2017 FORD FLEX belt

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
SEATBELT 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 266).
SEATBELT EXTENSION WARNINGS
Persons who fit into the vehicle's
seatbelt should not use an extension.
Unnecessary use could result in
serious personal injury in the event of a
crash. Only use extensions provided free of
charge by Ford Motor Company
dealers. The dealer will provide an
extension designed specifically for this
vehicle, model year and seating position.
The use of an extension intended for
another vehicle, model year or seating
position may not offer you the full
protection of your vehicle ’s seatbelt
restraint system. Never use seatbelt extensions to
install child restraints.
Do not use a seatbelt extension with
an inflatable seatbelt.
Do not use extensions to change the
fit of the belt across the torso, over
the lap or to make the seatbelt
buckle easier to reach. 41
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If, because of body size or driving position,
it is not possible to properly fasten the
seatbelt over your lap and shoulder, an
extension that is compatible with the
seatbelts is available free of charge from
Ford Motor Company dealers. Only Ford
seatbelt extensions made by the original
equipment seatbelts manufacturer should
be used with Ford seatbelts. Ask your
authorized dealer if your extension is
compatible with your Ford vehicle restraint
system.
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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 seat outboard safety belts with
pretensioners, energy management
retractors (first row only) 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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™

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. 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.
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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 50). 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. 45
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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 seatback 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 seatback, 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 seat and
seatbelt to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine
if the front passenger frontal airbag should
be enabled (may inflate) or not.
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.
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•
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 seat, but the airbag OFF
indicator lamp is lit, it is possible that the
person is not sitting properly in the seat. If
this happens:
• Turn the vehicle off and ask the person
to place the seatback 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 frontal airbag.
• If the indicator OFF lamp remains lit
even after this, the person should be
advised to ride in the rear seat. Passenger airbag
Passenger airbag status
indicator
Occupant
Disabled
OFF: Lit
Empty
ON: Unlit Disabled
OFF: Lit
Child
ON: Unlit Enabled
OFF: Unlit
Adult
ON: Lit
Note: When the passenger airbag status
indicator OFF light is illuminated, the
passenger (seat mounted) side airbag may
be disabled to avoid the risk of airbag
deployment injuries. After all occupants have adjusted their
seats and put on seatbelts, it is very
important that they continue to sit
properly. A properly seated occupant sits
upright, leaning against the seatback, and
centered on the seat cushion, with their
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•
Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator. See Crash
Sensors and Airbag Indicator (page
50
).
Note: The passenger sensing system will
deactivate the passenger seat-mounted
side airbag if it detects an empty passenger
seat.
The design and development of the side
airbag system included recommended
testing procedures that were developed
by a group of automotive safety experts
known as the Side Airbag Technical
Working Group. These recommended
testing procedures help reduce the risk of
injuries related to the deployment of side
airbags.
SAFETY CANOPY™ WARNINGS
Do not place objects or mount
equipment on or near the headliner
at the siderail that may come into
contact with a deploying curtain airbag.
Failure to follow these instructions may
increase the risk of personal injury in the
event of a crash. Do not lean your head on the door.
The curtain airbag could injure you
as it deploys from the headliner.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the curtain airbags, its fuses,
the A, B, C or D pillar trim, or the
headliner on a vehicle containing curtain
airbags as you could be seriously injured
or killed. Contact your authorized dealer
as soon as possible. WARNINGS
All occupants of your vehicle
including the driver should always
wear their safety belts even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system and
curtain airbag is provided. Failure to
properly wear your safety belt could
seriously increase the risk of injury or death. To reduce risk of injury, do not
obstruct or place objects in the
deployment path of the curtain
airbag. If the curtain airbags have deployed,
the curtain airbags will not function
again. The curtain airbags (including
the A, B, C and D pillar trim and headliner)
must be inspected and serviced by an
authorized dealer. If the curtain airbag is
not replaced, the unrepaired area will
increase the risk of injury in a crash. The Safety Canopy will deploy during
significant side crashes or when a certain
likelihood of a rollover event is detected
by the rollover sensor. The Safety Canopy
is mounted to the roof side-rail sheet
metal, behind the headliner, above each
row of seats. In certain sideways crashes
or rollover events, the Safety Canopy will
be activated, regardless of which seats are
occupied. The Safety Canopy is designed
to inflate between the side window area
and occupants to further enhance
protection provided in side impact crashes
and rollover events.
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