FORD 2009 Taurus v.2 - Manual (Page 130)

Energy management feature — front outboard
• This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seats to help further reduce the risk of injury in
the event of a head-on collision.
• The energy management feature has a retractor assembly that is
designed to extend the safety belt webbing in a controlled manner.
This helps reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
WARNING: Failure to inspect and replace if necessary the belt
and retractor assembly after an accident could increase the risk
of injury in a collision.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. All of the passenger combination lap and shoulder belts have two
types of locking modes described below:
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 approximately 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
When to use the automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
This mode should be used any time a child safety seat (except a
booster) is installed in a passenger front or outboard rear seating
position (if equipped). Children 12 years old and under should be
properly restrained in the rear seat whenever possible. Refer to Safety
restraints for children or Safety seats for children later in this chapter.
2009 Taurus (500)
Owners Guide, 2nd Printing
USA (fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
130