FORD FUSION (AMERICAS) 2006 1.G Owners Manual

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 seatback,
with your feet on the floor.
To reduce the risk of possible serious injury: Do not hang objects
off seat back or stow objects in the seatback map pocket (if
equipped) when 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 (if equipped). Check the “passenger airbag off” or
“pass airbag off” indicator lamp for proper airbag status. Refer toFront
passenger sensing systemsection for additional details. Failure to
follow these instructions may interfere with the front passenger seat
sensing system.
The control is located on the outboard side of the seat cushion.
Move the switch in the direction of
the arrows to raise or lower the
front portion of the seat cushion.
Move the switch in the direction of
the arrows to raise or lower the rear
portion of the seat cushion.
Press the switch in the direction of
the arrows to move the seat
forward, backward, up or down.
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Heated seats (if equipped)
The heated seat control is located on the climate control system. Refer
to theClimate controlschapter.
REAR SEATS
Split-folding rear seatbacks
One or both rear seatbacks can be folded down to provide additional
cargo space.
To lower the seatback(s), pull the
release handle(s) located inside the
trunk.
Fold the seatback(s) down.
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Before returning the seatback to its original position, make sure
that cargo or any objects are not trapped behind the seatback.
After returning the seatback to its original position, pull on the
seatback to ensure that it has fully latched. An unlatched seat may
become dangerous in the event of a sudden stop or collision.
Make sure that the safety belts for the rear center passenger is properly
routed over the rear seatback.
Seat mounted cup holders and armrest storage compartment
(if equipped)
Your vehicle is equipped with cup
holders in the rear seat armrest. To
access the cup holders, fold the
armrest down.
Use only soft cups in the cupholder. Hard objects can injure you
in a collision.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
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.
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•Driver’s seat position sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system
•“Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
•Front crash severity sensor.
•Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and back-up 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 Systemwork?
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 (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates 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.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System
determined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags are designed
to activate only in frontal and near-frontal collisions (not rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts) unless the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration. The pretensioners are designed to activate in
frontal and near-frontal collisions, and in side collisions when the vehicle
is equipped with the side air curtain system.
Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbags offer the capability to tailor the level of airbag
inflation energy. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is used for
the most severe impacts. Refer toAirbag supplemental restraints
section in this chapter.
Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
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allows your Personal Safety System
to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and safety belt pretensioners.
Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System
to
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, this occurs
because they are initially sitting very close to the airbag. For other
occupants, this occurs when the occupant is not properly restrained by
seat belts or child safety seats and they move forward during pre-crash
braking. The most effective way to reduce the risk of unnecessary
injuries is to make sure all occupants are properly restrained. Accident
statistics suggest that children are much safer when properly restrained
in the rear seating positions than in the front.
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.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the front
passenger airbag and passenger seat-mounted side airbag. The system is
designed to help protect small (child size) occupants from frontal airbag
deployments when they are seated or restrained in the front passenger
seat contrary to proper child-seating or restraint usage
recommendations. Even with this technology, parents areSTRONGLY
encouraged to always properly restrain children in the rear seat. The
sensor also turns off the passenger front airbag and passenger
seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when the passenger seat is empty
and the safety belt is unbuckled, or when a child or a small person
occupies the front passenger seat and the safety belt is unbuckled.
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Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System
to tailor the airbag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer toSafety beltsection in this chapter.
Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during frontal collisions, and in side collisions when the vehicle is
equipped with the side air curtain system. This maximizes the
effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal collisions, the safety belt
pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient
severity, together with the front airbags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow
webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled
manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps
reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by
limiting the load on the occupant. Refer toEnergy management feature
section in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety Systemis operational
The Personal Safety System
uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lightsection in theInstrument Clusterchapter.
Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System
is not required.
The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
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If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System
serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
Safety belt 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
supplemental restraint system (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 seat 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.
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Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
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.
All restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts.
While you are fastened in the seat belt, the combination lap/shoulder belt
adjusts to your movement. However, if you brake hard, turn hard, or if
your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the safety
belt will become locked and help reduce your forward movement.
Energy Management Feature — Front Outboard
•This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seats to help further reduce the risk of injury in
the event of a head-on collision.
•This safety belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to
extend the seat belt webbing in a controlled manner. This helps
reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
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Failure to inspect and replace if necessary the Belt and
Retractor assembly after an accident could increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. All of the passenger combination lap and shoulder 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 5 mph (8 km/h)
or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce forward
movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
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.
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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 usedany timea 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 the rear seat
whenever possible. Refer toSafety restraints for childrenorSafety
seats for childrenlater in this chapter.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Ford Motor Company recommends that all passenger safety belt
assemblies and attaching hardware should be inspected by an
authorized dealer after any collision to verify that theautomatic
locking retractorfeature for child seats is still working properly. Safety
belt assemblies should be inspected by an authorized dealer and must
be replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted. Failure to
replace the belt and retractor assembly could increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
Unbuckle 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.
Safety belt pretensioner
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belt pretensioners at the driver and
front outboard passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioner is a device which removes excess webbing
from the safety belt system. The safety belt pretensioner uses the same
crash sensor system as the front airbag supplemental restraint system
(SRS). When the safety belt pretensioner deploys, webbing from the lap
and shoulder belt is tightened. Refer to theSafety belt maintenance
section in this chapter.
The driver and front passenger seat belt system (including
retractors, buckles and height adjusters) must be replaced if the
vehicle is involved in a collision that results in deployment of front
airbags, seat-mounted side airbags and side air curtains (if equipped),
and safety belt pretensioners.
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