1996 Ford Ranger Owner's Manual - Page 29

Safety Restraints The Importance of Being Properly Seated In a collision, the air bag must inflate extremely fast to help provide additional protection for you. In order to do this, the air bag must inflate with considerable force. If you are not seated in a normal riding position with your back against the seatback, the air bag may not protect you properly and could possibly hurt you as it inflates. Important Information About the Right Front Passenger Air Bag (If equipped) It is important for the front seat passengers' safety that they remain properly seated whenever the vehicle is moving. This means that small children should be secured in appropriate child safety seats or infant seats, and all other occupants should sit upright, with their backs against the seatback, and restrained by lap and shoulder belts. No passenger should sit toward the front edge of the seat, or stand or lean near the air bag cover (which is near the glove box). RWARNING Rear-facing infant seats should not be placed in the front seat unless the passenger air bag deactivate switch is turned to OFF. In rear-facing infant seats, the infant's head is closer to the passenger air bag. The force of the rapidly inflating air bag could push the top of the rear-facing seat against the vehicle seatback. Turning the passenger air bag deactivate switch to OFF will prevent the passenger air bag from deploying, avoiding any interaction between the passenger air bag and the rear-facing infant seat. 27