2016 LINCOLN MKC Seat belt buckle

•
You are required by law to properly use
safety seats for infants and toddlers in
the United States and Canada.
• Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster
seats until they reach age eight, a height
of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall, or 80
pounds (36 kilograms). Check your local
and state or provincial laws for specific
requirements about the safety of children
in your vehicle.
• When possible, always properly restrain
children 12 years of age and under in a
rear seating position of your vehicle.
Accident statistics suggest that children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in a front
seating position. See Front Passenger
Sensing System (page 44). 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 WARNINGS
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. 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. 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 and
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. 18
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Child SafetyE142594

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.
• Keep the buckle release button pointing
up and away from the safety seat, with
the tongue between the child seat and
the release button, to prevent accidental
unbuckling.
• Place the vehicle seat upon which the
child seat will be installed in the upright
position.
• Put the safety belt in the automatic
locking mode. See Step 5. This vehicle
does not require the use of a locking clip.
Perform the following steps when installing
the child seat with combination lap and
shoulder belts:
Note: Although the child seat illustrated is a
forward facing child seat, the steps are the
same for installing a rear facing child seat. 1. Position the child safety seat in a seat
with a combination lap and shoulder belt. 2.
Pull down on the shoulder belt and then
grasp the shoulder belt and lap belt
together. 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.
19
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Child SafetyE142528 E142529 E142530

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 shoulder portion
of the belt and pull downward until all of
the belt is pulled out.
Note: The automatic locking mode is
available on the front passenger and rear
seats.
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. 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 up on the shoulder 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
20
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Child SafetyE142531 E142875 E142533

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 crash, one
anchor may not be strong enough to hold
two child safety seat attachments and may
break, causing serious injury or death. WARNINGS
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. The LATCH system is composed of three
vehicle anchor points: two lower anchors
located where the seatback and seat cushion
meet (called the seat bight) and one top
tether anchor located behind that seating
position.
LATCH compatible child safety seats have
two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to the two lower anchors at the
LATCH equipped seating positions in your
vehicle. This type of attachment method
eliminates the need to use safety belts to
21
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Child SafetyE142534

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 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. 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. 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. 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. WARNINGS
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)
• height adjuster at the front outboard
seating positions
30
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Safety Belts

•
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 •
crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed
to activate in frontal, near-frontal and side
crashes, 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 crashes, the safety belt
pretensioners can be activated alone or, if
the crash is of sufficient severity, together
with the front airbags. 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. 31
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Safety Belts E142587 E142588 E142589

When in use, the rear safety belts should be
placed in the belt guides on the outboard
seatbacks.
Using a Sliding Clip (If Equipped)
Slide the clip away from the tongue so there
is no loose webbing when an occupant or
child seat is buckled up. You can also use
the sliding clip to raise the tongue and
prevent it from rattling or to ease access to
the tongue. Using Safety Belts During Pregnancy 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 crash, 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 crashes. 32
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Safety BeltsE200788 E142590

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:
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
about 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
16).
How to Use the Automatic Locking Mode 1.
Buckle the combination lap and shoulder
belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward 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.
33
MKC (TME), enUSA, First Printing Safety BeltsE142591