2000 FORD TAURUS child restraint

The following warning may be required by California law:
CALIFORNIA Proposition 65 Warning
Engine exhaust, some if its constituents, and certain vehicle
components contain or emit chemicals known to the State of
California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm.
ICONS
Indicates a safety alert. Read the
following section onWarnings.
Indicates vehicle information related
to recycling and other
environmental concerns will follow.
Correct vehicle usage and the
authorized disposal of waste
cleaning and lubrication materials are significant steps towards
protecting the environment.
Indicates a message regarding child
safety restraints. Refer toSeating
and safety restraintsfor more
information.
Indicates that this Owner Guide
contains information on this subject.
Please refer to the Index to locate
the appropriate section which will
provide you more information.
Introduction
2

²The indicator light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
²A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and indicator light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System serviced at your dealership or by a qualified technician
immediately. Unless serviced, the system may not function properly in
the event of a collision.
When are the front air bags and pretensioners deployed?
Front air bags and pretensioners are
designed to activate in frontal and
near-frontal collisions, not rollover,
side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless
the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration. The fact
that the pretensioners or air bags
did not activate in a collision does
not mean that something is wrong
with the system. Rather, it means
the Personal Safety System
determined the occupant conditions
or crash severity were not appropriate to activate these safety devices.
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.
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All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag 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.
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.
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81

2. To unfasten, push the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
The front and rear outboard safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The front passenger and rear seat
outboard safety belts have two types of locking modes described below:
Energy management retractors
Your vehicle has a seat belt system equipped with energy management
retractors at the driver and front outboard passenger seating positions.
An energy management retractor is a device which pays out webbing in a
controlled manner. This feature is designed to help further reduce the
risk of force-related injuries to the occupant.
Seat belt systems equipped with an energy management retractor must
be replaced if they were in use during a frontal collision which resulted
in deployment of the frontal air bags. Refer to theSafety belt
maintenancesection in this chapter.
In the event of a collision resulting in the deployment of the
front air bags, the front safety belts must be replaced if they
were in use.
After any vehicle collision, the seat belt system at all outboard
seating positions (except driver, which has no ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature) must be checked by a qualified technician to verify
that the ªautomatic locking retractorº feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all seat belts should be checked for
proper function.
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BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the seat belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other seat belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Vehicle sensitive mode
The vehicle sensitive mode is the normal retractor mode, allowing 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 8 km/h (5 mph) or more, the combination safety belts will
lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.
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.
When to use the automatic locking mode
²Anytimea child safety seat is installed in the vehicle. 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.
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After any vehicle collision, the seat belt system at all outboard
seating positions (except driver, which has no ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature) must be checked by a qualified technician to verify
that the ªautomatic locking retractorº feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all seat belts should be checked for
proper function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the seat belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other seat belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Safety belt pretensioner
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belt pretensioners at the driver and
front outboard passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate only when the
safety belts are fastened during certain frontal or near-frontal collisions
with sufficient longitudinal deceleration. A safety belt pretensioner is a
device which tightens the webbing of the lap and shoulder belts in such
a way that they fit more snugly against the body.
The driver and front outboard passenger safety belt system (including
retractors, buckles and height adjusters) must be replaced if the vehicle is
involved in a collision that results in the activation of the safety belt
pretensioners. Refer to theSafety belt maintenancesection in this chapter.
Safety belt usage sensors
The driver and front outboard passenger safety belt buckles are
equipped with sensors that detect if the safety belts are fastened. The
sensors provide information to the Personal Safety System which can
then adapt the air bag deployment or safety belt pretensioner activation
based upon safety belt usage.
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Safety belts for rear-facing occupants (wagon only)
Never use child safety seats in the third seat of a wagon.
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belts containing an adjust tongue at
the rear-facing seating positions.
When the adjust tongue of the lap/shoulder combination seat belt is latched
into the buckle, the tongue will allow the lap portion to become shorter,
but locks the webbing in place to restrict it from becoming longer.
Before you reach and latch a combination lap and shoulder belt having an
adjust tongue into the buckle, you may have to lengthen the lap belt
portion of it. To lengthen the lap belt, pull some webbing out of the
shoulder belt retractor. While holding the webbing below the tongue, grasp
the tongue so that it is parallel to the webbing and slide the tongue
upward. Provide enough length so that the tongue can reach the buckle.
To fasten the belt, pull the combination lap and shoulder belt from the
retractor so that the shoulder belt portion of the safety belt crosses your
shoulder and chest. Be sure the belt is not twisted. If the belt is twisted,
remove the twist. Insert the tongue into the proper buckle for your
seating position until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the
tongue is securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on the tongue.
The lap belts should fit snugly and as low as possible around the
hips, not around the waist.
Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant women,
should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an accident.
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.
Due to folding rear seats, sometimes the buckles and tongues toward the
center of the vehicle may be hidden by the rear edge of the seat cushion.
Pull them out so they will be accessible.
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The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts:
(All statistics based on U.S. data)
Reasons given... Consider...
9Crashes are rare
events9
36 700 crashes occur every day.The more we
drive, the more we are exposed to9rare9events,
even for good drivers.1 in 4 of us will be seriously
injured in a crash during our lifetime.
9I'm not going far93of4fatal crashes occur within25miles of home.
9Belts are
uncomfortable9Ford designs its safety belts to enhance comfort. If
you are uncomfortable - try different positions for
the safety belt upper anchorage and seatback
which should be as upright as possible; this can
improve comfort.
9I was in a hurry9Prime time for an accident.Belt Minder reminds
us to take a few seconds to buckle up.
9Seat belts don't
work9Safety belts,when used properly,reduce risk of
deathto front seat occupants by45% in cars,
and by60% in light trucks.
9Traffic is light9Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in single-vehicle
crashes,many when no other vehicles are around.
9Belts wrinkle my
clothes9Possibly, but a serious crash can do much more
than wrinkle your clothes, particularly if you are
unbelted.
9The people I'm
with don't wear
belts9Set the example, teen deaths occur 4 times more
often in vehicles with TWO or MORE people.
Children and younger brothers/sisters imitate
behavior they see.
9I have an air bag9Air bags offer greater protection when used with
safety belts. Frontal airbags are not designed to
inflate in rear and side crashes or rollovers.
9I'd rather be
thrown clear9Not a good idea,peoplewho areejected are 40
times more likely to DIE.Safety belts help
prevent ejection, WE CAN'T9PICK OUR CRASH9.
Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt to avoid the Belt
Minder chime. Sitting on the safety belt will increase risk of
injury in an accident. To disable (one-time) or deactivate the Belt
Minder feature please follow the directions stated below.
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