World’s First Inflatable Second-Row Seat Belt Latest Innovation In Ford Explorer Safety Story

* Explorer raises the bar on SUV safety with a class-leading array of airbags including industry-exclusive inflatable second-row seat belts, a Safety Canopy®, Trinity front crash impact structure and collision warning with brake support
* All-new Explorer features AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control™), Curve Control, MyKey™ programmability and MyFord Touch™ driver connect technology – all class-exclusive offerings to help drivers avoid a crash incident
* Explorer features a body structure comprised of high-strength steels – including boron – to increase rigidity and help protect its passengers
* 2011 Explorer arrives with a full complement of additional safety features such as Tire Pressure Monitoring System, SOS Post-Crash Alert System™, first-row Belt-Minder® and seat belt pretensioners


DEARBORN, Mich. - The new 2011 Ford Explorer has been reinvented, raising the bar on SUV safety by combining technologies to help avoid crashes with those that set new standards of protection in the event of one.

The comprehensive Explorer safety story adds new features plus an innovative new Ford safety technology – inflatable rear seat belts.

“The new Explorer combines – all at once – our best technologies to not only help prevent a crash, but to help prevent injuries to occupants when a crash is unavoidable,” said Erika Low, Ford safety supervisor. “The use of high-strength steels such as boron in the Explorer body structure also offers a greater level of protection, while meeting the most stringent roof crush standards.”

Explorer showcases Ford’s commitment to crash prevention by offering buyers an unprecedented array of crash avoidance technologies.

World’s first inflatable rear seat belts
The new Explorer offers a Ford technology unique in the automotive industry in the first-ever inflatable second-row seat belts. Rear seat passengers – often children or mature passengers – can be more vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries.

Rear inflatable seat belts demonstrate Ford’s ongoing commitment to occupant safety. The Ford inflatable belts spread impact forces across five times more area than conventional seat belts. This reduces pressure on the chest while helping to control head and neck motion.


Belt comfort also should help increase usage rates. Studies show inflatable belts to be more comfortable for passengers due to padding.

Explorer reduces distraction, warns, intercedes
The Ford SYNC® hands-free, voice-activated integrated communications and entertainment system combines with MyFord Touch driver connect technology to keep drivers focused on driving with their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

The new Explorer also comes equipped with a host of technologies to help prevent crashes – from parking lot fender benders to high-speed collisions – by warning drivers of crash potential. These technologies include options such as:



* BLIS® (Blind Spot Information System)
* Cross-traffic alert
* Adaptive cruise control
* Collision warning with brake support
* Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Dynamic avoidance technologies include AdvanceTrac electronic stability control with RSCand the world’s first application of Curve Control, a new Ford feature designed to enhance vehicle braking in instances of excessive speed in turning or curve conditions.

Collision warning with brake support and Curve Control actually apply the brakes when these systems sense situation irregularity, helping the driver to avoid an incident by bringing the vehicle back in safe control.

Ford-exclusive MyKeyallows parents to preset limits on vehicle speed and audio system volume levels. In addition, MyKey prevents deactivation of dynamic control systems such as AdvanceTrac and enables parents to set speed warnings. MyKey is a critical factor in minimization and prevention of young driver distraction and risk.

Ford’s Belt-Minderprovides a persistent warning when drivers and front seat passengers fail to buckle seat belts.

Structural safety and crash protection
Explorer features a unibody configuration body structure. Nearly half of this stiff shell is comprised of high-strength steels, such as boron. A-pillars, rocker panels and front beams are boron, for both increased strength and reduced weight. In addition, this structure was designed and developed to exceed stringent rollover standards.

Explorer features Ford’s Trinity front crash structure, so-named for its three components designed to absorb crash forces in the event of an incident.

The initial component is the high-strength boron front beam that absorbs crash forces on impact. These forces then transfer to the shotgun rails, developed to divert impact to the A-pillars and the stiff roof structure. Shotgun rails constitute the second component within the Trinity structure. The third element is an engine cradle designed to break away and drop downward in the event of a frontal impact.

When a crash becomes unavoidable, Explorer relies on a class-leading complement of airbags to protect occupants. Two front and two side second-generation airbags are joined by a Safety Canopyconsisting of side curtain airbags for all three rows of passenger seating. Personal Safety System™ seat belts feature pretensioners and an energy management system with adjustable height in the first row.

Outboard second-row seat locations include the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) system for attaching child safety seats. Explorer also features an SOS Post-Crash Alert System, while SYNC-equipped models offer 911 Assist™ functionality. In the event of an accident that results in airbag deployment or fuel system cutoff, the vehicle automatically dials the emergency operator. There is no subscription charge for this SYNC-based service.


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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 176,000 employees and about 80 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln andMercury, production of which has been announced by the company to be ending in the fourth quarter of 2010, and, until its sale, Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.