2001 Mercury Sable Owner Guide 3rd Printing - Page 93

Seating and safety restraints If...The driver's safety belt is not buckled before the vehicle has reached at least 5 km/h (3 mph) and 1-2 minutes have elapsed since the ignition switch has been turned to ON...Then...The Belt Minder feature is activated - the safety belt warning light illuminates and the warning chime sounds for 6 seconds every 30 seconds, repeating for approximately 5 minutes or until safety belt is buckled. The driver's safety belt is buckled The Belt Minder feature will not while the safety belt indicator light activate. is illuminated and the safety belt warning chime is sounding...The driver's safety belt is buckled The Belt Minder feature will not before the ignition switch is turned activate. to the ON position...The purpose of the Belt Minder is to remind occasional wearers to wear safety belts all of the time. The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts: (All statistics based on U.S. data) Reasons given..."Crashes are rare events" Consider...36 700 crashes occur every day. The more we drive, the more we are exposed to "rare" events, even for good drivers. 1 in 4 of us will be seriously injured in a crash during our lifetime. "I'm not going far" 3 of 4 fatal crashes occur within 25 miles of home. "Belts are Ford designs its safety belts to enhance comfort. If uncomfortable" you are uncomfortable - try different positions for the safety belt upper anchorage and seatback which should be as upright as possible; this can improve comfort. "I was in a hurry" Prime time for an accident. Belt Minder reminds us to take a few seconds to buckle up. "Seat belts don't Safety belts, when used properly, reduce risk of work" death to front seat occupants by 45% in cars, and by 60% in light trucks. "Traffic is light" Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in single-vehicle crashes, many when no other vehicles are around. 93