2007 Mercury Milan Owner Guide 1st Printing - Page 108

Seating and Safety Restraints to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, this occurs because they are initially sitting very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the occupant is not properly restrained by safety 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 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 belt 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 when the side curtains and side airbags are activated. 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. 108 2007 Milan (mln) Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt) USA (fus)