2018 FORD FLEX seats

Combining Seatbelt and LATCH Lower
Anchors for Attaching Child Safety
Seats
When used in combination, either the
seatbelt or the LATCH lower anchors may
be attached first, provided a proper
installation is achieved. Attach the tether
strap afterward, if included with the child
restraint.
Using Tether Straps
Many forward-facing child safety
seats include a tether strap
which extends from the back of
the child safety seat and hooks to an
anchoring point called the top tether
anchor. Tether straps are available as an
accessory for many older safety seats.
Contact the manufacturer of your child
restraint for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether
strap if the tether strap on your safety seat
does not reach the appropriate top tether
anchor in your vehicle.
Once you install the child safety seat using
either the seatbelt, the lower anchors of
the LATCH system, or both, you can attach
the top tether strap.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle
are in the following positions (shown from
top view):
Second row bucket seats and third row
passenger side Second row bench seats and third row
passenger side
Perform the following steps to install a
child safety seat with tether anchors:
Note:
If you install a child restraint with rigid
LATCH attachments, do not tighten the
tether strap enough to lift the child restraint
off your vehicle seat cushion when the child
is seated in it. Keep the tether strap just snug
without lifting the front of the child restraint.
Keeping the child restraint just touching your
vehicle seat gives the best protection in a
severe crash. 27
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Second row bench (60/40)
Third row seat
Note:
The cargo tie downs at the rear edge
of the floor are not tether anchors.
BOOSTER SEATS WARNING
Do not put the shoulder section of
the seatbelt or allow the child to put
the shoulder section of the seatbelt
under their arm or behind their back. Failure
to follow this instruction could reduce the
effectiveness of the seatbelt and increase
the risk of injury or death in a crash. Note:
Some booster seat seatbelt guides
may not accommodate the shoulder portion
of the inflatable seatbelt.
Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety seat (generally
children who are less than 57 in (1.45 m)
tall, are greater than age four (4) and less
than age twelve (12), and between
40 lb
(18 kg) and 80 lb (36 kg) and upward to
100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by your
child restraint manufacturer). Many state
and provincial laws require that children
use approved booster seats until they
reach age eight, a height of
57 in (1.45 m)
tall, or 80 lb (36 kg).
Booster seats should be used until you can
answer YES to ALL of these questions
when seated without a booster seat:
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•
Can the child sit all the way back
against their vehicle seat backrest with
knees bent comfortably at the edge of
the seat cushion?
• Can the child sit without slouching?
• Does the lap belt rest low across the
hips?
• Is the shoulder belt centered on the
shoulder and chest?
• Can the child stay seated like this for
the whole trip?
Always use booster seats in conjunction
with your vehicle lap and shoulder belt.
Types of Booster Seats •
Backless booster seats If your backless booster seat has a
removable shield, remove the shield. If a
vehicle seating position has a low seat
backrest or no head restraint, a backless
booster seat may place your child's head
(as measured at the tops of the ears)
above the top of the seat. In this case,
move the backless booster to another
seating position with a higher seat backrest
or head restraint and lap and shoulder
belts, or consider using a high back booster
seat.
•
High back booster seats
If, with a backless booster seat, you cannot
find a seating position that adequately
supports your child's head, a high back
booster seat would be a better choice.
Children and booster seats vary in size and
shape. Choose a booster that keeps the
lap belt low and snug across the hips,
never up across the stomach, and lets you
adjust the shoulder belt to cross the chest
and rest snugly near the center of the
shoulder. The following drawings compare
the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt
uncomfortably close to the neck and a
shoulder belt that could slip off the
shoulder. The drawings also show how the
lap belt should be low and snug across the
child's hips.
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WARNINGS
manufacturer. A safety seat that is
improperly installed or utilized, is
inappropriate for your child's height, age,
or weight or does not properly fit the child
may increase the risk of serious injury or
death. 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,
which may result in serious injury or death. Never use pillows, books, or towels
to boost a child. They can slide
around and increase the likelihood
of injury or death in a crash. WARNINGS
Always restrain an unoccupied child
seat or booster seat. These objects
may become projectiles in a crash or
sudden stop, which may increase the risk
of serious injury. Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
injury or death in a crash. To avoid risk of injury, do not leave
children or pets unattended in your
vehicle.
Recommendations for attaching child safety restraints for children
Use any attachment method as indicated below by X
Combined weight ofchild and
child seat
Restraint
Type Safety belt
only
Safety belt
and LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
Safety belt
and toptether
anchor
LATCH
(lower
anchors only)
LATCH
(lower
anchors and top tether
anchor)
X
X
Up to 65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Rear facing
child seat
X
Over
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Rear facing
child seat
X
X
X
Up to
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
X
X
Over
65 lb
(29.5 kg)
Forward
facing
child seat
Note: The child seat must rest tightly
against the vehicle seat upon which it is
installed. It may be necessary to lift or
remove the head restraint. See Seats (page
123
). CHILD SAFETY LOCKS
When these locks are set, the rear doors
cannot be opened from the inside.
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PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
Always drive and ride with your
seatback upright and the lap belt
snug and low across the hips.
Children must always be properly
restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on
his or her lap while the 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 seatbelts, even
when an airbag supplemental restraint
system is provided. Failure to properly wear
your seatbelt could seriously increase the
risk of injury or death. 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 seatbelts. Make
sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat
and properly using a seatbelt. Failure to
follow this warning could result in serious
personal injury or death. In a rollover crash, an unbelted
person is significantly more likely to
die than a person wearing a seatbelt.
Each seating position in your vehicle
has a specific seatbelt assembly
made up of one buckle and one
tongue designed to be used as a pair. Use
the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder
only. Never wear the shoulder belt under
the arm. Never use a single seatbelt for
more than one person. WARNINGS
Even with advanced restraints
systems, properly restrain children
12 and under in a rear seating
position. Failure to follow this could
seriously increase the risk of injury or death. Seatbelts and seats may be hot in a
vehicle that is in the sunshine. The
hot seatbelts or seats may burn a
small child. Check seat covers and buckles
before you place a child anywhere near
them. All seating positions in your vehicle have
lap and shoulder seatbelts. All occupants
of the vehicle should always properly wear
their seatbelts, even when an airbag
supplemental restraint system is provided.
The seatbelt system consists of:
•
Lap and shoulder seatbelts.
• Shoulder seatbelt with automatic
locking mode, (except driver seatbelt
and rear inflatable seatbelt).
• Height adjuster at the front outboard
seating positions.
• Seatbelt pretensioner at the front
outboard seating positions.
• Belt tension sensor at the front
outboard passenger seating position. •
Seatbelt warning light and chime. •
Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
The seatbelt pretensioners and rear
inflatable seatbelts are designed to
activate in frontal, near-frontal and side
crashes, and in rollovers. The seatbelt
pretensioners at the front seating positions
are designed to tighten the seatbelts firmly
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2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull
downward until you pull the entire belt
out. As the belt retracts, you will hear
a clicking sound. This indicates the
seatbelt is now in the automatic
locking mode.
Rear outboard inflatable seatbelts (second
row only –if equipped)1. Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the lap portion of the belt and pull upward until you pull the entire
belt out.
3. Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking sound.
This indicates the seatbelt is now in the
automatic locking mode.
How to Disengage the Automatic
Locking Mode
Unbuckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic
locking mode and activate the vehicle
sensitive (emergency) locking mode. Rear Inflatable Seatbelt (If Equipped) WARNING
Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the supplementary restraint
system or associated components.
Failure to follow this instruction could
result in personal injury or death. Note:
The rear inflatable seatbelts are
compatible with most infant and child
safety car seats and belt positioning booster
seats when properly installed. This is
because they are designed to fill with a
cooled gas at a lower pressure and at a
slower rate than traditional airbags. After
inflation, the shoulder portion of the
seatbelt remains cool to the touch.
The rear inflatable seatbelts are in the
shoulder portion of the seatbelts of the
second-row outboard seating positions.
The rear inflatable seatbelt consists of the
following:
• An inflatable bag in the shoulder
seatbelt webbing.
• Lap seatbelt webbing with automatic
locking mode.
• Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator. See
Crash
Sensors and Airbag Indicator (page
50
).
How does the rear inflatable seatbelt
system work? WARNING
If a supplementary restraint system
component has deployed, it will not
function again. Have the system and
associated components inspected as soon
as possible. Failure to follow this
instruction could result in personal injury
or death. 37
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The rear inflatable seatbelts function like
standard restraints in everyday usage.
During a crash of sufficient force, the
inflatable belt inflates from inside the
webbing.
The fully inflated belt's increased diameter
more effectively holds the occupant in the
appropriate seating position, and spreads
crash forces over more area of the body
than regular seatbelts. This helps reduce
pressure on the chest and helps control
head and neck motion for passengers. The rear inflatable seatbelts are designed
to inflate in frontal or near-frontal crashes,
some side impact crashes and rollovers.
The fact that the rear inflatable seatbelt
did not inflate in a crash does not mean
that something is wrong with the system.
Rather, it means the forces were not of the
type sufficient to cause activation.
Stowing the Rear Inflatable Seatbelt
The rear inflatable seatbelt has a snap
retainer for stowing the seatbelt against
the quarter trim panel when it is not in use.
This prevents the seatbelt tongue from
rattling against the side of the seat and
keeps it out of the way when folding or
tumbling the second row seats.
Press the retainer on the seatbelt onto the
mating snap to stow. To use the seatbelt,
pull it away from the quarter trim panel.
SEATBELT HEIGHT
ADJUSTMENT
WARNING
Position the safety belt height
adjuster 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. 38
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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
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 restraint. Never place a
rear-facing child restraint in front of
an active airbag. If you must use a
forward-facing child restraint in the front
seat, move the seat upon which the child
restraint is installed all the way back. 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, properly restrain children
12 and under 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 weight off the seat cushion
and affect the decision of the passenger
sensing system, resulting in serious injury
or death in the event of a crash. Always sit
upright against your seat back, 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. This 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
illuminates indicating that the front
passenger frontal airbag is either on
(enabled) or off (disabled).
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