Safety Belt System

The safety belt system fitted to the Focus utilizes the conventional lap and diagonal three point fixing in all seat positions including the center rear seat position.

Vehicles equipped with a driver air bag have safety belt buckle pyrotechnic pretensioners which are attached to the seat frame of each front seat. The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioner is controlled as part of the Supplemental Restraint System. The rear seat safety belt buckles are mounted directly to the floor pan underneath the rear seat cushion. The safety belt buckle which is attached to the driver seat is fitted with a switch, which is connected through the wiring harness to a warning indicator in the instrument cluster, and a chime, which is contained within the central timer module. When the ignition is first turned on the warning indicator will only illuminate and the chime sound, if the safety belt is not fastened. If the safety belt is fastened before the ignition is turned on, the circuit is broken and the light will remain off.

The safety belt retractor which is mounted within the base of the B-pillar, incorporates a torsion bar load limiting device. The device consists of a retractor reel which is mounted onto a spindle (torsion bar) which, once the sensor has locked the retractor reel and predetermined load is applied, twists and pays out additional webbing into the system. The deceleration force required to initiate this sequence is approximately the same as that required to initiate air bag deployment. The torsion bar load limiting device will only react if the safety belt is in use at the time of impact.

Vehicles which are not equipped with a driver or passenger air bag do not use this type of retractor, they are equipped with a conventional retractor.

It should be considered that during any event which utilizes the full capability of any safety belt restraint, the safety belt webbing may have elongated, discoloration around the "D-loop" may also be evident. For this reason if a vehicle is involved in an accident which results in the deployment of the air bag(s), all the safety belts that were in use at the time of the accident must not be reused, new safety bells must be installed.