airbag FORD FLEX 2014 1.G User Guide

WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. Failure
to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
All seating positions in this vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts. All
occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety belts,
even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•lap and shoulder safety belts.
•shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode (except driver and
rear inflatable safety belt).
•height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions
•safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions.
•belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.
•Safety belt warning light and chime. SeeSafety Belt
Warning Light and Indicator Chimelater in this chapter.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorin the
Supplemental Restraint Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners and rear inflatable safety belts are designed
to activate in frontal, near-frontal and side crashes, and in rollovers. The
safety belt pretensioners at the front seating positions are designed to
tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body when activated.
This helps increase the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal crashes,
the safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the crash is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
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REAR INFLATABLE SAFETY BELT (IF EQUIPPED)
WARNING:Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the rear
inflatable safety belt as you could be seriously injured or killed.
Note:
The rear inflatable safety belts are compatible with most infant and
child safety car seats and belt positioning booster seats when properly
installed. This is because they are designed to fill with a cool gas at a lower
pressure and at a slower rate than traditional airbags. After inflation, the
shoulder portion of the safety belt remains cool to the touch.
The rear inflatable safety belts are located in the shoulder portion of the
safety belts of the second-row outboard seating positions.
The rear inflatable safety belt consists of the following:
•an inflatable bag located in the shoulder safety belt webbing
•lap safety belt webbing with automatic locking mode
•crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness indicator
SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorin theSupplemental
Restraint Systemchapter.
How Does the Rear Inflatable Safety Belt System Work?
WARNING:If the rear inflatable safety belt has deployed, it will
not function again. The rear inflatable safety belt system must be
replaced by an authorized dealer.
•The rear inflatable safety belts will function like standard restraints in
everyday usage.
•During a crash of sufficient force, the inflatable
belt will inflate from inside the webbing.
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PERSONAL SAFETY SYSTEM™
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of frontal
crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help further
reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to analyze
different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating the
appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of occupants in
a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System consists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
•Front outboard safety belts with pretensioners, energy management
retractors (first row only), and safety belt usage sensors.
•Driver’s seat position sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system.
•Passenger airbag off and on indicator lamp.
•Front crash severity sensors.
•Restraints control module with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and backup tone.
•The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.
How Does the Personal Safety System Work?
The Personal Safety System can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the restraints control module. During a crash, the
restraints control module may activate the safety belt pretensioners
and/or either one or both stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental
restraints based on crash severity and occupant conditions.
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PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Airbags do not inflate slowly or gently, and the risk
of injury from a deploying airbag is the greatest close to the trim
covering the airbag module.
WARNING:All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly
wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
WARNING:Never place your arm over the airbag module, as a
deploying airbag can result in serious arm fractures or other
injuries.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
WARNING:Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the
airbag supplemental restraint systems or its fuses as you could be
seriously injured or killed. Contact your authorized dealer as soon as
possible.
WARNING:Several airbag system components get hot after
inflation. Do not touch them after inflation as this may result in
serious injury.
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WARNING:If the airbag has deployed, the airbag will not function
again and must be replaced immediately. If the airbag is not
replaced, the unrepaired area will increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The airbags are a supplemental restraint system and are designed to
work with the safety belts to help protect the driver and right front
passenger from certain upper body injuries. Airbags do not inflate slowly;
there is a risk of injury from a deploying airbag.
Note:You will hear a loud bang and see a cloud of harmless powdery
residue if an airbag deploys. This is normal.
The airbags inflate and deflate rapidly upon activation. After airbag
deployment, it is normal to notice a smoke-like, powdery residue or smell
the burnt propellant. This may consist of cornstarch, talcum powder (to
lubricate the bag) or sodium compounds (for example, baking soda) that
result from the combustion process that inflates the airbag. Small
amounts of sodium hydroxide may be present which may irritate the skin
and eyes, but none of the residue is toxic.
While the system is designed to help reduce serious injuries, contact
with a deploying airbag may also cause abrasions or swelling. Temporary
hearing loss is also a possibility as a result of the noise associated with a
deploying airbag. Because airbags must inflate rapidly and with
considerable force, there is the risk of death or serious injuries, such as
fractures, facial and eye injuries or internal injuries, particularly to
occupants who are not properly restrained or are otherwise out of
position at the time of airbag deployment. Thus, it is extremely
important that occupants be properly restrained as far away from the
airbag module as possible while maintaining vehicle control.
Routine maintenance of the airbags is not required.
SOS POST-CRASH ALERT SYSTEM™
The system flashes the turn signal lamps and sounds the horn
(intermittently) in the event of a serious impact that deploys an airbag
equipped on your vehicle, such as front, side, side curtain or Safety
Canopy®.
The horn and lamps will turn off when:
•the hazard control button is pressed
•the panic button (if equipped) is pressed on the remote entry
transmitter, or
•your vehicle runs out of power.
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DRIVER AND PASSENGER AIRBAGS
WARNING:Never place your arm or any objects over an airbag
module. Placing your arm over a deploying airbag can result in
serious arm fractures or other injuries. Objects placed on or over the
airbag inflation area may cause those objects to be propelled by the
airbag into your face and torso causing serious injury.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
The driver and front passenger
airbags will deploy during significant
frontal and near-frontal crashes.
The driver and passenger front airbag system consists of:
•driver and passenger airbag modules
•crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorlater in
this chapter.
•front passenger sensing system
Proper Driver and Front Passenger Seating Adjustment
WARNING:The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
recommends a minimum distance of at least 10 inches
(25 centimeters) between an occupant’s chest and the driver airbag
module. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
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To properly position yourself away from the airbag:
•Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
•Recline the seat slightly (one or two degrees) from the upright
position.
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on safety belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit properly. Properly seated
occupants sit upright, lean against the seat back, and center themselves
on the seat cushion, with their feet comfortably extended on the floor.
Sitting improperly can increase the chance of injury in a crash event.
For example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is greatly increased.
Children and Airbags
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
Children must always be properly
restrained. Accident statistics
suggest that children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear
seating positions than in the front
seating position. Failure to follow
these instructions may increase the
risk of injury in a crash.
FRONT PASSENGER SENSING SYSTEM
WARNING:Even with Advanced Restraints Systems, children 12
and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating
position. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury
or death.
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WARNING:Sitting improperly out of position or with the seat
back reclined too far can take off weight from the seat cushion
and affect the decision of the front passenger sensing system, resulting
in serious injury or death in a crash.
Always sit upright against your seat back, with your feet on the floor.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of possible serious injury:
Do not stow objects in seat back map pocket or hang objects off
seat back if a child is in the front passenger seat.
Do not place objects underneath the front passenger seat or between
the seat and the center console.
Check the passenger airbag off or pass airbag off indicator lamp for
proper airbag status.
Failure to follow these instructions may interfere with the passenger
seat sensing system.
WARNING:Any alteration or modification to the front passenger
seat may affect the performance of the front passenger sensing
system which could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
This system works with sensors that are part of the front passenger’s
seat and safety belt to detect the presence of a properly-seated occupant
and determine if the front passenger’s frontal airbag should be enabled
(may inflate) or not.
The front passenger sensing system
uses a passenger airbag status
indicator which will illuminate
indicating that the front passenger
frontal airbag is either ON (enabled)
or OFF (disabled). The indicator
lamp is located in the center stack of
the instrument panel.
Note:When the ignition is first turned on, the passenger airbag status
indicator OFF and ON lamps will illuminate for a short period of time to
confirm it is functional.
The front passenger sensing system is designed to disable (will not
inflate) the front passenger’s frontal airbag when the front passenger
seat is unoccupied, or a rear facing infant seat, a forward-facing child
restraint, or a booster seat is detected. Even with this technology,
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parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly restrain children
in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger front airbag and
seat-mounted side airbag when the passenger seat is empty.
•When the front passenger sensing system disables (will not inflate)
the front passenger frontal airbag, the passenger airbag status
indicator will illuminate the OFF lamp and stay lit to remind you that
the front passenger frontal airbag is disabled.
•If the child restraint has been installed and the passenger airbag
status indicator illuminates the ON lamp, then turn the vehicle off,
remove the child restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the restraint
following the child restraint manufacturer’s instructions.
The front passenger sensing system is designed to enable (may inflate)
the front passenger’s frontal airbag anytime the system senses that a
person of adult size is sitting properly in the front passenger seat.
•When the front passenger sensing system enables the front passenger
frontal airbag (may inflate), the passenger airbag status indicator will
illuminate the ON lamp and remain illuminated.
If a person of adult size is sitting in the front passenger’s seat, but the
passenger airbag status indicator OFF lamp is lit, it is possible that the
person isn’t sitting properly in the seat. If this happens:
•Turn the vehicle off and ask the person to place the seat back in the
full upright position.
•Have the person sit upright in the seat, centered on the seat cushion,
with the person’s legs comfortably extended.
•Restart the vehicle and have the person remain in this position for
about two minutes. This will allow the system to detect that person
and enable the passenger’s frontal airbag.
•If the indicator OFF lamp remains lit even after this, the person
should be advised to ride in the rear seat.
OccupantPassenger airbag
status indicatorPassenger airbag
EmptyOFF: Lit
Disabled
ON: Unlit
ChildOFF: Lit
Disabled
ON: Unlit
AdultOFF: Unlit
Enabled
ON: Lit
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Note:When the passenger airbag status indicator OFF lamp is
illuminated, the passenger side airbag (seat mounted) may be disabled to
avoid the risk of airbag deployment injuries.
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on safety belts, it’s
very important that they continue to sit properly. A properly seated
occupant sits upright, leaning against the seat back, and centered on the
seat cushion, with their feet comfortably extended on the floor. Sitting
improperly can increase the chance of injury in a crash event. For
example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits forward,
leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the chance of
injury during a crash is greatly increased.
If you think that the state of the passenger airbag status indicator lamp
is incorrect, check for the following:
•Objects lodged underneath the seat
•Objects between the seat cushion and the center console
•Objects hanging off the seat back
•Objects stowed in the seat back map pocket
•Objects placed on the occupant’s lap
•Cargo interference with the seat
•Other passengers pushing or pulling on the seat
•Rear passenger feet and knees resting or pushing on the seat
The conditions listed above may cause the weight of a properly seated
occupant to be incorrectly interpreted by the front passenger sensing
system. The person in the front passenger seat may appear heavier or
lighter due to the conditions described in the previous list.
Make sure the front passenger sensing system is operating
properly. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorlater in this
chapter.
If the airbag readiness light is lit, do the following:
The driver and adult passengers should check for objects lodged
underneath the front passenger seat, or cargo interfering with the seat.
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