transporting children safely

Airbag system operational

The warning lamp in the instru-
ment cluster indicates the oper-
ational readiness of the entire

airbag system and the safety belt ten-
sioners as of ignition key position 1.
The warning lamp goes out after a few
seconds.

Airbag system malfunction

Have the airbag system checked
immediately if a malfunction

occurs, as otherwise there is a danger
of the system failing to respond in the
expected manner to an impact occur-
ring within its normal response range.

A fault has occurred in the air-
bag system:

Warning lamp does not light up as of
ignition key position 1

Warning lamp lights up continuously

Warning lamp lights up while the
vehicle is being driven.

The right place for children

Children always in the rear:

Accident research shows that the saf-
est place for children in a vehicle is in
the rear seat.

Older children should be tightly secured
with a safety belt, after they have out-
grown a booster seat that is appropri-
ate for their age, height and weight.

A child sitting in the rear seat and
not properly restrained may place

his or her head on or near the airbag, if
so equipped. For example, a child –
even though belted – may fall asleep
with his or her head against the side air-
bag. It may be difficult for a driver to
ensure that children in the rear seat will
remain properly positioned at all times
and do not place their heads on or near
the side airbag. Therefore, we recom-
mend that the rear side airbags, if pro-
vided, be deactivated if you plan to
transport children in the rear seat.

Child-restraint systems in the rear

Child-restraint systems appropriate for
every age group and weight are avail-
able at your BMW Sports Activity Vehi-
cle center.

Children under 13 years of age
and children less than 5 ft/150 cm

tall should always ride in the rear and
the restraint systems should be secured
with the vehicle's safety belts.

No universal child-restraint sys-
tems facing the rear of the vehicle

may be mounted on the rear seats.
If you want to use a rearward-facing
child-restraint system in the rear, then
the BMW Baby Seat with or without the
LATCH child-restraint fixing is suitable
for this purpose.

Younger children should be secured in
an appropriate forward-facing child-
restraint system that has first been
properly secured with a safety belt.

All rear sitting positions in your
vehicle meet the recommendations of
SAE J1819, an industry-recommended
practice for securing child-restraint sys-
tems in motor vehicles.