Safety Belt, Lap/Shoulder-Dual Locking Mode

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2003 Mercury Sable and 2003 Ford Taurus. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

WARNING: Rear-facing infant seats should never be placed in the front seats.

The dual locking mode retractor on the shoulder belt portion of the combination lap/shoulder safety belt for the front outboard passenger, and all four door rear and wagon rear outboard seating positions, operates in two ways.

In the vehicle-sensitive (emergency locking) mode, the shoulder belt retractor will allow the occupant freedom of movement, locking tight only on hard braking, hard cornering or impacts of approximately 8 km/h (5 mph) or more. The front and rear outboard seat belt retractors can also be made to lock by pulling/jerking on the belt.
In the automatic locking mode, the shoulder belt retractor will be automatically locked and remain locked when the combination lap/shoulder safety belt is buckled and does not allow the occupant freedom of movement. This mode provides tight lap/shoulder belt fit on the occupant and on a child safety seat.
When the combination lap/shoulder belt is unbuckled and allowed to retract completely, the retractor will switch to the vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.

The automatic locking mode must be used when installing a child safety seat in the front outboard passenger seating position, all four door rear seating positions and wagon second row outboard seating positions.