Children And Air Bags; How Does The Air Bag Supplemental Restraint System Work? - Ford 1998 Ranger Owner's Manual

Seating and safety restraints
The right front passenger air bag is not designed to restrain
occupants in the center front seating position.
Do not put anything on or over the air bag module. Placing
objects on or over the air inflation area may cause those objects
to be propelled by the air bag into your face and torso causing serious
injury.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the Air Bag
Supplemental Restraint System or its fuses. See your Ford or
Lincoln-Mercury dealer.

Children and air bags

For additional important safety information, read all information on
safety restraints in this guide.
Children must always be properly restrained. Failure to follow these
instructions may increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. Child seats
should never be placed in the front seats, unless passenger air
bag switch is turned off. See Passenger air bag deactivate switch.

How does the air bag supplemental restraint system work?

The air bag SRS is designed to
activate when the vehicle sustains
sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
The fact that the air bags did not
inflate in a collision does not mean
that something is wrong with the
system. Rather, it means the forces
were not of the type sufficient to
cause activation. Air bags are
designed to inflate in frontal and
near-frontal collisions, not rollover,
side-impact, or rear-impacts.
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