2012 Ford Taurus Owner Guide 2nd Printing - Page 158

Seating and Safety Restraints The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small (child size) occupants from airbag 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 airbag and seat-mounted side airbag when the passenger seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of airbag(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 airbag deployment and safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage. 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. This helps increase 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 Energy management feature- front outboard section in this chapter. Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational The Personal Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer to the Warning lights and chimes section in the Instrument Cluster chapter. Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System is not required. The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s), safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the 158 2012 Taurus Owners Guide, 2nd Printing USA (fus)