2017 FORD TAURUS Owners Manual

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
Always drive and ride with yourseatback upright and the lap beltsnug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, makesure children sit where they can beproperly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child onhis or her lap while your vehicle ismoving. The passenger cannotprotect the child from injury in a crash.
All occupants of your vehicle,including the driver, should alwaysproperly wear their seatbelts, evenwhen an airbag supplemental restraintsystem is provided. Failure to properly wearyour seatbelt could seriously increase therisk of injury or death.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in acargo area, inside or outside of avehicle. In a crash, people riding inthese areas are more likely to be seriouslyinjured or killed. Do not allow people to ridein any area of your vehicle that is notequipped with seats and seatbelts. Be sureeveryone in your vehicle is in a seat andusing a seatbelt properly.
In a rollover crash, an unbeltedperson is significantly more likely todie than a person wearing a seatbelt.
Each seating position in your vehiclehas a specific seatbelt assemblywhich is made up of one buckle andone tongue that are designed to be usedas a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on theoutside shoulder only. Never wear theshoulder belt under the arm. 2) Neverswing the seatbelt around your neck overthe inside shoulder. 3) Never use a singlebelt for more than one person.
WARNINGS
When possible, all children 12 yearsold and under should be properlyrestrained in a rear seating position.Failure to follow this could seriouslyincrease the risk of injury or death.
Seatbelts and seats can become hotin a vehicle that has been closed upin sunny weather; they could burn asmall child. Check seat covers and bucklesbefore you place a child anywhere nearthem.
Front and rear seat occupants,including pregnant women, shouldwear seatbelts for optimumprotection in an accident.
All seating positions in your vehicle havelap and shoulder seatbelts. All occupantsof the vehicle should always properly weartheir seatbelts, even when an airbagsupplemental restraint system is provided.
The seatbelt system consists of:
•Lap and shoulder seatbelts.
•Shoulder seatbelt with automaticlocking mode, (except driver seatbelt).
•Height adjuster at the front outboardseating positions.
•Seatbelt pretensioner at the frontoutboard seating positions.
•Belt tension sensor at the frontoutboard passenger seating position.
· Seatbelt warning light andchime.
· Crash sensors and monitoringsystem with readiness indicator.
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The seatbelt pretensioners at the frontseating positions are designed to tightenthe seatbelts when activated. In frontaland near-frontal crashes, the seatbeltpretensioners may be activated alone or,if the crash is of sufficient severity, togetherwith the front airbags. The pretensionersmay also activate when the Safety Canopyis deployed.
FASTENING THE SEATBELTS
The front outboard and rear safetyrestraints in the vehicle are combinationlap and shoulder belts.
1. Insert the belt tongue into the properbuckle (the buckle closest to thedirection the tongue is coming from)until you hear a snap and feel it latch.Make sure the tongue is securelyfastened in the buckle.
2. To unfasten, press the release buttonand remove the tongue from thebuckle.
Using Seatbelts During Pregnancy
WARNING
Always ride and drive with yourseatback upright and properly fastenyour seatbelt. Fit the lap portion ofthe seatbelt snugly and low across thehips. Position the shoulder portion of theseatbelt across your chest. Pregnantwomen must follow this practice. See thefollowing figure.
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Pregnant women should always wear theirseatbelt. Position the lap belt portion of acombination lap and shoulder belt lowacross the hips below the belly and wornas tight as comfort allows. Position theshoulder belt to cross the middle of theshoulder and the center of the chest.
Seatbelt Locking Modes
WARNINGS
After a crash, have a qualifiedtechnician check all the seatbelts tomake sure the seatbelts includingthe automatic locking retractor feature forchild restraints operate properly. Werecommend replacing any system that hasdamage or does not operate properly.Failure to do so can result in personal injuryor death in the event of a sudden stop oranother crash.
You must replace the seatbelt if theautomatic locking retractor or anyother seatbelt function is notoperating correctly. Failure to replace theseatbelt and retractor assembly couldincrease the risk of injury in a crash.
All safety restraints in the vehicle arecombination lap and shoulder belts. Thedriver seatbelt has the first type of lockingmode, and the front outboard passengerand rear seat seatbelts have both types oflocking modes described as follows:
Vehicle Sensitive Mode
This is the normal retractor mode, whichallows free shoulder belt lengthadjustment to your movements andlocking in response to vehicle movement.For example, if the driver brakes suddenlyor turns a corner sharply, or the vehiclereceives an impact of about 5 mph(8 km/h) or more, the combinationseatbelts lock to help reduce forwardmovement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the retractor is designed to lockif the webbing is pulled out too quickly. Ifthis occurs, let the belt retract slightly andpull the webbing out again in a slow andcontrolled manner.
Automatic Locking Mode
In this mode, the shoulder beltautomatically pre-locks. The belt retractsto remove any slack in the shoulder belt.The automatic locking mode is notavailable on the driver seatbelt.
When to Use the Automatic LockingMode
Use this mode any time a child safety seat,except a booster, is installed in passengerfront or rear seating positions. Children 12years old and under should be properlyrestrained in a rear seating positionwhenever possible. See Child Safety(page 18).
How to Use the Automatic LockingMode
1. Buckle the combination lap andshoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pulldownward until you pull the entire beltout.
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Allow the belt to retract. As the beltretracts, you will hear a clicking sound. Thisindicates the seatbelt is now in theautomatic locking mode.
How to Disengage the AutomaticLocking Mode
Unbuckle the combination lap andshoulder belt and allow it to retractcompletely to disengage the automaticlocking mode and turn on the vehiclesensitive (emergency) locking mode.
SEATBELT HEIGHT
ADJUSTMENT
WARNING
Position the safety belt heightadjusters so that the belt restsacross the middle of your shoulder.Failure to adjust the safety belt properlycould reduce the effectiveness of thesafety belt and increase the risk of injury ina crash.
Adjust the height of the shoulder belt sothe belt rests across the middle of yourshoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height:
1. Press the button and slide the heightadjuster up or down.
2. Release the button and pull down onthe height adjuster to make sure it islocked in place.
SEATBELT WARNING LAMP
AND INDICATOR CHIME
This lamp illuminates and anaudible warning will sound if thedriver's safety belt has not beenfastened when the vehicle's ignition isturned on.
Conditions of operation
Then...If...
The safety belt warning light illuminates 1-2 minutes and the warning chime sounds4-8 seconds.
The driver's safety belt is not buckledbefore the ignition switch is turned to theon position...
The safety belt warning light and warningchime turn off.The driver's safety belt is buckled while theindicator light is illuminated and thewarning chime is sounding...
The safety belt warning light and indicatorchime remain off.The driver's safety belt is buckled beforethe ignition switch is turned to the on posi-tion...
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SEATBELT REMINDER
Belt-Minder™
This feature supplements the safety beltwarning function by providing additionalreminders that intermittently sound a toneand illuminate the safety belt warning lightwhen you are in the driver seat or you havea front seat passenger and a safety belt isunbuckled.
The system uses information from thefront passenger sensing system todetermine if a front seat passenger ispresent and therefore potentially in needof a warning. To avoid activating theBelt-Minder feature for objects you placein the front passenger seat, only the frontseat passengers receive warnings asdetermined by the front passenger sensingsystem.
If the Belt-Minder warnings expire(warnings for about five minutes) for onepassenger (driver or front passenger), theother passenger can still cause theBelt-Minder feature to turn on.
Then...If...
The Belt-Minder feature will not activate.You and the front seat passenger buckleyour safety belts before you switch theignition on or less than 1-2 minutes elapseafter you switch the ignition on...
The Belt-Minder feature activates, thesafety belt warning light illuminates and awarning tone sounds for 6 seconds every25 seconds, repeating for about 5 minutesor until you and the front seat passengerbuckle your safety belts.
You or the front seat passenger do notbuckle your safety belts before your vehiclereaches at least 6 mph (9.7 km/h) and 1-2minutes elapse after you switch the ignitionon...
The Belt-Minder feature activates, thesafety belt warning light illuminates and awarning tone sounds for 6 seconds every25 seconds, repeating for about 5 minutesor until you and the front seat passengerbuckle your safety belts.
The safety belt for the driver or frontpassenger is unbuckled for about 1 minutewhile the vehicle is traveling at least 6 mph(9.7 km/h) and more than 1-2 minuteselapse after you switch the ignition on...
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Seatbelts

Deactivating and Activating theBelt-Minder Feature
WARNING
While the system allows you todeactivate it, this system is designedto improve your chances of beingsafely belted and surviving an accident.We recommend you leave the systemactivated for yourself and others who mayuse the vehicle.
Note:The driver and front passengerwarnings switch on and off independently.When you perform this procedure for oneseating position, do not buckle the otherposition as this will terminate the process.
Note:If you are using MyKey, you cannotdisable Belt-Minder. Also, if the Belt-Minderhas been previously disabled, it will bere-enabled during the use of MyKey. SeeMyKey™ (page 51).
Read Steps 1 - 4 thoroughly beforeproceeding with the programmingprocedure.
Before following the procedure, make surethat:
•The parking brake is set.
•The transmission is in park (P).
•The ignition is off.
•The driver and front passenger safetybelts are unbuckled.
1.Switch the ignition on. Do not start thevehicle.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning lightturns off (about one minute). AfterStep 2, wait an additional 5 secondsbefore proceeding with Step 3. Onceyou start Step 3, you must completethe procedure within 20 seconds.
3. For the seating position you areswitching off, buckle then unbuckle thesafety belt three times at a moderatespeed, ending in the unbuckled state.After Step 3, the safety belt warninglight turns on.
4. While the safety belt warning light ison, buckle and then unbuckle thesafety belt. After Step 4, the safety beltwarning light flashes for confirmation.
•This will switch the feature off for thatseating position if it is currently on.
•This will switch the feature on for thatseating position if it is currently off.
CHILD RESTRAINT AND
SEATBELT MAINTENANCE
Inspect the vehicle safety belts and childsafety seat systems periodically to makesure they work properly and are notdamaged. Inspect the vehicle and childseat safety belts to make sure there are nonicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary.All vehicle safety belt assemblies, includingretractors, buckles, front safety belt buckleassemblies, buckle support assemblies(slide bar-if equipped), shoulder beltheight adjusters (if equipped), shoulderbelt guide on seat back (if equipped), rearinflatable safety belts (if equipped), childsafety seat LATCH and tether anchors, andattaching hardware, should be inspectedafter a crash. Read the child restraintmanufacturer's instructions for additionalinspection and maintenance informationspecific to the child restraint.
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Seatbelts

We recommend that all safety beltassemblies in use in vehicles involved in acrash be replaced. However, if the crashwas minor and an authorized dealer findsthat the belts do not show damage andcontinue to operate properly, they do notneed to be replaced. Safety beltassemblies not in use during a crash shouldalso be inspected and replaced if eitherdamage or improper operation is noted.
Properly care for safety belts. SeeCleaning the Interior (page 263).
SEATBELT EXTENSION
WARNINGS
Persons who fit into the vehicle'sseatbelt should not use an extension.Unnecessary use could result inserious personal injury in the event of acrash.
Only use extensions provided free ofcharge by Ford Motor Companydealers. The dealer will provide anextension designed specifically for thisvehicle, model year and seating position.The use of an extension intended foranother vehicle, model year or seatingposition may not offer you the fullprotection of your vehicle’s seatbeltrestraint system.
Never use seatbelt extensions toinstall child restraints.
Do not use a seatbelt extension withan inflatable seatbelt.
Do not use extensions to change thefit of the belt across the torso, overthe lap or to make the seatbeltbuckle easier to reach.
If, because of body size or driving position,it is not possible to properly fasten theseatbelt over your lap and shoulder, anextension that is compatible with theseatbelts is available free of charge fromFord Motor Company dealers. Only Fordseatbelt extensions made by the originalequipment seatbelts manufacturer shouldbe used with Ford seatbelts. Ask yourauthorized dealer if your extension iscompatible with your Ford vehicle restraintsystem.
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The Personal Safety System provides animproved overall level of frontal crashprotection to front seat occupants and isdesigned to help further reduce the risk ofairbag-related injuries. The system is ableto analyze different occupant conditionsand crash severity before activating theappropriate safety devices to help betterprotect a range of occupants in a varietyof frontal crash situations.
The Vehicle Personal Safety Systemconsists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbagsupplemental restraints.
•Front seat outboard safety belts withpretensioners, energy managementretractors and safety belt usagesensors.
•Driver seat position sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system.
•Passenger airbag off and on indicatorlamp.
•Front crash severity sensors.
•Restraints control module with impactand safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light andbackup tone.
•The electrical wiring for the airbags,crash sensors, safety beltpretensioners, front safety belt usagesensors, driver seat position sensor,front passenger sensing system andindicator lights.
How Does the Personal SafetySystem Work?
The Personal Safety System can adapt thedeployment strategy of the safety devicesaccording to crash severity and occupantconditions. A collection of crash andoccupant sensors provides information tothe restraints control module. During acrash, the restraints control module maydeploy the safety belt pretensioners, oneor both stages of the dual-stage airbagsbased on crash severity and occupantconditions.
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Personal Safety System™