
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. 4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest
to the direction the tongue is
coming from) for that seating
position until you hear a snap and
feel the latch engage. Make sure
the tongue is latched securely by
pulling on it. 5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
grasp the lap portion of the
inflatable safety belt and pull
upward until all of the belt is pulled
out.
Note: The automatic locking mode is
available on the front passenger and
rear seats.
Note: Unlike the standard safety belt,
the inflatable safety belt's unique lap
portion locks the child seat for
installation. The ability for the shoulder
portion of the belt to move freely is
normal, even after the lap belt has
been put into the automatic locking
mode.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove
slack. The belt will click as it
retracts to indicate it is in the
automatic locking mode.
7. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the
retractor is in the automatic
locking mode (you should not be
able to pull more belt out). If the
retractor is not locked, unbuckle
the belt and repeat Steps 5 and 6.
25
Child SafetyE142530 E146523 E146524

8.
Remove remaining slack from the
belt. Force the seat down with
extra weight, for example, by
pressing down or kneeling on the
child restraint while pulling down
on the lap belt in order to force
slack from the belt. This is
necessary to remove the remaining
slack that will exist once the extra
weight of the child is added to the
child restraint. It also helps to
achieve the proper snugness of the
child seat to your vehicle.
Sometimes, a slight lean toward
the buckle will additionally help to
remove remaining slack from the
belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child
seat is equipped). 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
collision, 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. 26
Child SafetyE146525 E142534

Note:
If you install a child seat with
rigid LATCH attachments, do not
tighten the tether strap enough to lift
the child seat off your vehicle seat
cushion when the child is seated in it.
Keep the tether strap just snug without
lifting the front of the child seat.
Keeping the child seat just touching
your vehicle seat gives the best
protection in a severe crash.
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat. For
outboard seating positions, route
the tether strap under the head
restraint and between the head
restraint posts. For the center
seating positions, route the tether
strap over the top of the head
restraint. If needed, the head
restraints can also be removed. 2. Locate the correct anchor for the
selected seating position, then
open the tether anchor cover. 3.
Clip the tether strap to the anchor
as shown.
4. Tighten the child safety seat tether
strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
If your child restraint system is
equipped with a tether strap, and the
child restraint manufacturer
recommends its use, Ford also
recommends its use.
CHILD SAFETY LOCKS
When these locks are set, the rear
doors cannot be opened from the
inside. The childproof locks are located on
the rear edge of each rear door and
must be set separately for each door.
Left-Hand Side
Turn counterclockwise to lock and
clockwise to unlock.
29
Child SafetyE144274 E144275 E112197

Right-Hand Side
Turn clockwise to lock and
counterclockwise to unlock.
30
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. WARNINGS
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. 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).
31
Safety Belts

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. 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 WARNINGS
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. 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 type
of locking mode, and the front
outboard passenger and rear seat
safety belts have both types of locking
modes described as follows:
33
Safety BeltsE142590

Vehicle Sensitive Mode
This is the normal retractor mode,
which allows free shoulder 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 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.
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
This mode should be used any time a
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. See Child Safety
(page 15).
How to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
Non-inflatable safety belts
1. Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion 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) 1. Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
34
Safety BeltsE142591 E146363

2. Grasp the lap portion of the belt
and pull upward until the entire
belt is pulled out.
3. 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 and
shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the
automatic locking mode and activate
the vehicle sensitive (emergency)
locking mode.
Rear Inflatable Safety Belt (If
Equipped) WARNING
Do not attempt to service, repair,
or modify the rear inflatable
safety belt. The rear inflatable safety belts are
fitted in the shoulder portion of the
safety belts of the second-row
outboard seating positions.
Note:
The rear inflatable safety belts
are compatible with most infant and
child safety car seats and belt
positioning booster seats when
properly installed. This is because they
are designed to fill with a cooled gas
at a lower pressure and at a slower rate
than traditional airbags. After inflation,
the shoulder portion of the safety belt
remains cool to the touch. The rear inflatable safety belt consists
of the following:
•
An inflatable bag located in the
shoulder safety belt webbing.
• Lap safety belt webbing with
automatic locking mode.
• The same warning light, electronic
control and diagnostic unit as used
for the front safety belts.
• Impact sensors located in various
parts of the vehicle.
How does the rear inflatable safety
belt system work?
The rear inflatable safety belts will
function like standard restraints in
everyday usage. During a collision of sufficient force,
the inflatable belt will inflate from
inside the webbing.
35
Safety BeltsE146364