2018 Ford Focus Owners Manual - Seatbelts

Seatbelts

Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.

To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they can be properly restrained.

Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while your vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot

protect the child from injury in a crash.

All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their seatbelts, even

when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly wear your seatbelts could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.

It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, people riding in

these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and seatbelts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a seatbelt properly.

In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seatbelt.

Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific seatbelt assembly which is made up of one buckle and

one tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. 2) Never swing the seatbelt around your neck over the inside shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.

When possible, all children 12 years old and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.

Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.

Seatbelts and seats can become hot in a vehicle that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a

small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.

Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant women, should wear seatbelts for optimum

protection in an accident.

All seating positions in your vehicle have lap and shoulder seatbelts. All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their seatbelts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.

The seatbelt system consists of:

Lap and shoulder seatbelts.

Shoulder seatbelt with automatic locking mode, (except driver seatbelt).

Height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions.

Seatbelt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions.

Belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.

Seatbelt warning light and chime.

Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness indicator.

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The seatbelt pretensioners at the front seating positions are designed to tighten the seatbelts when activated. In frontal and near-frontal crashes, the seatbelt pretensioners may be activated alone or, if the crash is of sufficient severity, together with the front airbags. The pretensioners will activate when the Safety Canopy is deployed.

The front outermost and rear safety restraints in your vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts.

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2. Press the button to release the seatbelt tongue.

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Insert the seatbelt tongue into the proper buckle (the buckle closest to the direction the tongue is coming from) until you hear a snap and feel it latch.

Note: Make sure that the seatbelt tongue is properly fastened in the seatbelt buckle.

Always ride and drive with your seatback upright and properly fasten your seatbelt. Fit the lap portion of

the seatbelt snugly and low across the hips. Position the shoulder portion of the seatbelt across your chest. Pregnant women must follow this practice. See the following figure.

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Pregnant women should always wear their seatbelt. The lap belt portion of a combination lap and shoulder belt should be positioned low across the hips below the belly and worn as tight as comfort allows. The shoulder belt should be positioned to cross the middle of the shoulder and the center of the chest.

After a crash, have a qualified technician check all the seatbelts to make sure the seatbelts including

the automatic locking retractor feature for child restraints operate properly. We recommend replacing any system that has damage or does not operate properly.

Failure to do so can result in personal injury or death in the event of a sudden stop or another crash.

You must replace the seatbelt if the automatic locking retractor or any other seatbelt function is not

operating correctly. Failure to replace the seatbelt and retractor assembly could increase the risk of injury in a crash.

In addition, the retractor is designed to lock if you pull the webbing out too quickly. If the seatbelt retractor locks, slowly lower the height adjuster to allow the seatbelt to retract. If the retractor does not unlock, pull the seatbelt out slowly then feed a small length of webbing back toward the stowed position. For rear seatbelts, recline the rear seat backrest or push the seat backrest cushion away from the seatbelt. Feed a small length of webbing back toward the stowed position.

In this mode, the shoulder belt automatically pre-locks. The seatbelt still retracts to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver seatbelt.

You should use automatic locking mode when a child safety seat, except a booster, is on the front passenger seat or rear seat. Children 12 years old and under should be correctly restrained in a rear seating position whenever possible. See Child

Safety (page 16).

All safety restraints in your vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts. The driver seatbelt has the first type of locking mode. The front outermost passenger and rear seat seatbelts have both types of locking modes described as follows:

This is the normal retractor mode which allows free shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and

locking in response to vehicle movement. For example, if you brake suddenly or turn a corner sharply, or your vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph

(8 km/h) or more, the combination seatbelts lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.

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Buckle the combination lap and shoulder belt.

Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until you pull the entire seatbelt out.

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Let the seatbelt retract.

Note: As the seatbelt retracts, you will hear a clicking sound. This indicates the seatbelt is now in the automatic locking mode.

Unbuckle the combination lap and shoulder belt and allow it to retract completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and return the seatbelt to the vehicle sensitive mode.

Position the seatbelt height adjuster so that the seatbelt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to

adjust the seatbelt correctly could reduce its effectiveness and increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Adjust the height of the shoulder belt so the belt rests across the middle of your shoulder.

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To adjust the shoulder belt height:

Press the button and slide the height adjuster up or down.

Release the button and pull down on the height adjuster to make sure it is locked in place.

This lamp illuminates and an audible warning will sound if the driver seatbelt has not been

fastened when the vehicle's ignition is turned on.

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Belt-Minder™

This feature supplements the seatbelt warning function by providing additional reminders that intermittently sound a tone and illuminate the seatbelt warning light when you are in the driver seat or you have a front seat passenger and a seatbelt is unbuckled.

The system uses information from the front passenger sensing system to determine if a front seat passenger is present and therefore potentially in need of a warning. To avoid activating the

Belt-Minder feature for objects you place in the front passenger seat, only the front seat passengers receive warnings as determined by the front passenger sensing system.

If the Belt-Minder warnings expire (warnings for about five minutes) for one passenger (driver or front passenger), the other passenger can still cause the

Belt-Minder feature to turn on.

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While the system allows you to deactivate it, this system is designed to improve your chances of being

safely belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you leave the system activated for yourself and others who may use the vehicle.

Note: The driver and front passenger warnings switch on and off independently. When you perform this procedure for one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this will terminate the process.

Note: If you are using MyKey™, you cannot disable the Belt-Minder. Also, if you have previously disabled the Belt-Minder, it will be re-enabled during the use of MyKey™. See MyKey™ (page 55).

Read Steps 1 - 4 thoroughly before proceeding with the programming procedure.

Before following the procedure, make sure that:

The parking brake is set.

The transmission is in park (P) (automatic transmission) or neutral

(N) (manual transmission).

The ignition is off.

The driver and front passenger seatbelts are unbuckled.

Switch the ignition on. Do not start the vehicle.

Wait until the seatbelt warning light turns off (about one minute). After Step 2, wait an additional 5 seconds before proceeding with Step 3. Once you start Step 3, you must complete the procedure within 30 seconds.

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For the seating position you are switching off, buckle then unbuckle the seatbelt three times at a moderate speed, ending in the unbuckled state. After Step 3, the seatbelt warning light turns on.

While the seatbelt warning light is on, buckle and then unbuckle the seatbelt. After Step 4, the seatbelt warning light flashes for confirmation.

This will switch the feature off for that seating position if it is currently on.

This will switch the feature on for that seating position if it is currently off.

Inspect the vehicle safety belts and child safety seat systems periodically to make sure they work properly and are not damaged. Inspect the vehicle and child seat safety belts to make sure there are no nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary. All vehicle safety belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front safety belt buckle assemblies, buckle support assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt guide on seat back (if equipped), child safety seat LATCH and tether anchors, and attaching hardware, should be inspected after a crash. Read the child restraint manufacturer's instructions for additional inspection and maintenance information specific to the child restraint.

Ford Motor Company recommends that all safety belt assemblies in use in vehicles involved in a crash be replaced. However, if the crash was minor and an authorized dealer finds that the belts do not show damage and continue to operate properly, they do not need to be replaced. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a crash should also be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted.

Properly care for safety belts. See Vehicle Care (page 236).

Persons who fit into the vehicle's seatbelt should not use an extension.

Unnecessary use could result in serious personal injury in the event of a crash.

Only use extensions provided free of charge by Ford Motor Company dealers. The dealer will provide an

extension designed specifically for this vehicle, model year and seating position. The use of an extension intended for another vehicle, model year or seating position may not offer you the full protection of your vehicle’s seatbelt restraint system.

Never use seatbelt extensions to install child restraints.

Do not use a seatbelt extension with an inflatable seatbelt.

Do not use extensions to change the fit of the belt across the torso, over the lap or to make the seatbelt

buckle easier to reach.

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If, because of body size or driving position, it is not possible to properly fasten the seatbelt over your lap and shoulder, an extension that is compatible with the seatbelts is available free of charge from Ford Motor Company dealers. Only Ford seatbelt extensions made by the original equipment seatbelts manufacturer should be used with Ford seatbelts. Ask your authorized dealer if your extension is compatible with your Ford vehicle restraint system.

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