2013 FORD FLEX belt

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.
Refer toInstalling child safety seats with tether strapslater in this
chapter.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child seat only to the anchors
shown.
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.
INSTALLING CHILD SAFETY SEATS WITH 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.
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PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seatback upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety
belt.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
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WARNING: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.
WARNING: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 and
rear inflatable 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. Refer toSafety Belt
Warning Light and Indicator Chimelater in this chapter.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. Refer toCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorin
theSupplemental Restraint Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners and rear inflatable safety belts are designed
to activate in frontal, near-frontal and side collisions, and in rollovers.
The safety belt pretensioners on the retractor and anchor at the front
seating positions are designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against
the occupant’s body when activated. This helps increase the effectiveness
of the safety belts. In frontal collisions, the safety belt pretensioners can
be activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient severity, together
with the front airbags.
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FASTENING THE SAFETY BELTS
The front outboard and rear safety restraints in the vehicle are
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.
2. To unfasten, press the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
Restraint of Pregnant Women
WARNING:Always ride and drive with your seatback upright
and the safety belt properly fastened. The lap portion of the
safety belt should fit snug and be positioned low across the hips. The
shoulder portion of the safety belt should be positioned across the
chest. Pregnant women should also follow this practice. See the
following figure.
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Pregnant women should always
wear their safety belt. The lap belt
portion of a combination lap and
shoulder belt should be positioned
low across the hips below the belly
and worn as tight as comfort will
allow. The shoulder belt should be
positioned to cross the middle of
the shoulder and the center of the
chest.
Safety Belt Locking Modes
WARNING:After any vehicle collision, the safety belt system at
all passenger seating positions must be checked by an authorized
dealer to verify that the automatic locking retractor feature for child
seats is still functioning properly. In addition, all safety belts should be
checked for proper function.
WARNING:BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE
REPLACED if the safety belt assembly automatic locking
retractor feature or any other safety belt function is not operating
properly when checked by an authorized dealer. Failure to replace the
belt and retractor assembly could increase the risk of injury in
collisions.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts.
The driver safety belt has the first locking mode and the front outboard
passenger and rear seat safety belts have both types of locking modes
described as follows:
Vehicle sensitive mode:This is the normal retractor mode, which
allows free shoulder or lap 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 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the combination safety
belts will lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and
passengers.
In addition, the retractor(s) is designed to lock if the webbing is pulled
out too quickly. If this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and pull
webbing out again in a slow and controlled manner.
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Automatic locking mode:In this mode, the shoulder belt or lap belt is
automatically pre-locked. The belt will still retract to remove any slack in
the shoulder or lap belt. The automatic locking mode is not available on
the driver safety belt.
When to use the automatic locking mode:This mode should be used
any timea child safety seat, except a booster, is installed in passenger
front or rear seating positions. Children 12 years old and under should be
properly restrained in a rear seating position whenever possible.
How to use the automatic locking mode
Non-inflatable safety belts
•Buckle the combination lap and shoulder
belt.
•Grasp the shoulder portion of the belt and
pull downward until the entire belt is pulled
out. As the belt retracts, you will hear a
clicking sound. This indicates the safety belt
is now in the automatic locking mode.
Rear outboard inflatable safety belts (second row only–if equipped)
•Buckle the combination lap and shoulder
belt.
•Grasp the lap portion of the belt and pull
upward until the entire belt is pulled out.
•Allow 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.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode: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.
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Safety Belt Extension Assembly
WARNING:Do not use extensions to change the fit of the
shoulder belt across the torso.
WARNING:Do not use extensions with an inflatable safety belt.
Safety belt extensions are vehicle specific. Please see an authorized
dealer to ensure you obtain the proper safety belt extension for your
vehicle. Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the
safety belt. A safety belt extension is not available for the inflatable
safety belt. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is
too short for you when fully extended.
SAFETY BELT HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
WARNING:Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the safety belt
and increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Adjust the height of the shoulder
belt so the belt rests across the
middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height, squeeze the button and slide the
height adjuster up or down. Release the button and pull down on the
height adjuster to make sure it is locked in place.
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SAFETY BELT WARNING LIGHT AND INDICATOR CHIME
This lamp illuminates and an audible warning will sound if the
driver’s safety belt has not been fastened when the vehicle’s
ignition is turned on.
Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
SAFETY BELT-MINDER
This feature supplements the safety belt warning function by providing
additional reminders by intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating
the safety belt warning light when the driver’s or front passenger’s seat is
occupied and the safety belt is unbuckled.
The system uses information from the front passenger sensing system to
determine if a front seat passenger is present and therefore potentially in
need of a warning. To avoid activating the Belt-Minderfeature for
objects placed in the front passenger seat, warnings will only be given to
large front seat occupants as determined by the front passenger sensing
system.
If the Belt-Minderwarnings have expired (warnings for approximately
five minutes) for one occupant (driver or front passenger), the other
occupant can still activate the Belt-Minderfeature.
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