2016 LINCOLN MKZ Owners Manual

WARNINGS
Do not use extensions with an
inflatable safety belt.
If the safety belt is too short when fully
extended, a safety belt extension assembly
can be obtained from an authorized dealer.
Use only extensions manufactured by the
same supplier as the safety belt.
Manufacturer identification is on a label
located either at the end of the webbing or
on the retractor behind the trim. Also, use
the safety belt extension only if the safety
belt is too short for you when fully extended.
SAFETY BELT HEIGHT
ADJUSTMENT
WARNING
Position the safety belt height adjusters
so that the belt rests across the middle
of your shoulder. Failure to adjust the safety
belt properly could reduce the effectiveness
of the safety belt and increase the risk of
injury in a crash.
Adjust the height of the shoulder belt so the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder.
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To adjust the shoulder belt height:
1. Press the button and slide the height adjuster up or down.
2. Release the button and pull down on the height adjuster to make sure it is locked
in place.
SAFETY BELT WARNING LAMP
AND INDICATOR CHIME
This lamp illuminates and an
audible warning will sound if the
driver's safety belt has not been
fastened when the vehicle's ignition is turned
on.
38
Safety Belts

Conditions of operation
Then...
If...
The safety belt warning light illuminates 1-2 minutes and the warning
chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver's safety belt is not buckled before the ignition switch is
turned to the on position...
The safety belt warning light and warning chime turn off.
The driver's safety belt is buckled while the indicator light is illuminated
and the warning chime is sounding...
The safety belt warning light and indicator chime remain off.
The driver's safety belt is buckled before the ignition switch is turned
to the on position...
SAFETY BELT MINDER
Belt-Minder™
This feature supplements the safety belt
warning function by providing additional
reminders that intermittently sound a tone
and illuminate the safety belt warning light
when you are in the driver seat or you have
a front seat passenger and a safety belt is
unbuckled. The system uses information from the front
passenger sensing system to determine if a
front seat passenger is present and therefore
potentially in need of a warning. To avoid
activating the Belt-Minder feature for objects
you place in the front passenger seat, only
the front seat passengers receive warnings
as determined by the front passenger
sensing system.
If the Belt-Minder warnings expire (warnings
for about five minutes) for one passenger
(driver or front passenger), the other
passenger can still cause the Belt-Minder
feature to turn on.
39
Safety Belts

Then...
If...
The Belt-Minder feature will not activate.
You and the front seat passenger buckle your safety belts before you
switch the ignition on or less than 1-2 minutes elapse after you switch
the ignition on...
The Belt-Minder feature activates, the safety belt warning light illumin\
-ates and a warning tone sounds for 6 seconds every 25 seconds,
repeating for about 5 minutes or until you and the front seat passenger buckle your safety belts.
You or the front seat passenger do not buckle your safety belts before
your vehicle reaches at least 6 mph (9.7 km/h) and 1-2 minutes elapse
after you switch the ignition on...
The Belt-Minder feature activates, the safety belt warning light illumin\
-ates and a warning tone sounds for 6 seconds every 25 seconds,
repeating for about 5 minutes or until you and the front seat passenger buckle your safety belts.
The safety belt for the driver or front passenger is unbuckled for about\
1 minute while the vehicle is traveling at least 6 mph (9.7 km/h) and more than 1-2 minutes elapse after you switch the ignition on...
40
Safety Belts

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 the
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) or neutral (N). • The ignition is off.
• The driver and front passenger safety
belts are unbuckled.
1. Switch the ignition on. Do not start the vehicle.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off (about one minute). After Step
2, wait an additional 5 seconds before
proceeding with Step 3. Once you start
Step 3, you must complete the procedure
within 30 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), rear inflatable safety belts (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.
41
Safety Belts

We recommend 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 Cleaning
the Interior (page 308).
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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 airbagsupplemental 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.
43
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.
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.
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.
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.
44
Supplementary Restraints System

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.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.
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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 52).
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Supplementary Restraints System