PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
Always drive and ride with your seat
back 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 your vehicle
is moving. The passenger cannot protect
the child from injury in a crash. 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. 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. 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.
Failure to follow this could seriously
increase the risk of injury or death. 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 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).
29
MKZ (CC9) Safety Belts
•
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. •
Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
The safety belt pretensioners at the front
seating positions are designed to tighten
the safety belts when activated. In frontal
and near-frontal crashes, the safety belt
pretensioners may be activated alone or,
if the crash is of sufficient severity,
together with the front airbags. The
pretensioners may also activate when a
side curtain airbag is deployed.
FASTENING THE SAFETY BELTS
Standard belts shown, inflatable belts
similar
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 you securely fasten the
tongue in the buckle. 2. To unfasten, press the release button
and remove the tongue from the
buckle.
30
MKZ (CC9) Safety Belts E142587 E142588
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 crash of sufficient force, the
inflatable belt will inflate from inside the
webbing.
The fully inflated belt's increased diameter
more effectively holds the occupant in the
appropriate seating position, and spreads
crash forces over more area of the body
than regular safety belts. This helps reduce
pressure on the chest and helps control
head and neck motion for passengers.
WARNING
If the rear inflatable safety belt has
deployed, it will not function again.
The rear inflatable safety belt system must
be replaced by an authorized dealer. 33
MKZ (CC9) Safety BeltsE146364 E146365
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 may activate either
one or both stages of the dual-stage
airbag supplemental restraints based on
crash severity and occupant conditions.
38
MKZ (CC9) Personal Safety System
™
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
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. 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. Always transport children 12 years
old and under in the back seat and
always properly use appropriate child
restraints. Failure to follow this could
seriously increase the risk of injury or
death. Never place your arm over the
airbag module as a deploying airbag
can result in serious arm fractures or other
injuries. 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. 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. Several airbag system components
get hot after inflation. To reduce the
risk of injury, do not touch them after
inflation. WARNINGS
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
39
MKZ (CC9) Supplementary Restraints System
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.
DRIVER AND PASSENGER
AIRBAGS
WARNINGS
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. 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.
• front passenger sensing system. · crash sensors and monitoring
system with readiness indicator.
See Crash Sensors and Airbag
Indicator (page 46).
Proper Driver and Front Passenger
Seating Adjustment WARNING
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance of at
least 10 inches (25 centimeters) between
an occupant’ s chest and the driver airbag
module. 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.
A properly seated occupant sits upright,
leaning against the seat back, and
centered on the seat cushion, with their
feet comfortably extended on the floor.
Sitting improperly can increase the chance
40
MKZ (CC9) Supplementary Restraints SystemE151127
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. FRONT PASSENGER SENSING
SYSTEM WARNINGS
Even with Advanced Restraints
Systems, children 12 and under
should be properly restrained in a rear
seating position. Failure to follow this
could seriously increase the risk of injury
or death. Sitting improperly out of position or
with the seat back reclined too far
can take off weight from the seat cushion
and affect the decision of the front
passenger sensing system, resulting in
serious injury or death in a crash. Always
sit upright against your seat back, with
your feet on the floor. Any alteration or modification to the
front passenger seat may affect the
performance of the front passenger
sensing system which could seriously
increase the risk of injury or death. This system works with sensors that are
part of the front passenger’
s seat and
safety belt to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine
if the front passenger’ s frontal airbag
should be enabled (may inflate) or not. 41
MKZ (CC9) Supplementary Restraints SystemE142846 E151849
The front passenger sensing system uses
a passenger airbag status indicator that
will illuminate indicating that the front
passenger frontal airbag is either ON
(enabled) or OFF (disabled).
The indicator lamp is located in the center
stack of the instrument panel.
Note:
The passenger airbag status
indicator OFF and ON indicator lamps will
illuminate for a short period of time when
the ignition is first turned on to confirm it
is functional.
The front passenger sensing system is
designed to disable (will not inflate) the
front passenger's frontal airbag when the
front passenger seat is unoccupied, or a
rear facing infant seat, a forward-facing
child restraint, or a booster seat is
detected. Even with this technology,
parents are strongly encouraged to always
properly restrain children in the rear seat.
The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and seat-mounted side airbag
when the passenger seat is empty.
• When the front passenger sensing
system disables (will not inflate) the
front passenger frontal airbag, the
passenger airbag status indicator will
illuminate the OFF lamp and stay lit to
remind you that the front passenger
frontal airbag is disabled.
• If the child restraint has been installed
and the passenger airbag status
indicator illuminates the ON lamp, then
turn the vehicle off, remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall
the restraint following the child
restraint manufacturer's instructions. The front passenger sensing system is
designed to enable (may inflate) the front
passenger's frontal airbag anytime the
system senses that a person of adult size
is sitting properly in the front passenger
seat.
•
When the front passenger sensing
system enables the front passenger
frontal airbag (may inflate), the
passenger airbag status indicator will
illuminate the ON lamp and remain
illuminated.
If a person of adult size is sitting in the
front passenger’ s seat, but the airbag off
indicator lamp is lit, it is possible that the
person isn ’t sitting properly in the seat. If
this happens:
• Turn the vehicle off and ask the person
to place the seat back in the full
upright position.
• Have the person sit upright in the seat,
centered on the seat cushion, with the
person ’s legs comfortably extended.
• Restart the vehicle and have the
person remain in this position for about
two minutes. This will allow the system
to detect that person and enable the
passenger’ s frontal airbag.
• If the indicator OFF lamp remains lit
even after this, the person should be
advised to ride in the rear seat.
42
MKZ (CC9) Supplementary Restraints System