2013 FORD ESCAPE warning

EXPORT UNIQUE OPTIONS
For your particular global region, your
vehicle may be equipped with features and
options that are different from the features
and options that are described in this
Owner’s Manual. A market unique
supplement may be supplied that
complements this book. By referring to the
market unique supplement, if provided,
you can properly identify those features,
recommendations and specifications that
are unique to your vehicle. This Owner ’s
Manual is written primarily for the U.S. and
Canadian Markets. Features or equipment
listed as standard may be different on units
built for Export. Refer to this Owner ’s
Manual for all other required
information and warnings.
13
Introduction

GENERAL INFORMATION
See the following sections for directions
on how to properly use safety restraints
for children.
WARNINGS
Always make sure your child is
secured properly in a device that is
appropriate for their height, age and
weight. Child safety restraints must be
purchased separately from the vehicle.
Failure to follow these instructions and
guidelines may result in an increased risk
of serious injury or death to your child.
All children are shaped differently.
The recommendations for safety
restraints are based on probable
child height, age and weight thresholds
from National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and other safety
organizations, or are the minimum
WARNINGS
requirements of law. Ford recommends
checking with a NHTSA Certified Child
Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) and
consult your pediatrician to make sure your
child seat is appropriate for your child, and
is compatible with and properly installed
in the vehicle. To locate a child seat fitting
station and CPST, contact the NHTSA toll
free at 1-888-327-4236 or on the internet
at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov. In Canada,
check with your local St. John Ambulance
office for referral to a CPST or for further
information, contact your provincial
ministry of transportation, your local St.
John Ambulance office at
http://www.sfa.ca, or Transport Canada
at 1-800-333-0371 (http://www.tc.gc.ca).
Failure to properly restrain children in
safety seats made especially for their
height, age, and weight may result in an
increased risk of serious injury or death to
your child.
14
Child Safety

•You are required by law to properly use
safety seats for infants and toddlers in
the U.S. and Canada.
• Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster
seats until they reach age eight, a
height of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters)
tall, or 80 pounds (36 kilograms).
Check your local and state or provincial
laws for specific requirements
regarding the safety of children in your
vehicle.
• When possible, always properly
restrain children twelve (12) years of
age and under in a rear seating position
of your vehicle. Accident statistics
suggest that children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear seating
positions than in a front seating
position.
CHILD SEATS
Use a child safety seat (sometimes called
an infant carrier, convertible seat, or
toddler seat) for Infants, toddlers or
children weighing 40 pounds (18
kilograms) or less (generally age four or
younger) CHILD SEAT POSITIONING
WARNINGS
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child seat. NEVER place a rear-facing
child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat
in the front seat, move the vehicle seat all
the way back. When possible, all children
age 12 and under should be properly
restrained in a rear seating position. If all
children cannot be seated and restrained
properly in a rear seating position, properly
restrain the largest child in the front seat.
Always carefully follow the
instructions and warnings provided
by the manufacturer of any child
restraint to determine if the restraint device
is appropriate for your child's size, height,
weight, or age. Follow the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions and warnings
provided for installation and use in
conjunction with the instructions and
warnings provided by the vehicle
manufacturer. A safety seat that is
improperly installed or utilized, is
inappropriate for your child's height, age,
or weight or does not properly fit the child
may increase the risk of serious injury or
death.
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,
which may result in serious injury or death.
Never use pillows, books, or towels
to boost a child. They can slide
around and increase the likelihood
of injury or death in a collision.
Always restrain an unoccupied child
seat or booster seat. These objects
may become projectiles in a collision
or sudden stop, which may increase the
risk of serious injury.
16
Child Safety
E142594

WARNINGS
Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
WARNINGS
injury or death in a collision.
Do not leave children, unreliable
adults, or pets unattended in your
vehicle.
Use any attachment method as indicated below by X
Child
Weight
Restraint
Type Safety belt
only
Safety belt
and LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
Safety belt
and toptether
anchor
LATCH
(lower
anchors only)
LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
X
X
Up to 48 lb
(21 kg)
Rear facing
child seat
X
X
X
Up to 48 lb
(21 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
X
X
Over 48 lb
(21 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
Note: The child seat must rest tightly
against the vehicle seat. It may be necessary
to lift or remove the head restraint. See the
Seats chapter for information on head
restraints.
BOOSTER SEATS
WARNING
Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
injury or death in a collision.
Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety seat (generally
children who are less than 4 feet 9 inches
(1.45 meters) tall, are greater than age four
(4) and less than age twelve (12), and
between 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and
80 pounds (36 kilograms) and upward to
100 pounds (45 kilograms) if
recommended by your child restraint
manufacturer). Many state and provincial
laws require that children use approved
booster seats until they reach age eight, a
height of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall,
or 80 pounds (36 kilograms).
Booster seats should be used until you can
answer YES to ALL of these questions
when seated without a booster seat:
17
Child Safety

If the booster seat slides on the vehicle
seat, placing a rubberized mesh sold as
shelf or carpet liner under the booster seat
may improve this condition. Do not
introduce any item thicker than this under
the booster seat. Check with the booster
seat manufacturer's instructions.
INSTALLING CHILD SEATS
Using LAP AND SHOULDER BELTS
WARNINGS
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child seat. NEVER place a rear-facing
child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat
in the front seat, move the seat all the way
back.
WARNINGS
Children 12 and under should be
properly restrained in the rear seat
whenever possible.
Depending on where you secure a
child restraint, and depending on the
child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle
assemblies and LATCH lower anchors,
rendering those features potentially
unusable. To avoid risk of injury, occupants
should only use seating positions where
they are able to be properly restrained.
19
Child Safety
E142596
E142597

10. Before placing the child in the seat,forcibly move the seat forward and
back to make sure the seat is securely
held in place. To check this, grab the
seat at the belt path and attempt to
move it side to side and forward and
back. There should be no more than
1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of movement
for proper installation.
Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is properly installed. In Canada,
check with your local St. John Ambulance
office for referral to a Certified Passenger
Seat Technician.
Using Lower Anchors AND Tethers
FOR CHildren (LATCH)
WARNINGS
Never attach two child safety seats
to the same anchor. In a crash, one
anchor may not be strong enough to
hold two child safety seat attachments
and may break, causing serious injury or
death.
Depending on where you secure a
child restraint, and depending on the
child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle
assemblies or LATCH lower anchors,
rendering those features potentially
unusable. To avoid risk of injury, occupants
should only use seating positions where
they are able to be properly restrained.
The LATCH system is composed of three
vehicle anchor points: two (2) lower
anchors located where the vehicle seat
back and seat cushion meet (called the
seat bight) and one (1) top tether anchor
located behind that seating position. LATCH compatible child safety seats have
two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that connect to the two lower
anchors at the LATCH equipped seating
positions in your vehicle. This type of
attachment method eliminates the need
to use safety belts to attach the child seat,
however the safety belt can still be used
to attach the child seat. For forward-facing
child seats, the top tether strap must also
be attached to the proper top tether
anchor, if a top tether strap has been
provided with your child seat.
Your vehicle has LATCH lower anchors for
child seat installation at the seating
positions marked with the child seat
symbol.
22
Child Safety
E142535
E144054

The LATCH anchors are located at the rear
section of the rear seat between the
cushion and seatback below the symbols
as shown. Follow the child seat
manufacturer's instructions to properly
install a child seat with LATCH
attachments. Follow the instructions on
attaching child safety seats with tether
straps.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the
child seat only to the anchors shown.
Use of Inboard Lower Anchors from the
Outboard Seating Positions (Center
Seating Use)
WARNING
The standardized spacing for LATCH
lower anchors is 11 inches (28
centimeters) center to center. Do not
use LATCH lower anchors for the center
seating position unless the child seat
manufacturer's instructions permit and
specify using anchors spaced at least as
far apart as those in this vehicle.
The lower anchors at the center of the
second row rear seat are spaced 18 inches
(46 centimeters) apart. A child seat with
rigid LATCH attachments cannot be
installed at the center seating position.
LATCH compatible child seats (with
attachments on belt webbing) can only be
used at this seating position provided that
the child seat manufacturer's instructions
permit use with the anchor spacing stated.
Do not attach a child seat to any lower
anchor if an adjacent child seat is attached
to that anchor.
Each time you use the safety seat, check
that the seat is properly attached to the
lower anchors and tether anchor, if
applicable. Tug the child seat from side to
side and forward and back where it is
secured to the vehicle. The seat should
move less than one inch when you do this
for a proper installation. If the safety seat is not anchored properly,
the risk of a child being injured in a crash
greatly increases.
Combining Safety Belt and LATCH
Lower Anchors for Attaching Child
Safety Seats
When used in combination, either the
safety belt or the LATCH lower anchors
may be attached first, provided a proper
installation is achieved. Attach the tether
strap afterward, if included with the child
seat.
Using Tether Straps
Many forward-facing child safety
seats include a tether strap
which extends from the back of
the child safety seat and hooks to an
anchoring point called the top tether
anchor. Tether straps are available as an
accessory for many older safety seats.
Contact the manufacturer of your child
seat for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether
strap if the tether strap on your safety seat
does not reach the appropriate top tether
anchor in the vehicle.
Once the child safety seat has been
installed using either the safety belt, the
lower anchors of the LATCH system, or
both, you can attach the top tether strap.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle
are in the following positions (shown from
top view):
23
Child Safety

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
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 airbag supplemental restraint
system 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.
When possible, all children 12 years
old and under should be properly
restrained in a rear seating position.
WARNINGS
Safety belts and seats can become
hot in a vehicle that has been closed
up in sunny weather; they could burn
a small child. Check seat covers and
buckles before you place a child anywhere
near them.
Front and rear seat occupants,
including pregnant women, should
wear safety belts for optimum
protection in an accident.
All seating positions in this vehicle have
lap and shoulder safety belts. All
occupants of the vehicle should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when
an airbag supplemental restraint system
is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
• Lap and shoulder safety belts.
• Shoulder safety belt with automatic
locking mode, (except driver safety
belt).
• Height adjuster at the front outboard
seating positions.
• Retractor and anchor pretensioner at
the front outboard seating positions.
• Belt tension sensor at the front
outboard passenger seating position.
•Safety belt warning light and chime.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
26
Safety Belts