2018 FORD TAURUS child restraint

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):
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.
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap
over the seatback. 2. Locate the correct anchor for the
selected seating position. 3. Open the tether anchor cover.
4. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as
shown.
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5. Tighten the child safety seat tether
strap according to the manufacturer's
instructions.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly,
the risk of a child being injured in a crash
greatly increases.
If your child restraint system has a tether
strap, and the child restraint manufacturer
recommends its use, we also recommend
its use.
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. Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety restraint
(generally children who are less than 57 in
(1.45 m) tall, are greater than age 4 and
less than age 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: •
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
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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. 26
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If the booster seat slides on the vehicle
seat upon which it is being used, placing a
rubberized mesh sold as shelf or carpet
liner under the booster seat may improve
this condition. Do not introduce any item
thicker than this under the booster seat.
Check with the booster seat
manufacturer's instructions.
CHILD RESTRAINT
POSITIONING
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 vehicle seat
upon which the child seat is installed all
the way back. When possible, all children
age 12 and under should be properly
restrained in a rear seating position. If all
children cannot be seated and restrained
properly in a rear seating position, properly
restrain the largest child in the front seat. Always carefully follow the
instructions and warnings provided
by the manufacturer of any child
restraint to determine if the restraint device
is appropriate for your child's size, height,
weight, or age. Follow the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions and warnings WARNINGS
provided for installation and use in
conjunction with the instructions and
warnings provided by your vehicle
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. 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.
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WARNINGS
To avoid risk of injury, do not leave WARNINGS
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
119
).
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
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child restraint. Properly restrain
children 12 and under in the rear seat
whenever possible. 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).
• 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 at the front
seating positions are designed to tighten
the seatbelts when activated. In frontal
and near-frontal crashes, the seatbelt
pretensioners may be activated alone or,
if the crash is of sufficient severity, together
with the front airbags. The pretensioners
may also activate when the Safety Canopy
is deployed.
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All safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The
driver seatbelt has the first type of locking
mode, and the front outboard passenger
and rear seat seatbelts have both types of
locking modes described as follows:
Vehicle Sensitive Mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which
allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and
locking in response to vehicle movement.
For example, if the driver brakes suddenly
or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle
receives an impact of about 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination
seatbelts lock to help reduce forward
movement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the design of the retractor is to
lock if you pull the webbing out too quickly.
If the seatbelt retractor locks, slowly lower
the height adjuster to allow the seatbelt
to retract. If the retractor does not unlock,
pull the seatbelt out slowly then feed a
small length of webbing back toward the
stowed position. For rear seatbelts, recline
the rear seat backrest or push the seat
backrest cushion away from the seatbelt.
Feed a small length of webbing back
toward the stowed position.
Automatic Locking Mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt
automatically pre-locks. The belt retracts
to remove any slack in the shoulder belt.
The automatic locking mode is not
available on the driver seatbelt.
When to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
Use this mode any time you install a child
safety seat, except a booster, in passenger
front or rear seating positions. Properly
restrain children 12 years old and under in
a rear seating position whenever possible.
See
Child Safety (page 18). How to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
1. Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until you pull the entire belt
out. 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 turn on the vehicle
sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
SEATBELT 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. 32
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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 seatbelts and child
restraint systems periodically to make sure
they work properly and are not damaged.
Inspect the vehicle seatbelts to make sure
there are no nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if
necessary. All vehicle seatbelt assemblies,
including retractors, buckles, front seatbelt
buckle assemblies, buckle support
assemblies (slide bar-if equipped),
shoulder belt height adjusters (if
equipped), shoulder belt guide on seatback
(if equipped), rear inflatable seatbelts (if
equipped), child restraint 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. We recommend that all seatbelt
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. Seatbelt assemblies
not in use during a crash should also be
inspected and replaced if either damage
or improper operation is noted.
Properly care for seatbelts. See Cleaning
the Interior (page 263).
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. 35
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