Ford TRANSIT 2018 Owner's Manual page 50

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 seatbelt
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 seatbelts 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 seatbelts,
because seatbelts in modern vehicles are
designed to work as a safety system with
the airbags.
2018 Transit (TTH) Canada/United States of America, JK3J 19A321 AA enUSA, Edition date: 201705, First Printing
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration Deactivation Criteria
(Excluding Canada)
WARNING
This vehicle has special energy
management seatbelts 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 seatbelt 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
seatbelt 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:
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