belt FORD ESCAPE 2002 1.G Owner's Manual

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 toCleaning and maintaining the safety beltsin theCleaning
chapter.
AIR BAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS)
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and diagnostic module
which records information about the air bag and sensor systems. In the
event of a collision this module may save information related to the
collision including information about the air bag system and impact
severity. This information will assist Ford Motor Company in servicing
the vehicle and in helping to better understand real world collisions and
further improve the safety of future vehicles.
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Important supplemental restraint system (SRS) precautions
The supplemental restraint system
is designed to work with the safety
belt to help protect the driver and
right front passenger from certain
upper body injuries.
Air bags DO NOT inflate slowly or
gently and the risk of injury from a
deploying air bag is greatest close to
the trim covering the air bag
module.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is
provided.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance of at least 25 cm (10 inches)
between an occupant's chest and the driver air bag module.
Never place your arm over the air bag module as a deploying air
bag can result in serious arm fractures or other injuries.
Steps you can take to properly position yourself away from the air bag:
²Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
²Recline the seat slightly (one or two degrees) from the upright
position.
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Do not lean your head on the door. The side air bag could injure
you as it deploys from the side of the seatback.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the air bag
supplemental restraint system, its fuses or the seat cover on a
seat containing an air bag. See your Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealer.
All occupants of the vehicle including the driver should always
wear their safety belts even when an air bag SRS is provided.
How does the side air bag system work?
The side air bag system consists of
the following:
²An inflatable nylon bag (air bag)
with a gas generator concealed
behind the outboard bolster of
the driver and front passenger
seatbacks.
²A special seat cover designed to
allow airbag deployment.
²The same warning light,
electronic control and diagnostic
unit as used for the front air
bags.
²The two side sensors are located
on the lower portion of the
b-pillar.
Side air bags, in combination with seat belts, can help reduce the risk of
severe injuries in the event of a significant side impact collision.
The side air bags are fitted on the outboard side of the seatbacks of the
front seats. In certain lateral collisions, the air bag on the side affected
by the collision will be inflated, even if the respective seat is not
occupied. The air bag was designed to inflate between the door panel
and occupant to further enhance the protection provided occupants in
side impact collisions.
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Children and safety belts
If the child is the proper size, restrain the child in a safety seat.
Children who are too large for child safety seats (as specified by your
child safety seat manufacturer) should always wear safety belts.
Follow all the important safety restraint and air bag precautions that
apply to adult passengers in your vehicle.
If the shoulder belt portion of a combination lap and shoulder belt can
be positioned so it does not cross or rest in front of the child's face or
neck, the child should wear the lap and shoulder belt. Moving the child
closer to the center of the vehicle may help provide a good shoulder belt
fit.
Do not leave children, unreliable adults, or pets unattended in
your vehicle.
To improve the fit of lap and shoulder belts on children who have
outgrown child safety seats, Ford recommends use of a belt-positioning
booster seat that is labeled as conforming to all applicable Federal motor
vehicle safety standards. Belt-positioning booster seats raise the child
and provide a shorter, firmer seating cushion that encourages safer
seating posture and better fit of lap and shoulder belts on the child.
A belt-positioning booster seat should be used if the shoulder belt rests
in front of the child's face or neck, or if the lap belt does not fit snugly
on both thighs, or if the thighs are too short to let the child sit all the
way back on the seat cushion when the lower legs hang over the edge of
the seat cushion. You may wish to discuss the special needs of your child
with your pediatrician.
SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
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Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
²Review and follow the information
presented in theAir bag
supplemental restraint system
(SRS) section in this chapter.
²Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
²Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
²Keep the buckle release button
pointing up and away from the
safety seat, with the tongue
between the child seat and the
release button, to prevent accidental unbuckling.
²Place seat back in upright position.
²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions) (if equipped) section in this chapter.
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching child safety seats with tether straps.in this
chapter.
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Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions included
with the safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install
and use the safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden
stop or collision.
Installing child safety seats in combination lap and shoulder belt
seating positions
The rear seat head restraints must be removed when using a child
seat.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
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2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
3. While holding the shoulder and
lap belt portions together, route the
tongue through the child seat
according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions. Be sure
the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) for that seating position until
you hear a snap and feel the latch
engage. Make sure the tongue is
latched securely by pulling on it.
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5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
shoulder portion of the belt and pull
downward until all of the belt is
extracted and a click is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.
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.
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4. Clip the tether strap to the
anchor as shown.
The arrow in the above graphic
points toward the front of the
vehicle.
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly, the child safety
seat may not be retained properly
in the event of a collision.
5. Refer to theInstalling child
safety seats in combination lap
and shoulder belt seating positionssection of this chapter for further
instructions to secure the child safety seat.
6. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child
being injured in a collision greatly increases.
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Attaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children) attachments for child seat anchors
Some child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to two anchors at certain 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. SeeAttaching safety seats with
tether strapsin this chapter.
Your vehicle has LATCH anchors for child seat installation at the
following locations:
The anchors on both sides of the
center of the rear seat are provided
primarily for child seats at the
outboard seats, and are further
apart than the pairs of lower
anchors for child seat installation at
other seats. A child seat with rigid
LATCH attachments cannot be
installed at the center rear seat. A
child seat with LATCH attachments on belt webbing can be used at the
center rear seat unless a child seat at an outboard rear seat is attached
to one of these lower anchors. Install a child seat onto the lower anchors
at the center rear seat ONLY IF the child restraint manufacturer
recommends that the child seat can be installed to anchors that are
spaced up to 500 mm (19 in) apart.
Never attach two LATCH child safety seats to the same anchor.
In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough to hold two
child safety seat attachments and may break, causing serious injury or
death.
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