2014 FORD TAURUS airbag

INSTALLING CHILD SEATS
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).
Using Lap and Shoulder Belts
WARNING: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.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
WARNING: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.
When installing a child safety seat with combination lap and shoulder
belts:
•Use the correct safety belt buckle for that seating position.
•Insert 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.
24Child Safety
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while your vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a crash.
WARNING:It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, 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:Always drive and ride with your seat back 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:All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly
wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
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.
Safety Belts33
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. Failure
to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
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 your 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
•safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions
•belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.
•safety belt warning light and chime. SeeSafety belt warning
light and indicator chimelater in this chapter.
•crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash sensors and airbag indicatorin the
Supplemental Restraint Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal,
near-frontal and side crashes, and in rollovers. The safety belt
pretensioners 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 crashes, the
safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the crash is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
34Safety Belts
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

PERSONAL SAFETY SYSTEM™
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of frontal
crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help further
reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to analyze
different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating the
appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of occupants in
a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System consists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
•Front outboard safety belts with pretensioners, energy management
retractors (first row only), and safety belt usage sensors.
•Driver’s seat position sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system.
•Passenger airbag off and on indicator lamp.
•Front crash severity sensors.
•Restraints control module with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and backup tone.
•The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.
How Does the Personal Safety System Work?
The Personal Safety System can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the restraints control module. During a crash, the
restraints control module may activate the safety belt pretensioners
and/or either one or both stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental
restraints based on crash severity and occupant conditions.
42Personal Safety System
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Airbags do not inflate slowly or gently, and the risk
of injury from a deploying airbag is the greatest close to the trim
covering the airbag module.
WARNING:All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly
wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
WARNING:Never place your arm over the airbag module, as a
deploying airbag can result in serious arm fractures or other
injuries.
WARNING: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 upon which the child seat is installed all the way back.
WARNING:Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the
airbag supplemental restraint systems or its fuses as you could be
seriously injured or killed. Contact your authorized dealer as soon as
possible.
WARNING:Several airbag system components get hot after
inflation. Do not touch them after inflation as this may result in
serious injury.
Supplementary Restraints System43
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

WARNING:If the airbag has deployed, the airbag will not function
again and must be replaced immediately. If the airbag is not
replaced, the unrepaired area will increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The airbags are a supplemental restraint system and are designed to
work with the safety belts to help protect the driver and right front
passenger from certain upper body injuries. Airbags do not inflate slowly;
there is a risk of injury from a deploying airbag.
Note:You will hear a loud bang and see a cloud of harmless powdery
residue if an airbag deploys. This is normal.
The airbags inflate and deflate rapidly upon activation. After airbag
deployment, it is normal to notice a smoke-like, powdery residue or smell
the burnt propellant. This may consist of cornstarch, talcum powder (to
lubricate the bag) or sodium compounds (for example, baking soda) that
result from the combustion process that inflates the airbag. Small amounts
of sodium hydroxide may be present which may irritate the skin and eyes,
but none of the residue is toxic.
While the system is designed to help reduce serious injuries, contact with a
deploying airbag may also cause abrasions or swelling. Temporary hearing
loss is also a possibility as a result of the noise associated with a deploying
airbag. Because airbags must inflate rapidly and with considerable force,
there is the risk of death or serious injuries, such as fractures, facial and
eye injuries or internal injuries, particularly to occupants who are not
properly restrained or are otherwise out of position at the time of airbag
deployment. Thus, it is extremely important that occupants be properly
restrained as far away from the airbag module as possible while maintaining
vehicle control.
Routine maintenance of the airbags is not required.
SOS POST-CRASH ALERT SYSTEM™
The system flashes the turn signal lamps and sounds the horn
(intermittently) in the event of a serious impact that deploys an airbag
equipped on your vehicle, such as front, side, side curtain or Safety Canopy.
The horn and lamps will turn off when:
•you press the hazard control button
•you press the panic button (if equipped) on the remote entry
transmitter, or
•your vehicle runs out of power.
44Supplementary Restraints System
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

DRIVER AND PASSENGER AIRBAGS
WARNING:Never place your arm or any objects over an airbag
module. Placing your arm over a deploying airbag can result in
serious arm fractures or other injuries. Objects placed on or over the
airbag inflation area may cause those objects to be propelled by the
airbag into your face and torso causing serious injury.
WARNING: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 upon which the child seat is installed all the way back.
The driver and front passenger
airbags will deploy during significant
frontal and near-frontal crashes.
The driver and passenger front airbag system consists of:
•driver and passenger airbag modules
•crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorlater in
this chapter.
•front passenger sensing system
Proper Driver and Front Passenger Seating Adjustment
WARNING:The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
recommends a minimum distance of at least 10 inches
(25 centimeters) between an occupant’s chest and the driver airbag
module. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury
or death.
Supplementary Restraints System45
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)

To properly position yourself away from the airbag:
•Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
•Recline the seat slightly (one or two degrees) from the upright
position.
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on safety belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit properly. Properly seated
occupants sit upright, lean against the seat back, and center themselves
on the seat cushion, with their feet comfortably extended on the floor.
Sitting improperly can increase the chance of injury in a crash event. For
example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits forward,
leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the chance of
injury during a crash is greatly increased.
Children and Airbags
WARNING: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 upon which the child seat is installed all the way back.
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 crash.
46Supplementary Restraints System
2014 Taurus
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing, April 2013
USA(fus)