FORD 2002 Thunderbird v.1 - Manual (Page 111)

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 and turn the passenger air bag off. Refer to Passenger air
bag ON/OFF switch in this chapter of the owner’s guide.
How does the safety belt pretensioner and air bag supplemental
restraint system work?
The safety belt pretensioner and air
bag SRS are designed to activate
when the vehicle sustains
longitudinal deceleration sufficient
to cause the sensors to close an
electrical circuit that initiates
pretensioner activation and air bag
inflation.
The fact that the pretensioners and
air bags did not activate in a
collision does not mean that
something is wrong with the system. Rather, it means the forces were
not of the type sufficient to cause activation. Front air bags and
pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal and near-frontal
collisions, not rollover, side-impact, or rear-impacts unless the collision
causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
Seating and safety restraints
111