Page 69 of 224

Your vehicle’s Personal Safety Systemconsists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
•Front safety belts with pretensioners, energy management retractors,
and safety belt usage sensors.
•Driver’s seat position sensor.
•Front crash severity sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system
•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, and indicator lights.
How does the Personal Safety Systemwork?
The Personal Safety Systemcan adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and conditions. A
collection of crash sensors provides information to the Restraints Control
Module (RCM). During a crash, the RCM activates the safety belt
pretensioners and/or either none, one, or both stages of the dual-stage
airbag supplemental restraints based on crash severity and 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 Systemdetermined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags and
pretensioners 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.
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.
2006 Focus(foc)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
69
Page 86 of 224

The SRS consists of:
•driver and passenger airbag modules (which include the inflators and
airbags).
•side airbags (if equipped). Refer toSide airbag systemlater in this
chapter.
•one or more impact and safing sensors.
•a readiness light and tone.
•diagnostic module.
•and the electrical wiring which connects the components.
The diagnostic module monitors its own internal circuits and the
supplemental airbag electrical system wiring (including the impact
sensors), the system wiring, the airbag system readiness light, the airbag
back up power and the airbag ignitors.
Front passenger sensing system
The front passenger sensing system is designed to meet the regulatory
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208
and is designed to disable (will not inflate) the front passenger’s frontal
air bag under certain conditions.
The front passenger sensing system works with sensors that are part of
the front passenger’s seat and safety belt. The sensors are designed to
detect the presence of a properly seated occupant and determine if the
front passenger’s frontal air bag should be enabled (may inflate) or
disabled (will not inflate).
The front passenger sensing system will disable (will not inflate) the
front passenger’s frontal air bag if:
•the front passenger seat is unoccupied, or has small/medium objects in
the front seat,
•the system determines that an infant is present in a rear-facing infant
seat that is installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions,
•the system determines that a small child is present in a forward-facing
child restraint that is installed according to the manufacturer’s
instructions,
•the system determines that a small child is present in a booster seat,
•a front passenger takes his/her weight off of the seat for a period of
time,
•a child or a small person occupies the front passenger seat.
2006 Focus(foc)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
86
Page 120 of 224

SNOW TIRES AND CHAINS
Snow tires must be the same size and grade as the tires you
currently have on your vehicle.
The tires on your vehicle have all weather treads to provide traction in
rain and snow. However, in some climates, you may need to use snow
tires and chains. If you need to use chains, it is recommended that steel
wheels (of the same size and specifications) be used, as chains may chip
aluminum wheels.
Vehicles with Traction Control (if equipped) may exhibit some unusual
driving characteristics, when using snow chains, which can be avoided by
switching Traction Control off.
Follow these guidelines when using snow tires and chains:
A snow tire as original equipment is not offered. Please contact
your authorized dealer to fit an appropriate sized snow tire
(P185/60R15).
Snow chains should never be used on the spare tire.
•Use only cable type chains for snow traction. Using SAE class S or
other conventional link type chains may cause damage to the vehicle’s
wheel house and/or body. Snow cable type chains should only be fitted
to size P185/60R15 tires. P185/60R15 tires are not offered by Ford as
original equipment. To operate the vehicle with snow chains these
tires must be purchased and mounted separately.
•Install chains securely, verifying that the chains do not touch any
wiring, brake lines or fuel lines.
•Drive cautiously. If you hear the chains rub or bang against your
vehicle, stop and re-tighten the chains. If this does not work, remove
the chains to prevent damage to your vehicle.
•If possible, avoid fully loading your vehicle.
•Remove the tire chains when they are no longer needed. Do not use
tire chains on dry roads.
•The suspension insulation and bumpers will help prevent vehicle
damage. Do not remove these components from your vehicle when
using snow tires and chains.
2006 Focus(foc)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Tires, Wheels and Loading
120