2015 Ford Transit 150 Van Owner Manual Printing 3 - Page 39

Supplementary Restraints System The passenger side airbag should always be on (the pass airbag off light should not be illuminated) unless the passenger meets the requirements stated either in Category 1, 2 or 3 of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or 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 passenger is not using the safety belt correctly. The most effective way to reduce the risk of unnecessary airbag injuries without reducing the overall safety of your vehicle is to make sure all passengers are correctly 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. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 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 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 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 the infant has a medical condition which, according to the infant's physician, makes it necessary for the infant to ride in the front so that the driver can constantly monitor the child's condition. • 2. Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must ride in the front seat because: 36 Transit (TTH) Canada/United States of America, enUSA, Edition date: 03/2014, Third Printing