2002 FORD MUSTANG child restraint

Safety belt maintenance
Inspect the safety belt systems periodically to make
sure they work properly and are not damaged.
Inspect the safety belts to make sure there are no
nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary. All safety
belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front
seat belt buckle assemblies, buckle support
assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt
height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt guide
on seatback (if equipped), child safety seat tether
bracket assemblies (if equipped), LATCH child seat
tether anchors and lower anchors (if equipped), and
attaching hardware, should be inspected after a
collision. Ford Motor Company recommends that all
safety belt assemblies used in vehicles involved in a
collision be replaced. However, if the collision was
minor and a qualified technician 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 collision should
also be inspected and replaced if either damage or
improper operation is noted.
Failure to inspect and if necessary replace
the safety belt assembly under the above
conditions could result in severe personal injuries
in the event of a collision.
Refer toCleaning and maintaining the safety
beltsin theCleaningchapter.
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Important supplemental restraint system (SRS)
precautions
The supplemental
restraint system is
designed to work with
the safety belt to help
protect the driver and
right front passenger
from certain upper
body injuries.
Air bags DO NOT
inflate slowly or gently
and the risk of injury
from a deploying air bag is greatest close to the trim
covering the air bag module.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the
driver, should always properly wear their
safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is
provided.
Always transport children 12 years old and
under in the back seat and always properly
use appropriate child restraints.
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) recommends a
minimum distance of at least 25 cm (10 inches)
between an occupant's chest and the driver air bag
module.
Never place your arm over the air bag
module as a deploying air bag can result in
serious arm fractures or other injuries.
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Children and air bags
For additional
important safety
information, read all
information on safety
restraints in this guide.
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 collision.
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.
How does the air bag supplemental restraint
system work?
The air bag SRS is
designed to activate
when the vehicle
sustains longitudinal
deceleration sufficient
to cause the sensors to
close an electrical
circuit that initiates air
bag inflation.
The fact that the air bags did not inflate in a collision
does not mean that something is wrong with the
system. Rather, it means the forces were not of the
type sufficient to cause activation. Air bags are
designed to inflate in frontal and near-frontal collisions,
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123

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 see
Air 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.
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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
(SRS) 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.
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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 seat back in upright position.
²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode.
Refer toAutomatic locking mode(passenger
side front and outboard rear seating positions)
(if equipped) section in this chapter.
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 child safety seats
with tether straps.in this chapter.
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
If you must use a
forward facing child
seat in the front seat
(reminder - children 12
years old and under
should always be
properly restrained in
the rear seat)the
shoulder belt must
be routed through
the belt guide at the
top of the seatback,
refer toSafety
Restraintsearlier in
this chapter for routing
through the belt holder.
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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.
1. Position the child
safety seat in a seat
with a combination lap
and shoulder belt.
Children 12 and under should be properly
restrained in the rear seat whenever
possible.
2. Pull down on the
shoulder belt and then
grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
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.
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