2002 Mercury Cougar Owner's Manual - Page 91

Seating and Safety Restraints Reasons given..."I have an air bag" Consider...Air bags offer greater protection when used with safety belts. Frontal airbags are not designed to inflate in rear and side crashes or rollovers. Not a good idea. People who are ejected are 40 times more likely to DIE. Safety belts help prevent ejection, WE CAN'T "PICK OUR CRASH". "I'd rather be thrown clear" Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt to avoid the Belt Minder chime. Sitting on the safety belt will increase the risk of injury in an accident. To disable (one-time) or deactivate the Belt Minder feature please follow the directions stated below. One time disable Any time the safety belt is buckled and then unbuckled during an ignition ON cycle, BeltMinder will be disabled for that ignition cycle only. Deactivating/activating the BeltMinder feature Read steps 1 - 9 thoroughly before proceeding with the deactivation/activation programming procedure. The BeltMinder feature can be deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure: Before following the procedure, make sure that: • The parking brake is set. • The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission) or the neutral position (manual transmission). • The ignition switch is in the OFF position. • All vehicle doors are closed. • The driver's safety belt is unbuckled. • The parklamps/headlamps are in OFF position (If vehicle is equipped with Autolamps, this will not affect the procedure). To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the Belt Minder feature while driving the vehicle. 91