Ford Escape Owner's Manual page 135

Reasons given...
Traffic is light
Belts wrinkle my clothes
The people I'm with don't
wear belts
I have an airbag
I'd rather be thrown clear
WARNING: Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt or insert a
latchplate into the buckle to avoid the Belt-Minder chime. To
do so may adversely affect the performance of the vehicle's air bag
system.
Deactivating/activating the Belt-Minder feature
The driver and front passenger Belt-Minder are
deactivated/activated independently. When deactivating/activating
one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this will
terminate the process.
Read Steps 1 - 4 thoroughly before proceeding with the
deactivation/activation programming procedure.
Note: If you are using MyKey , the Belt-Minder cannot be disabled.
Also, if the Belt-Minder has been previously disabled, it will be
re-enabled after the use of MyKey . Refer to MyKey in the Locks and
security chapter.
2011 Escape (204)
Owners Guide, 4th Printing
USA (fus)
I n f o r ma t i o n P r o v i d e d b y :
Seating and Safety Restraints
Consider...
Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in
single-vehicle crashes, many when
no other vehicles are around.
Possibly, but a serious crash can do
much more than wrinkle your clothes,
particularly if you are unbelted.
Set the example, teen deaths occur 4
times more often in vehicles with
TWO or MORE people. Children and
younger brothers/sisters imitate
behavior they see.
Airbags offer greater protection when
used with safety belts. Frontal airbags
are not designed to inflate in rear and
side crashes or rollovers.
Not a good idea. People who are
ejected are 40 times more likely
to DIE. Safety belts help prevent
ejection, WE CAN'T PICK OUR
CRASH .
135