2002 FORD E SERIES seats

SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Safety restraints 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 (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 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.
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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
²Any timea child safety seat is installed in a passenger front or
outboard rear seating position (if equipped). 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 use the automatic locking mode
²Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
²Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is extracted.
²Allow 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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How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Ford recommends that all safety belt assemblies and attaching
hardware should be inspected by a qualified technician after any
collision. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a collision should also
be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is
noted.
Disconnect 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.
After any vehicle collision, the front passenger and rear outboard
seat belt systems 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 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 air bag supplemental restraint system
(SRS). When the safety belt pretensioner deploys, webbing from the lap
and shoulder belt is tightened. 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 air bags and safety belt pretensioners. Refer to the
Safety belt maintenancesection in this chapter.
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Disposal of air bags and air bag equipped vehicles (including
pretensioners)
For disposal of air bags or air bag equipped vehicles, see your local
dealership or qualified technician. Air bags MUST BE disposed of by
qualified personnel.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS FOR CHILDREN
See the following sections for directions on how to properly use safety
restraints for children. Also seeAir bag supplemental restraint system
(SRS)in this chapter for special instructions about using air bags.
Important child restraint precautions
You are required by law to use safety restraints for children in the U.S.
and Canada. If small children ride in your vehicle (generally children who
are four years old or younger and who weigh 18 kg [40 lbs] or less), you
must put them in safety seats made especially for children. Check your
local and state or provincial laws for specific requirements regarding the
safety of children in your vehicle.
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.
When possible, always place children under age 12 in the rear seat of
your vehicle. Accident statistics suggest that children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating
position.
Install forward-facing convertible safety seats only in vehicle seating
positions equipped with lap-shoulder belts. Forward facing convertible
safety seats can be used in the center of the three-passenger second row
bench seat only if a top tether strap is used. Ford recommends placing
forward-facing safety seats in the second row and using safety seats with
top tether straps for added protection. For more information on top
tether straps, seeAttaching safety seats with tether strapsin this
section.
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Any booster seat that places the vehicle's lap belt or shoulder belt
around a shield above and ahead of the child's hips should not be used in
this vehicle.
Do notuse a forward±facing safety seat or an infant seat in the
last row of a 12± or 15±passenger Club Wagon.
Children and safety belts
If the child is the proper size, restrain the child in a safety seat.
Children who are too large for child safety seats (as specified by your
child safety seat manufacturer) 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 provide a good shoulder belt
fit.
Do not leave children, unreliable adults, or pets unattended in
your vehicle.
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 applicable 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 belt-positioning booster seat 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 discuss the special needs of your child
with your pediatrician.
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SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions 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:
²Review and follow the information
presented in theAir Bag
Supplemental Restraint System
section in this chapter.
²Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
²Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
²For the front passenger seat,
keep 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.
²For the front passenger seat, place seat back in upright position.
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²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions) (if equipped).
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching safety seats with tether straps.
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.
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.
An air bag can kill or injure a child in a child seat. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move seat all
the way back.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
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Attaching safety seats with tether straps
Children should be placed in the rear in an appropriate child
safety seat that is properly secured to the vehicle.
When using forward-facing child safety seats in vehicles with
only two seating positions so the forward-facing child safety seat
cannot be placed in the rear of the vehicle, move the passenger seat as
far back from the instrument panel as possible.
Rear-facing child seats or infant carriers should never be placed
in the front seats.
Front passenger seating position
The tether can be attached directly to the rear of the front seat.
1. Position the child safety seat on
the front right-hand passenger seat.
2. Adjust the front right-hand
passenger seat full forward.
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