Ford 1996 Crown Victoria Manual page 21

There are four very important reasons to use
safety belts even with an air bag system. Use
your safety belts to:
help keep you in the proper position (away
from the air bag) when it inflates
reduce the risk of harm in rollover, side or
rear impact collisions, because an air bag is
not designed to inflate in such situations
reduce the risk of harm in frontal collisions
that are not severe enough to activate the
supplemental air bag
reduce the risk of being thrown from your
vehicle
The Importance of Being Properly Seated
In a collision, the air bag must inflate extremely
fast to help provide additional protection for
you. In order to do this, the air bag must inflate
with considerable force. If you are not seated in
a normal riding position with your back against
the seatback, the air bag may not protect you
properly and could possibly hurt you as it
inflates.
If a passenger is not properly seated and
restrained, an inflating air bag could cause
serious injury.
Rear-facing infant seats should never be
placed in the front seat.
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