The passenger side airbag should always be on (the airbag OFF light
should not be illuminated) unless the passenger is a person who meets
the requirements stated either in Category 1, 2 or 3 of the
NHTSA/Transport Canada deactivation criteria which follows.
The vast majority of drivers and passengers are much safer with an
airbag than without. To do their job and reduce the risk of life
threatening injuries, airbags must open with great force, and this force
can pose a potentially deadly risk in some situations, particularly when a
front seat occupant is not properly buckled up. The most effective way
to reduce the risk of unnecessary airbag injuries without reducing the
overall safety of the vehicle is to make sure all occupants are properly
restrained in the vehicle, especially in the front seat. This provides the
protection of safety belts and permits the airbags to provide the
additional protection they were designed to provide. If you choose to
deactivate your airbag, you are losing the very significant risk reducing
benefits of the airbag and you are also reducing the effectiveness of the
safety belts, because safety belts in modern vehicles are designed to
work as a safety system with the airbags.
NHTSA Deactivation Criteria (excluding Canada)
WARNING:
This vehicle has special energy management safety
belts for the driver and right front passenger. These particular
belts are specifically designed to work with airbags to help reduce the
risk of injury in a crash. The energy management safety belt is designed
to give or release additional belt webbing in some accidents to reduce
concentration of force on an occupant’s chest and reduce the risk of
certain bone fractures and injuries to underlying organs. In a crash, if
the airbag is turned off, this energy management safety belt might
permit the person wearing the belt to move forward enough to incur a
serious or fatal injury. The more severe the crash, and the heavier the
occupant, the greater the risk is. Be sure the airbag is turned on for
any person who does not qualify under the NHTSA deactivation
criteria.
1.
Infant.
An infant (less than 1 year old) must ride in the front seat
because:
•
the vehicle has no rear seat;
•
the vehicle has a rear seat too small to accommodate a rear-facing
infant seat; or
50
Supplementary Restraints System
2013 Econoline
(eco)
Owners Guide gf, 2nd Printing, November 2012
USA
(fus)
