child restraint FORD FLEX 2016 1.G User Guide

Children and booster seats vary in size and
shape. Choose a booster that keeps the
lap belt low and snug across the hips,
never up across the stomach, and lets you
adjust the shoulder belt to cross the chest
and rest snugly near the center of the
shoulder. The following drawings compare
the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt
uncomfortably close to the neck and a
shoulder belt that could slip off the
shoulder. The drawings also show how the
lap belt should be low and snug across the
child's hips.If the booster seat slides on the vehicle
seat upon which it is being used, placing a
rubberized mesh sold as shelf or carpet
liner under the booster seat may improve
this condition. Do not introduce any item
thicker than this under the booster seat.
Check with the booster seat
manufacturer's instructions.
CHILD RESTRAINT
POSITIONING WARNINGS
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 vehicle seat
upon which the child seat is installed all
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WARNINGS
the way back. When possible, all children
age 12 and under should be properly
restrained in a rear seating position. If all
children cannot be seated and restrained
properly in a rear seating position, properly
restrain the largest child in the front seat. Always carefully follow the
instructions and warnings provided
by the manufacturer of any child
restraint to determine if the restraint device
is appropriate for your child's size, height,
weight, or age. Follow the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions and warnings
provided for installation and use in
conjunction with the instructions and
warnings provided by your vehicle
manufacturer. A safety seat that is
improperly installed or utilized, is
inappropriate for your child's height, age,
or weight or does not properly fit the child
may increase the risk of serious injury or
death. WARNINGS
Never let a passenger hold a child on
his or her lap while your vehicle is
moving. The passenger cannot
protect the child from injury in a crash,
which may result in serious injury or death. Never use pillows, books, or towels
to boost a child. They can slide
around and increase the likelihood
of injury or death in a crash. Always restrain an unoccupied child
seat or booster seat. These objects
may become projectiles in a crash or
sudden stop, which may increase the risk
of serious injury. Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
injury or death in a crash. To avoid risk of injury, do not leave
children or pets unattended in your
vehicle.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing Child Safety

Recommendations for attaching child safety restraints for children
Use any attachment method as indicated below by X
Combined weight ofchild and
child seat
Restraint
Type Safety belt
only
Safety belt
and LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
Safety belt
and toptether
anchor
LATCH
(lower
anchors only)
LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
X
X
Up to 65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Rear facing
child seat
X
Over
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Rear facing
child seat
X
X
X
Up to
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
X
X
Over
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
Note: The child seat must rest tightly
against the vehicle seat upon which it is
installed. It may be necessary to lift or
remove the head restraint. See Seats (page
123
).
CHILD SAFETY LOCKS
When these locks are set, the rear doors
cannot be opened from the inside. 29
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PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
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 your vehicle is
moving. The passenger cannot
protect the child from injury in a crash. 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. It is extremely dangerous to ride in a
cargo area, inside or outside of a
vehicle. In a crash, 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. WARNINGS
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. 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. Front and rear seat occupants,
including pregnant women, should
wear safety belts for optimum
protection in an accident. All seating positions in your 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 safety belt
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. •
Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing Seatbelts

Pregnant women should always wear their
seatbelt. The lap belt portion of a
combination lap and shoulder belt should
be positioned low across the hips below
the belly and worn as tight as comfort will
allow. The shoulder belt should be
positioned to cross the middle of the
shoulder and the center of the chest.
Seatbelt Locking Modes
WARNINGS
After any vehicle crash, the seatbelt
system at all passenger seating
positions must be checked by an
authorized dealer to verify that the
automatic locking retractor feature for
child seats is still functioning properly. In
addition, all seatbelts should be checked
for proper function. The belt and retractor assembly
must be replaced if the seatbelt
assembly automatic locking retractor
feature or any other seatbelt function is
not operating properly when checked by
an authorized dealer. Failure to replace the
belt and retractor assembly could increase
the risk of injury in crashes. All safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The
driver seatbelt has the vehicle sensitive
locking mode. The front outboard
passenger and rear seat belts have both
the vehicle sensitive locking mode and the
automatic locking mode. 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 about 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination
seatbelts will lock to help reduce forward
movement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the retractor is designed to lock
if the webbing is pulled out too quickly. If
this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and
pull webbing out again in a slow and
controlled manner.
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 seatbelt.
When to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
This mode should be used any time a child
safety seat, except a booster, is installed
in passenger front or rear seating positions.
Children 12 years old and under should be
properly restrained in a rear seating
position whenever possible. See
Child
Safety (page 15).
How to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
Non-inflatable seatbelts
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3. For the seating position you are
switching off, buckle then unbuckle the
safety belt three times at a moderate
speed, ending in the unbuckled state.
After Step 3, the safety belt warning
light turns on.
4. While the safety belt warning light is on, buckle and then unbuckle the
safety belt. After Step 4, the safety belt
warning light flashes for confirmation.
• This will switch the feature off for that
seating position if it is currently on.
• This will switch the feature on for that
seating position if it is currently off.
CHILD RESTRAINT AND
SEATBELT MAINTENANCE
Inspect the vehicle safety belts and child
safety seat systems periodically to make
sure they work properly and are not
damaged. Inspect the vehicle and child
seat safety belts to make sure there are no
nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary.
All vehicle safety belt assemblies, including
retractors, buckles, front safety belt buckle
assemblies, buckle support assemblies
(slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt
height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder
belt guide on seat back (if equipped), child
safety seat LATCH and tether anchors, and
attaching hardware, should be inspected
after a crash. Read the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions for additional
inspection and maintenance information
specific to the child restraint. Ford Motor Company recommends that
all safety belt assemblies in use in vehicles
involved in a crash be replaced. However,
if the crash was minor and an authorized
dealer 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 crash
should also be inspected and replaced if
either damage or improper operation is
noted.
Properly care for safety belts. See Vehicle
Care (page 264).
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing Seatbelts

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
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. 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. Always transport children 12 years
old and under in the back seat and
always properly use appropriate
child restraints. Failure to follow this could
seriously increase the risk of injury or death. Never place your arm over the airbag
module as a deploying airbag can
result in serious arm fractures or
other injuries. 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 upon which
the child seat is installed all the way back. 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. Several airbag system components
get hot after inflation. To reduce the
risk of injury, do not touch them after
inflation. 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.
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DRIVER AND PASSENGER
AIRBAGS
WARNINGS
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. 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 upon which
the child seat is installed 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.
• Front passenger sensing system. · Crash sensors and monitoring
system with readiness indicator.
See Crash Sensors and Airbag
Indicator (page 47). Proper Driver and Front Passenger
Seating Adjustment WARNING
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance
of at least 10 inches (25 centimeters)
between an occupant’ s chest and the
driver airbag module. 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. 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.
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 upon which
the child seat is installed all the way back. 42
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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
WARNINGS
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. Sitting improperly out of position or
with the seatback 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 seatback, with your
feet on the floor. 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 seat and
seatbelt to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine
if the front passenger frontal airbag should
be enabled (may inflate) or not.
The front passenger sensing system uses
a passenger airbag status indicator that
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:
The passenger airbag status indicator
OFF and ON indicator lamps will illuminate
for a short period of time when the ignition
is first turned on 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,
parents are strongly encouraged 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.
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•
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 seat, but the airbag OFF
indicator lamp is lit, it is possible that the
person is not sitting properly in the seat. If
this happens:
• Turn the vehicle off and ask the person
to place the seatback 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 frontal airbag.
• If the indicator OFF lamp remains lit
even after this, the person should be
advised to ride in the rear seat. Passenger airbag
Passenger airbag status
indicator
Occupant
Disabled
OFF: Lit
Empty
ON: Unlit Disabled
OFF: Lit
Child
ON: Unlit Enabled
OFF: Unlit
Adult
ON: Lit
Note: When the passenger airbag status
indicator OFF light is illuminated, the
passenger (seat mounted) side airbag may
be disabled to avoid the risk of airbag
deployment injuries. After all occupants have adjusted their
seats and put on seatbelts, it is very
important that they continue to sit
properly. A properly seated occupant sits
upright, leaning against the seatback, and
centered on the seat cushion, with their
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing Supplementary Restraints System