1997 FORD ESCORT Owners Manual

in the instrument cluster
illuminates for approximately six
seconds to indicate that the
system is functional.
If you hear a group of five beeps,
or if the
warning light does
not illuminate, stays lit, or flashes,
the air bag system requires
immediate service. Have the
vehicle serviced by your dealer.
CHILD RESTRAINT
PRECAUTIONS
You are required by law to use
safety restraints for children in the
United States and Canada. If small
children ride in your vehicle
(generally children who are four
years of age or younger and who
weigh 18 kg [40 lb] or less), you
must put them in safety seats
made specially for children. Check
your local and state laws for
specific requirements regarding the
safety of your children.
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.
Always follow the instructions and
warnings that come with any infant
or child restraint you might use.
If possible, place children in the
rear seat of your vehicle. Accident
statistics suggest that children are
safer when properly restrained in
rear seating positions than when
Seating and safety restraints
65

they are restrained in front seating
positions.
Rear-facing infant seats
should never be placed in
the front seat.
CHILDREN AND SAFETY BELTS
Children who are too large for
child safety seats (as specified by
the manufacturer of your child
safety seat) 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 to provide a
good shoulder belt fit.
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
labelled as conforming to all
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
Seating and safety restraints
66

belt-positioning booster 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 dicuss the specific needs of
your child with your pediatrician.
CHILDREN AND INFANT OR
CHILD SAFETY SEATS
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.
When installing a child safety seat:
²use the correct safety belt
buckle for that seating position.
²make 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 seatbacks in the upright
position.
Seating and safety restraints
67

²put the safety belt in the
automatic locking mode. Refer
toUsing the automatic locking
modein this chapter.
Installing child safety seats in
combination lap and shoulder
belt seating positions
1. Position the child safety seat in
a seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
If you choose to install a child
safety seat in the front passenger
seat, move the seat as far back as
possible.
2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
Seating and safety restraints
68

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 until you hear and
feel the latch engage. Make sure
the tongue is latched securely by
pulling on it.
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.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The
belt will click as it retracts to
indicate it is in the automatic
locking mode.
Seating and safety restraints
69

7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle
and pull up on the shoulder belt
while pushing down on the child
seat to tighten the belt as much as
possible.
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 from side
to side and forward and back to
make sure the seat is securely held
in place.
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.
²Check to make sure the child
seat is properly secured before
each use.
Installing child safety seats in
the rear center seating position
1. Tip the tongue and pull to
lengthen the lap belt.
2. Place the child safety seat in the
center seating position.
3. Route the lap belt through the
child safety seat according to the
child seat manufacturer's
instructions.
Seating and safety restraints
70

4. Insert the tongue into the
proper buckle.
5. Push down on the child safety
seat while pulling on the loose part
of the lap belt webbing to tighten
the belt.
6. Before placing the child in the
child safety seat, forcibly tilt the
seat from side to side and forward
and back to make sure the seat is
securely held in place. If the child
seat moves excessively, repeat
steps five and six or properly
install the child seat in a different
seating position.
Using a tether strap
Contact the manufacturer of your
safety seat for information about
ordering a tether strap if one is not
provided with the seat. The tether
anchor hardware kit is part
number 613D20.
Your vehicle has tether anchor
attachment locations on the rear
package tray behind the back seat
(sedan) or along the rear edge of
the roof (wagon). Carefully follow
the instructions provided with the
kit.
Seating and safety restraints
71

Tether anchor hardware
(Canadian vehicles only)
All vehicles built for sale in Canada
include a tether anchor hardware
kit for use with Canadian child
safety seats. Attachment holes (at
each rear seating position) have
been provided in your vehicle to
attach the anchor hardware, if
required. Additional kits can be
obtained at no charge from any
Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer.
Tether anchor hardware (US
vehicles only)
Vehicles built for sale in the US do
not include a tether anchor
hardware kit for use with child
safety seats. However, attachment
holes (at each rear seating
position) have been provided in
your vehicle to attach the anchor
hardware, if required. Kits can be
obtained at no charge from any
Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer.
Only use the tether
attachment hole locations
shown. The tether anchor may
not perform properly if the
wrong mounting location is used.
Ford recommends using child
safety seats with a top tether strap
designed to secure an aftermarket
child safety seat in the front or
rear seating position. Follow the
child safety seat manufacturer's
instructions for installing a child
safety seat with a tether strap.
Seating and safety restraints
72