FORD 2006 Explorer v.1 - Manual (Page 128)

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 front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the front
passenger airbag and passenger seat-mounted side airbag. The system is
designed to help protect small (child size) occupants from frontal airbag
deployments when they are 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 passenger front airbag and passenger
seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when the passenger seat is empty
and the safety belt is unbuckled, or when a child or a small person
occupies the front passenger seat and the safety belt is unbuckled.
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 airbag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer to Safety restraints 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 frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers when the
vehicle is equipped with the optional Safety Canopy
௢ system. This
maximizes the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal collisions, the
safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow webbing
to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled manner in
response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps reduce the risk
of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by limiting the load on the
occupant. Refer to Safety restraints section in this chapter.
Seating and Safety Restraints
128