front seat. This provides the protection of
seatbelts and permits the airbags to
provide the additional protection they were
designed to provide. If you choose to
deactivate your airbag, you are losing the
very significant risk reducing benefits of
the airbag and you are also reducing the
effectiveness of the seatbelts, because
seatbelts in modern vehicles are designed
to work as a safety system with the
airbags.
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration Deactivation Criteria
(Excluding Canada)
WARNING
This vehicle has special energy
management seatbelts for the driver
and right front passenger. These
particular seatbelts are specifically
designed to work with airbags to help
reduce the risk of injury in a crash. The
energy management seatbelt gives or
releases additional seatbelt webbing in
some accidents to reduce the
concentration of force on an occupant's
chest and to reduce the risk of certain bone
fractures and injuries to underlying organs.
In a crash, if the airbag is off, this energy
management seatbelt might permit the
passenger wearing the seatbelt to move
forward enough to have a serious or fatal
injury. The more severe the crash, and the
heavier the occupant, the greater the risk.
Make sure the airbag is on for any
passenger who does not qualify under the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration deactivation criteria. 1.
Infant. An infant (less than 1 year old)
must ride in the front seat because: •
The vehicle has no rear seat;
• The vehicle has a rear seat too small
to accommodate a rear-facing infant
seat; or
• The infant has a medical condition
which, according to the infant's
physician, makes it necessary for the
infant to ride in the front so that the
driver can constantly monitor the
child's condition.
2. Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must
ride in the front seat because:
• The vehicle has no rear seat;
• Although children ages 1 to 12 ride in
the rear seat(s) whenever possible,
children ages 1 to 12 sometimes must
ride in the front because no space is
available in the rear seat(s) of the
vehicle; or
• The child has a medical condition
which, according to the child's
physician, makes it necessary for the
child to ride in the front seat so that the
driver can constantly monitor the
child's condition.
3. Medical condition.
A passenger has a
medical condition which, according to his
or her physician:
• Causes the passenger airbag to pose
a special risk for the passenger;
• Makes the potential harm from the
passenger airbag in a crash greater
than the potential harm from turning
off the airbag and allowing the
passenger, even if belted, to hit the
dashboard or windshield in a crash.
48
Super Duty (TFE) Canada/United States of America, enUSA, First Printing Supplementary Restraints System
