Ford Five Hundred (2007 year). Manual — part 29

• Driver’s seat position sensor.

• Front passenger sensing system

• “Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp

• Front crash severity sensor.

• Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.

• Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.

• The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), safety belt

pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.

How does the Personal Safety System

姟 work?

The Personal Safety System

娂 can adapt the deployment strategy of your

vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints Control Module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates the safety belt pretensioners and/or either one or both
stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints based on crash
severity and occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System

娂 determined

the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags are designed
to activate only in frontal and near-frontal collisions (not rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts) unless the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration. The pretensioners are designed to activate in
frontal and near-frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers
when the vehicle is equipped with the Safety Canopy

娂 system.

Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbags offer the capability to tailor the level of airbag
inflation energy. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is used for
the most severe impacts. Refer to Airbag supplemental restraints
section in this chapter.

Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety System

娂 to distinguish between different

levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and safety belt pretensioners.

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118

Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System

娂 to

tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, this occurs
because they are initially sitting very close to the airbag. For other
occupants, this occurs when the occupant is not properly restrained by
safety belts or child safety seats and they move forward during pre-crash
braking. The most effective way to reduce the risk of unnecessary
injuries is to make sure all occupants are properly restrained. Accident
statistics suggest that children are much safer when properly restrained
in the rear seating positions than in the front.

Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. NEVER place a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must

use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.

The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
technology, parents are STRONGLY encouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when the
passenger seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of airbag(s)
after a collision.

Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System

娂 to tailor the airbag deployment and

safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer to Safety belt section in this chapter.

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119

Front safety belt pretensioners

The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers when the
vehicle is equipped with the Safety Canopy

娂 system. This helps increase

the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal collisions, the safety belt
pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient
severity, together with the front airbags.

Front safety belt energy management retractors

The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow
webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled
manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps
reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by
limiting the load on the occupant. Refer to Energy management feature
section in this chapter.

Determining if the Personal Safety System

姟 is operational

The Personal Safety System

娂 uses a warning light in the instrument

cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to the Warning lights and chimes section in the Instrument Cluster
chapter. Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System

娂 is not

required.

The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following.
• The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
• The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is

turned on.

• A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat

periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.

If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System

娂 serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless

serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.

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120

Safety belt precautions

Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.

To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they
can be properly restrained.

Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from

injury in a collision.

All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag

supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.

It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas

are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.

In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a seat belt.

Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt
assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that

are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm.
2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.

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121