Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, 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
passenger front airbag when a rear facing child seat, a forward-facing
child restraint, or a booster seat is detected. Even with this technology,
parents are
STRONGLY
encouraged to always properly restrain children
in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the airbag when the passenger
seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of the airbag(s) after
a collision.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. See
Front passenger sensing system
in the
Airbag
supplemental restraint system (SRS)
section of this chapter.
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 usage sensors
later in this chapter.
2008 Mark LT
(mlt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA
(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
142
