FORD 2004 Freestar v.3 - Manual (Page 133)

very close to the air bag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and
they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way to
reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants are
properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are much
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the
front.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. NEVER place a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The passenger occupant classification sensor can automatically turn off
the passenger front air bag and side air bag (if equipped). The system is
designed to help protect small (child size) occupants from air bag
deployments when they are improperly seated or restrained in the front
passenger seat contrary to proper child-seating or restraint usage
recommendations. Even with this technology, parents are STRONGLY
encouraged to always properly restrain children in the rear seat. The
sensor also turns off the air bag(s) when the passenger seat is empty to
prevent unnecessary replacement of the air bag(s) after a collision.
Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System to tailor the air bag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer to Safety belt section in this chapter.
Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during a frontal or near-frontal collision. This maximizes the effectiveness
of the safety belts and helps properly position the occupant relative to
the air bag to improve protection. The safety belt pretensioners can be
either activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient severity, together
with the air bags.
2004 Freestar (win)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English (fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
133