FORD 2005 Five Hundred v.2 - Manual (Page 97)

information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety System to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage air bags and safety belt pretensioners.
Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System to
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage air bag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver air bag by providing a lower air bag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For air bags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the air bag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, this occurs
because they are initially sitting 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. 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 passenger
front air bag and seat-mounted side air bag (if equipped) when the
passenger seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of air
bag(s) after a collision.
2005 Ford Five Hundred (500)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA_English (fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
97