
Deactivating and Activating the
Belt-Minder Feature
WARNING
While the system allows you to
deactivate it, this system is designed
to improve your chances of being
safely belted and surviving an accident.
We recommend you leave the system
activated for yourself and others who may
use your vehicle. Note:
The driver and front passenger
warnings switch on and off independently.
When you perform this procedure for one
seating position, do not buckle the other
position as this will terminate the process.
Read Steps 1 - 4 thoroughly before
proceeding with the programming
procedure.
Before following the procedure, make sure
that:
• The parking brake is set.
• The transmission is in park (P).
• The ignition is off.
• The driver and front passenger safety
belts are unbuckled.
1. Switch the ignition on. Do not start the
engine.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off (about one minute). After
Step 2, wait an additional five seconds
before proceeding with Step 3. Once
you start Step 3, you must complete
the procedure within 60 seconds.
3. For the seating position you are switching off, buckle then unbuckle the
safety belt three times at a moderate
speed, ending in the unbuckled state.
After Step 3, the safety belt warning
light turns on. 4. While the safety belt warning light is
on, buckle and then unbuckle the
safety belt. After Step 4, the safety belt
warning light flashes for confirmation.
• This will switch the feature off for that
seating position if it is currently on.
• This will switch the feature on for that
seating position if it is currently off.
CHILD RESTRAINT AND
SAFETY BELT MAINTENANCE
Inspect the vehicle safety belts and child
safety seat systems periodically to make
sure they work properly and are not
damaged. Inspect the vehicle and child
seat safety belts to make sure there are no
nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary.
All vehicle safety belt assemblies, including
retractors, buckles, front safety belt buckle
assemblies, buckle support assemblies
(slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt
height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder
belt guide on seat back (if equipped), child
safety seat LATCH and tether anchors, and
attaching hardware, should be inspected
after a crash. Read the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions for additional
inspection and maintenance information
specific to the child restraint.
Ford Motor Company recommends that
all safety belt assemblies in use in vehicles
involved in a crash be replaced. However,
if the crash was minor and an authorized
dealer finds that the belts do not show
damage and continue to operate properly,
they do not need to be replaced. Safety
belt assemblies not in use during a crash
should also be inspected and replaced if
either damage or improper operation is
noted.
Properly care for safety belts. See Vehicle
Care (page 234).
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Safety Belts

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.
The Vehicle Personal Safety System
consists of:
•
Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag
supplemental restraints.
• Front seat outboard safety belts with
pretensioners, energy management
retractors and safety belt usage
sensors.
• Driver 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 sensors, 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 the 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
deploy the safety belt pretensioners, one
or both stages of the dual-stage airbags
based on crash severity and occupant
conditions.
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Personal Safety System
™

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 42). 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
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. 36
Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Supplementary Restraints SystemE151127

The conditions listed above may cause the
weight of a properly seated occupant to
be incorrectly interpreted by the passenger
sensing system. The person in the front
passenger seat may appear heavier or
lighter due to the conditions described in
the list above.
Make sure the front passenger
sensing system is operating
properly. See Crash Sensors
and Airbag Indicator (page 42).
If the airbag readiness lamp is lit, do
the following:
Check for objects that are lodged
underneath the front passenger seat, or
cargo interfering with the seat.
If there are lodged objects, or cargo is
interfering with the seat, take the following
steps to remove the obstruction:
• Pull the vehicle over.
• Turn the vehicle off.
• Driver or adult passengers should
check for any objects lodged
underneath the front passenger seat
or cargo interfering with the seat.
• Remove the obstruction(s) (if found).
• Restart the vehicle.
• Wait at least two minutes and verify
that the airbag readiness lamp is no
longer illuminated.
• If the airbag readiness lamp remains
illuminated, this may or may not be a
problem due to the front passenger
sensing system.
Do not attempt to repair or service the
system; take your vehicle immediately to
an authorized dealer.
If it is necessary to modify an advanced
front airbag system to accommodate a
person with disabilities, contact your
authorized dealer. SIDE AIRBAGS WARNINGS
Do not place objects or mount
equipment on or near the airbag
cover, on the side of the seatbacks
(of the front seats), or in front seat areas
that may come into contact with a
deploying airbag. Failure to follow these
instructions may increase the risk of
personal injury in the event of a crash. Do not use accessory seat covers.
The use of accessory seat covers
may prevent the deployment of the
side airbags and increase the risk of injury
in an accident. Do not lean your head on the door.
The side airbag could injure you as it
deploys from the side of the
seatback. Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the airbag, its fuses or the
seat cover on a seat containing an
airbag as you could be seriously injured or
killed. Contact your authorized dealer as
soon as possible. If the side airbag has deployed, the
airbag will not function again. The
side airbag system (including the
seat) must be inspected and serviced by
an authorized dealer. If the airbag is not
replaced, the unrepaired area will increase
the risk of injury in a crash. The side airbags are located on the
outboard side of the seatbacks of the front
seats. In certain sideways crashes, the
airbag on the side affected by the crash
will be inflated. The airbag was designed
to inflate between the door panel and
occupant to further enhance the protection
provided occupants in side impact crashes.
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Supplementary Restraints System

CRASH SENSORS AND
AIRBAG INDICATOR
WARNING
Modifying or adding equipment to
the front end of the vehicle (including
frame, bumper, front end body
structure and tow hooks) may affect the
performance of the airbag system,
increasing the risk of injury. Do not modify
the front end of the vehicle. Your vehicle has a collection of crash and
occupant sensors which provide
information to the restraints control
module. The restraints control module
deploys (activates) the front safety belt
pretensioners, driver airbag, passenger
airbag, knee airbag(s), seat mounted side
airbags and Safety Canopy airbags. Based
on the type of crash (frontal impact or side
impact), the restraints control module will
deploy the appropriate safety devices.
The restraints control module also
monitors the readiness of the above safety
devices plus the crash and occupant
sensors. The readiness of the safety
system is indicated by a warning indicator
light in the instrument cluster or by a
backup tone if the warning light is not
working. Routine maintenance of the
airbag is not required.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by
one or more of the following:
The readiness light will not
illuminate immediately after the
ignition is turned on.
• The readiness light will either flash or
stay lit.
• A series of five beeps will be heard. The
tone pattern will repeat periodically
until the problem, the light or both are
repaired. If any of these things happen, even
intermittently, have the supplemental
restraint system serviced at an authorized
dealer immediately. Unless serviced, the
system may not function properly in the
event of a crash.
The safety belt pretensioners and the front
airbag supplemental restraint system are
designed to activate when the vehicle
sustains frontal deceleration sufficient to
cause the restraints control module to
deploy a safety device.
The fact that the safety belt pretensioners
or front airbags did not activate for both
front seat occupants in a crash does not
mean that something is wrong with the
system. Rather, it means the restraints
control module determined the accident
conditions (crash severity, belt usage)
were not appropriate to activate these
safety devices.
•
The design of the front airbags is to
activate only in frontal and near-frontal
crashes (not rollovers, side impacts or
rear impacts unless the crash causes
sufficient frontal deceleration).
• The safety belt pretensioners are
designed to activate in frontal,
near-frontal and side crashes.
• The knee airbag(s) may deploy based
on crash severity and occupant
conditions.
• The design of the side airbags is to
inflate in certain side crashes. The
design of the Safety Canopy is to
inflate in certain side impact crashes
and when a certain likelihood of
rollover is detected by the rollover
sensor. Side airbags and Safety Canopy
airbags may activate in other types of
crashes if the vehicle experiences
sufficient sideways motion or
deformation.
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Supplementary Restraints System

LOCKING AND UNLOCKING
You can use the power door lock control
or the remote control to lock and unlock
your vehicle.
Power Door Locks
The power door lock control is on the driver
and front passenger door panels.
Unlock
A
Lock
B
Door Lock Indicator
An LED on the instrument panel will light
when you lock the doors. It is not a
functional control.
Remote Control
Unlocking the Doors (Two-Stage
Unlock) Press the button to unlock the
driver door.
Press the button again within
three seconds to unlock all doors. The turn
signals will flash. Press and hold both the lock and unlock
buttons on the remote control for four
seconds to disable or enable two-stage
unlocking. Disabling two-stage unlocking
allows all vehicle doors to unlock with one
press of the button. The turn signals will
flash twice to indicate a change to the
unlocking mode. The unlocking mode
applies to the remote control, keyless entry
keypad and intelligent access.
Intelligent access at the driver door will
unlock all doors when you disable
two-stage unlocking.
Locking the Doors
Press the button to lock all the
doors. The turn signals will flash.
Press the button again within
three seconds to confirm that all the doors
are closed. The doors will lock again, the
horn will sound and the turn signals will
flash if all the doors and the luggage
compartment are closed.
Note: If locking was not successful or any
door or the liftgate is open, or if the hood is
open on vehicles with a perimeter alarm or
remote start, the horn will sound twice and
the lamps will not flash.
Liftgate WARNINGS
Make sure all persons are clear of the
liftgate area before using the liftgate
control.
Make sure to close and latch the
liftgate to prevent drawing exhaust
fumes into your vehicle. This will also
prevent passengers and cargo from falling
out. If you must drive with the liftgate open,
keep the vents or windows open so outside
air comes into your vehicle. Failure to
follow this warning could result in serious
personal injury. 55
Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing LocksE138628 E138629 E138623

Autounlock (If Equipped)
The autounlock feature will unlock all the
doors when:
•
the ignition is on, all the doors are
closed, and your vehicle has been in
motion at a speed greater than 4 mph
(7 km/h);
• your vehicle comes to a stop and you
switch the ignition off or to accessory;
and
• you open the driver door within 10
minutes of the switching the ignition
off or to accessory.
Note: The doors will not autounlock if you
electronically lock your vehicle after you
switch the ignition off and before you open
the driver door.
Enabling or Disabling Autolock and
Autounlock
Note: Your authorized dealer can perform
this procedure, or you can do the procedure
yourself.
To enable or disable these features, do the
following:
Note: You will have 30 seconds to
complete the procedure.
1. Switch the ignition on.
2. Press the power door unlock button three times.
3. Switch the ignition off.
4. Press the power door unlock button three times.
5. Switch the ignition on. The horn will sound indicating your vehicle is in
programming mode.
Autolock: Press the power door unlock
button then the lock button. The horn will
sound once if disabled or twice (one short
and one long) if enabled. Autounlock:
Press the power door lock
button then the unlock button. The horn
will sound once if disabled or twice (one
short and one long) if enabled.
After programming the feature, switch the
ignition off. The horn will sound once
indicating programming is complete.
Note: You can enable or disable the
autounlock feature independently of the
autolock feature.
Illuminated Entry
The interior lamps and select exterior
lamps will illuminate when you unlock the
doors with the remote entry system.
The illuminated entry system will turn off
the lights if:
• you start your vehicle,
• you press the remote control lock
button, or
• after 25 seconds of illumination.
The lights will not turn off if:
• you turn them on with the lamp control,
or
• any door is open.
Illuminated Exit
The interior lamps and select exterior
lamps will illuminate when all doors are
closed and you switch the ignition off.
The lamps will turn off if all the doors
remain closed and:
• 25 seconds elapse, or
• you lock your vehicle from the outside.
Battery Saver
If you leave the courtesy lamps or dome
lamps on and switch the ignition off, the
battery saver shuts them off after some
time.
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing Locks

POWER LIFTGATE (If Equipped)
WARNINGS
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. Make
sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat
and properly using a safety belt. Failure to
follow this warning could result in serious
personal injury or death. Make sure to close and latch the
liftgate to prevent drawing exhaust
fumes into your vehicle. This will also
prevent passengers and cargo from falling
out. If you must drive with the liftgate open,
keep the vents or windows open so outside
air comes into your vehicle. Failure to
follow this warning could result in serious
personal injury. Keep keys out of reach of children.
Do not allow children to operate or
play near an open or moving power
liftgate. You should supervise the
operation of the power liftgate at all times. Note:
Make sure that you close the liftgate
before operating or moving your vehicle,
especially in an enclosure, like a garage or
a parking structure. This could damage the
liftgate and its components.
Note: Do not hang anything, for example
a bike rack, from the glass or liftgate. This
could damage the liftgate and its
components.
The liftgate only operates with the
transmission in park (P).
Three warning tones sound once as the
liftgate begins to power close. Five short
chimes indicate a problem with the open
or close request, caused by: •
The ignition is on and the transmission
is not in park (P).
• The battery voltage is below the
minimum operating voltage.
• The vehicle speed is at or above 1 mph
(1 km/h)
.
If the liftgate starts to close after it has
fully opened, this indicates there may be
excessive weight on the liftgate or a
possible gas strut failure. A repetitive
chime sounds and the liftgate closes under
control. Remove any excessive weight from
the liftgate. If the liftgate continues to
close after opening, have the system
checked by an authorized dealer.
Opening and Closing the Liftgate WARNING
Make sure all persons are clear of the
power liftgate area before using the
power liftgate control.
Note:
Be careful when opening or closing
the liftgate in a garage or other enclosed
area to avoid damaging the liftgate.
Note: Do not leave the liftgate open while
driving. This could damage the liftgate and
its components.
From the Instrument Panel Press the button on the
instrument panel near the
lighting control.
With the Remote Control Press the button twice within
three seconds.
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Escape/Kuga (TM2), enUSA, First Printing LocksE211694 E138630