Safety restraints precautions

Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.

To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they can be properly restrained.

Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from injury in a collision.

All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is provided.

It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a safety belt properly.

In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety belt.

Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that are designed to be used as a pair.

1) Use the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm.

2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside shoulder.

3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.

Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.

Combination lap and shoulder belts

1. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle (the buckle closest to the direction the tongue is coming from) until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened in the buckle.

2. To unfasten, push the release button and remove the tongue from the buckle.

 

The front and rear outboard safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts. The front passenger and rear seat outboard safety belts have two types of locking modes described below:

Vehicle sensitive mode

This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 8 km/h (5 mph) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.

Automatic locking mode

The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.

When to use the automatic locking mode

In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.

This mode should be used any time a child safety seat is installed in a passenger front or outboard rear seating position (if equipped). Children 12 years old and under should be properly restrained in the rear seat whenever possible. Refer to Safety restraints for children or Safety seats for children later in this chapter.

How to use the automatic locking mode

• Buckle the combination lap and shoulder belt.


• Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until the entire belt is pulled out.


• Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking sound. This indicates the safety belt is now in the automatic locking mode.

How to disengage the automatic locking mode

Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.

After any vehicle collision, the front passenger and rear outboard seat belt systems must be checked by a qualified technician to verify that the "automatic locking retractor" feature for child seats is still functioning properly. In addition, all seat belts should be checked for proper function.

BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if the seat belt assembly "automatic locking retractor" feature or any other seat belt function is not operating properly when checked according to the procedures in Workshop Manual. Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could increase the risk of injury in collisions.

Safety belt extension assembly

If the safety belt is too short when fully extended, there is a 20 cm(8 inch) safety belt extension assembly that can be added (part number 611C22). This assembly can be obtained from your dealer at no cost.

Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too short for you when fully extended.

Do not use extensions to change the fit of the shoulder belt across the torso.

Safety belt warning light and indicator chime

The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.

Conditions of operation

If...	Then...
The driver's safety belt is not buckled before the ignition switch is turned to the ON position...	The safety belt warning light illuminates 1-2 minutes and the warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver's safety belt is buckled while the indicator light is illuminated and the warning chime is sounding...	The safety belt warning light and warning chime turn off.
The driver's safety belt is buckled before the ignition switch is turned to the ON position...	The safety belt warning light and indicator chime remain off.

BeltMinder

The BeltMinder feature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt warning function. This feature provides additional reminders to the driver that the driver's safety belt is unbuckled by intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning lamp in the instrument cluster.

If...	Then...
The driver's safety belt is not buckled approximately 5 seconds after the safety belt warning light has turned off...	The BeltMinder feature is activated - the safety belt warning light illuminates and the warning chime sounds for 6 seconds every 30 seconds, repeating for approximately 5 minutes or until safety belt is buckled.
The driver's safety belt is buckled while the safety belt indicator light is illuminated and the safety belt warning chime is sounding...	The BeltMinder feature will not activate.
The driver's safety belt is buckled before the ignition switch is turned to the ON position...	The BeltMinder feature will not activate.

The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts: (All statistics based on U.S. data)

Reasons given...	Consider...
"Crashes are rare events"	36700 crashes occur every day. The more we drive, the more we are exposed to "rare" events, even for good drivers. 1 in 4 of us will be seriously injured in a crash during our lifetime.
"I'mnot going far"	3 of 4 fatal crashes occur within 25 miles of home.
"Belts are uncomfortable"	We design our safety belts to enhance comfort. If you are uncomfortable - try different positions for the safety belt upper anchorage and seatback which should be as upright as possible; this can improve comfort.
"I was in a hurry"	Prime time for an accident. BeltMinder reminds us to take a few seconds to buckle up.
"Seat belts don't work"	Safety belts, when used properly, reduce risk of death to front seat occupants by 45% in cars, and by 60% in light trucks.
"Traffic is light"	Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in single-vehicle crashes, many when no other vehicles are around.
"Belts wrinkle my clothes"	Possibly, but a serious crash can do much more than wrinkle your clothes, particularly if you are unbelted.
"The people I'm with don't wear belts"	Set the example, teen deaths occur 4 times more often in vehicles with TWO or MORE people. Children and younger brothers/sisters imitate behavior they see.
"I have an air bag"	Air bags offer greater protection when used with safety belts. Frontal airbags are not designed to inflate in rear and side crashes or rollovers.
"I'd rather be thrown clear"	Not a good idea. People who are ejected are 40 times more likely to DIE. Safety belts help prevent ejection, WE CAN'T "PICK OUR CRASH".

Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt to avoid the Belt Minder chime. Sitting on the safety belt will increase the risk of injury in an accident. To disable (one-time) or deactivate the Belt Minder feature please follow the directions stated below.

One time disable

Any time the safety belt is buckled and then unbuckled during an ignition ON cycle, BeltMinder will be disabled for that ignition cycle only.

Deactivating/activating the BeltMinder feature

Read steps 1 - 9 thoroughly before proceeding with the deactivation/activation programming procedure.

The BeltMinder feature can be deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:

Before following the procedure, make sure that:

• The parking brake is set.
• The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission) or the neutral position (manual transmission).
• The ignition switch is in the OFF position.
• All vehicle doors are closed.
• The driver's safety belt is unbuckled.
• The parklamps/headlamps are in OFF position (If vehicle is equipped with Autolamps, this will not affect the procedure).

To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the Belt Minder feature while driving the vehicle.

BeltMinder activation and deactivation procedure

1. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN (or ON) position. (DO NOT START THE ENGINE.)

2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off. (Approximately 1-2 minutes.)

• Steps 3-5 must be completed within 60 seconds or the procedure will have to be repeated.

3. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled. This can be done before or during BeltMinder warning activation.

4. Turn on the parklamps/headlamps, turn off the parklamps/headlamps.

5. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled.

• After step 5 the safety belt warning light will be turned on for three seconds.

6. Within seven seconds of the safety belt warning light turning off, buckle then unbuckle the safety belt.

• This will disable BeltMinder if it is currently enabled, or enable BeltMinder if it is currently disabled.

7. Confirmation of disabling BeltMinder is provided by the safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.

8. Confirmation of enabling BeltMinder is provided by:

• The safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.
• Followed by three seconds with the safety belt warning light off.
• Once again, the safety belt warning light will flash four times per second for three seconds.

9. After receiving confirmation, the deactivation/activation procedure is complete.

Safety belt maintenance

Inspect the safety belt systems periodically to make sure they work properly and are not damaged. Inspect the safety belts to make sure there are no nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary. All safety belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front seat belt buckle assemblies, buckle support assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt guide on seatback (if equipped), child safety seat LATCH and tether anchors, and attaching hardware, should be inspected after a collision. Ford Motor Company recommends that all safety belt assemblies used in vehicles involved in a collision be replaced. However, if the collision was minor and a qualified technician finds that the belts do not show damage and continue to operate properly, they do not need to be replaced. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a collision should also be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted.

Failure to inspect and if necessary replace the safety belt assembly under the above conditions could result in severe personal injuries in the event of a collision.

Refer to Interior in the Cleaning chapter.