2004 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK COUPE airbag

51
Safety
Occupant safety i
Airbags ar enot activat edin all types of acci-
dent .The yare controlled by complex sensor
technology and evaluation logic .This ispre-emp-
tiv einnature since theairbag must beactivat ed
as the accident occurs and must be adap ted to
provide the cal culated, additional protection for
the vehicle occupants. Not all the airbags are
act ivated in an accident.
The various airbag sy stems operate independ-
ently .However, each sy stem is dependent on
the type of accident (frontal /side /rear impact
and overturning) and severity of th eaccident
(mainly vehicle deceleration or acc eler ation)
predicted during the initial phase of the accident.
Vehicle deceleration or acceleration and
force direction are essentially determined
by:
! the distribution of forces during the
collision
! the collision angle !
the deformation characteristics of the
vehicle
! the characteristi csofthe other object
in volved in the collision, e.g. the other
ve hicle
Factors which can only be seen and meas-
ured after the collision has taken place do
not play a dec isive role in the deployment
of an airbag, nor do they provide an indica-
tion of it.
The vehicle may be substantia lly deformed
wi thout an airbag being triggered, e.g. if
only relatively easi ly-deformable vehicle
parts such as the bonnet or wings are
affected by the collision and the required
deceleration threshold isnot reached. On
the other hand, airbags may be triggered
even though the vehicle only displays
minor deformation, if rigid vehicle parts,
for example, longitud inal membe rs, are
af fe cted by theimpact, causing vehicle
deceleration to exceed the pre-determined
threshold. Belt tensioners, belt force limiters
The front seat belts are equipped with:
!
Belt tensioners
! Belt force limiters
! An autom atic comf ort-fit feature
The rear seat belts are equipped with: ! Belt tensioners
! Belt force limiters
! Do not insert the belt tongue into the front-
passenger seat belt buckle if the front-passenger
seat is unocc upied. The belt tensioner could oth-
erw ise be trigg ered in theevent ofan accident.
Be lttensioners tension the seat belts inan
accident, pull ing them tight against the
bod y. 209en_d2.boo Seite
51Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19

52 Safety
Occupant safetyi
Belt tensioners do not correct:
! inco rrect sitting positions
! incorrectly worn seat belts
Belt tensioners do not pull occ upants back
towar dsthe backrests.
The belt force limiter reduces the belt
force on the occupant when a belt ten-
sioner is activated.
The belt force limiter is fine-tuned to the
front airbag, which takes over from the
seat belt a part of its restraining forces,
thus spreading the forces exerted on the
occupant over a greater area.
The automatic comfort-fit feature on the
front seats reduces the retraction force of
the seat belts.
When the igniti onisswit ched on, the belt
tensioner will be triggered:
! only if the res traint systems are opera-
tional (the 1warning lamp lights up
after the ignition is switched on and
goes out when the engine is running)
( = page 12) !
forea ch lap- shou lder sea tbe lt, pro-
vided the belt tongue is engaged inthe
seat belt buckle
! if a head-on or rear-end col lision occurs
and the veh icle decelerates or acceler-
ates rapidly ina longitudinal direction
during the initial stages ofthe collision
! on the front-passenger side only ifthe
front-passenger seat is occupied and
the belt tongue is engaged in the seat
belt buckle
! in the event of a severe fronta limpact
if the vehicle decelerates rapidly in a
longitudinal direction during the ini tial
stages of the collision
If the be lttensioners are tri ggered, you will
hear a bang that is genera lly harmless to
your hearing. A small amount of dust may
also be released. The 1warning lamp
lights up.
An indication that a belt tensioner in there ar has
been trigger edisthat the seat belt buckle is
pu lled down and is almost flush with the topof
the seat. G
Risk ofinjury The
belt tensioners in the rear only function
correctly ifthe buckl escan be pulled down
unimpeded.
Since this downwards movementmust not
be restricted:
! Do not grasp the buckles.
! Do not pl ace any obj ects un derneath
the buckles.
Ot he rwi se, the action of the belt tensioners
will beimpaired or completely ineffective.
You will then have no additional prot ection. 209en_d2.boo Seite
52Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19

53
Safety
Occupant safety Ai
rb ag syst em G
Risk ofinjury If the belt tensi
onersha ve bee ntriggered,
have them replaced ata qualified specialist
workshop which has th eneces sary special-
ist knowledge and tools to carry out the
work required. Mercedes -Benz recommends
that you use a Mercedes-Be nzService
Centre for this purpose.
In particular, work rele vant to safety or on
safe ty-re lated systems mustbe carried out
at a qualified spec ialist workshop.
Ob serve the safety regulations for th edis-
posal of belt tensioners. Any Mercedes-B enz
Service Centre can provide detail sof these
regulations. G
Risk of injury To reduce the risk of serious or fata
linjury in
an accident with a high rate of deceleration,
e.g. injuries caused by an airbaginflating
within milliseconds or in the ev ent of abrupt
br aking, please observe the following
inst ructions:
! Allve hicle occupants must select a seat
position in which it is possible to wear
the seat belt correctl ybut which is as far
back from the airba gas possible. The
position of the driver's seat must allow
the driver to drive th evehicle safely. The
driver's arms shou ldbe slightly bent
when holding the steering wheel. The
distance from th edriver's seat to the
pedals must be such that the dr iver can
fully depress the pedals.
! Vehicle occupants should wear their
seat belt correctly at all times and lean
back against the bac krest, which should
be positioned almost vertically. The
head restraint should support the back
of yo urhead at abo uteye level. !
Move the front- passenger seat as far to
the rear as possible, especially if a child
is secured in a restraint system installed
on this sea t.
! Never secure a rearward-facing child
restraint system on the front-pass enger
seat if the front-passenger front airbag
is not deactivate d.In the CLK-Class, the
fr ont-passen ger fro ntairbag is deacti-
vated if a child restraint system with
automatic child seat recognition is
secured to a front-passenger seat and
the AIRBAG OFF lamp is lit. If the auto-
matic child seat rec ognition is defective,
children must be secured in a child
restraint system ins talled on a suitable
re ar seat. If you are using aforward-f ac-
in g child seat on the fro nt-pa ssen ger
seat, the front-passenger seat must be
moved as far to the rear as possibl e. 209en_d2.boo Seite
53Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19

54 Safety
Occupant safety
Your vehicleisequipped with the follo wing
airbags:
! Driver's front airbag accommodated in
the steering wheel housing
! Front-passenger fron tairbag above the
glove compartment
! Sidebags (Coupé)
! in the middle of the doors
! in the rear sidewall
! Head /thorax airba gs(Cabriolet)
! in the outer sides of the front seats
! in the rear sidewall
! Windowbags (Coupé)
!along the roof frame betw een the
front and rear doors Airbag
deploym ent
The airbag inflates in milliseconds. The
1 warning lamp lights up. i
Ifth e airba gsare triggered, you will hear a
bang and asmall amount ofdust may also be
released. This bang will not damage your hearing
and the dust does not constitu te ahealth hazard.
Airbag inflation slows down and restricts
the mo vement of the vehicle occupant.
If a vehicle occupant comes into contact
with an airbag which has been triggered,
the airbag will release some hot gas. This
feature is designed to reduce the force act-
ing on the occupant's head and ch est.
These airbags are theref orein a depress u-
rised state follo wing the accident. !
Do not lean forwards , e.g. over the pad-
ded boss of the steering wheel, particu-
la rly while the vehicle is in motion.
! Do not put your feet on the dashboard.
! Only hold the steering wheel by the rim.
This allows the airbag to inflate fully.
If you hold the ins ideo f the steering
wheel, you could be injured if the airbag
is triggered.
! Do not lean on the doo rsfrom inside the
vehicle.
! Donot place any objects onthe airba gs
or between the airbags and the vehicle's
oc cupants.
! Donot ha nganyha rd obje cts, e.g. coat
hangers ,on the grab handles or coat
hook s.
Because of the high speed at which airbags
have to inflate, it is not possib leto rule out
entire lythe risk of injurie scaused by an
inflating airbag. 209en_d2.boo Seite
54Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19

55
Safety
Occupant safety
Front airbags
The front airbags increase the protection
afforded to the driver and front passenger
against head and chest in juries. The
driver's front airbag and front-passenger
front airbag are triggered:
! inthe first stages of an accident with
high forces of vehicle deceleration or
acceleration in a longi tudinal direction
! ifthe system foresees that airbag
deployment can offer additional pro-
tection to that provided by the seat belt !
depending on the use of the seat belt
! independently of other airbags in the
vehicle
! rarely if the vehicle overturns, unless
high forces of vehicle deceleration in a
long itudinal direction are detected
The dri ver's front airbag is located inthe
steering wheel. The front-passenge rfront
airbag is fitted above the glove compart-
ment.
Front airbags
1 Driver's front airbag
2 Front-passenger front airbag G
Risk ofinjury Af
ter an airbag has bee ntriggered:
! airbag parts are hot. Do not touch them,
oth erwi se you could be burnt
! have the airbags replaced at a qualified
specialist workshop whic hhas the nec-
essary specialist knowledge and tools to
carry out the work required. Mercedes-
Ben zrecom mends that you use a
Mercedes -Benz Serv ice Centre for
this purpose. Inparticular, work rele-
vant to safety or on safety-relate dsys-
tems must be carried out at a qualified
specialist workshop G
Risk of injury A small
amount of finepowder is released as
an airbag inflates. Thi spowder does not
constitute a health hazard, nor does it imply
that fire has brok enout in the vehicle. This
po wder could cause short-term breathing
dif ficu lties for persons suffering from
as thma or oth errespiratory conditions. In
order to prev ent these breathing difficulties,
leave the vehicle immediately when you are
certain it is safe to do so or open the win-
do ws to allow fresh air to enter the ve hicle.
P91.60-2392-31 209en_d2.boo Seite
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56 Safety
Occupant safety
The driver's front airbag
inflates in front of
the steering wheel and the front-passen ger
front airbag inflates infront of and above
the glove compartment.
Front-passenger front airbag 2ison ly
triggered if:
! the front-passenger seat is laden or
occupied
! the PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF wa rning
lamp on the centre console is not lit
(= page 64).
This indicates that a child seat without
au tomatic child seat rec ognition is fit-
te d or that achild seat wit hautomatic
child seat recognition is fitte dincor-
rec tly.
! Do not place heavy objects onthe front-
pas seng er seat. Ifthe system assumes the seat
is occupied because there are objects placed on
it, the restr aint systems on the front-passe nger
si de could be triggered in the event of an acci-
dent and will then need to be replaced. Sidebags (Coupé) G
Risk of injury To reduce the risk of in
juryto occu pantsif a
sidebag is triggered, make sure that:
! there are no other persons ,animals or
ob jects between the vehic leoccu pants
and the deployment range of the side-
bags
! noacce ssories, e.g. cup holders, are
secure dto the doors
! only lig htitems of clothing are hun gon
the coat hooks in the vehicle
! no heavy or sharp objec tsare lef tin the
pockets in clo thing G
Risk ofinjury Ob
serve the following notes to reduce the
ris ko f serio usorfatal in jury if the sidebag is
triggered:
! Vehicle occupants – in particular, chil-
dren – must never lean their head into
the area of the window in which the
sidebag is triggered.
! Vehicle occupants must wear their seat
belt correctly at all times and lean back
against the backrest, which should be
positioned almost vertically.
! Always secure children less than 1.50 m
tall and under twelve years of age insuit-
able child restraint systems. 209en_d2.boo Seite
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57
Safety
Occupant safety
The purpose of triggering sidebags is to
increase the level of protection for the tho-
rax (but not the head, neck or arms) of
occupants affected by the impact. The
sidebags are installed in the middle of the
doors and in the sidewa llin the rear. The
locations in which the sidebags in your
ve hicle are fitted are identified by the
SRS /AIRBAG label on each of these areas.
1 Front sidebag
2 Rea rsidebag
3 Windowbag The sid
ebag inflates in the door area below
the window.
The sidebags are triggered:
! on the side on which an impact occurs
! inthe first stages of an accident with
high lateral forces of vehicle decelera-
tion or acceleration, e.g. a side impact
! ifthe system foresees that airbag
deployment can offer additional pro-
tection to that provided by the seat belt
! depending on the use of the seat belt
! independently of the front airbags
! independently of the belt tensioners
! rarely if the vehicle overturns, unless
high forces of vehicle deceleration ina
lo ngitudinal direction are detected and
it is predi cted that airbag inflation will
prov ide additional protection to that of
the seat belt i
Inthe eve ntofan imp act on the front-pas-
senger side, the front-passenger sidebag is only
triggered if:
! the front -pas se nger seat occupancy sensor
ha s detecte dthat the seat is occ upied
The rear sidebag on the driver's side is triggered
in conjun ction wit hthe driver's sidebag.
i You will find further information about air-
bag depl oyment on ( =
page 54).
You will find furt herin formation about the trig-
gering of belt tensioners and belt force limiters
on ( =
page 50).
Win dowbags (Coupé)
P91.40-2393-31 G
Risk of inju ry In ord
erfor the windowbag to provide its
intended level of prot ection, you must make
sure that there are no other persons, ani-
mals or objects between the vehic leoccu-
pants and the inflation range of the window-
bags. 209en_d2.boo Seite
57Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19

58 Safety
Occupant safety
The purpose of windowbag deployment is
to enhance protection for the head (but not
the chest or arms) of thevehicle occupants
on the side of the vehicle on which the
impact occurs. The windowbags are fitted
in the side of the roof frame and run from
the front door (A-pillar )to the rear door (C-
pillar).
1 Front sidebag
2 Rea rsidebag
3 Windowbag
The windowbags are triggered:
! in the first stages of an accident with
high lateral vehicle deceleration or
acceleration !
on the side on which an impact occurs
! if the system foresees that airbag
deployment can offer additional pro-
tection to that provid edby the seat belt
! independent lyof the front airbags
! regardless ofwh ether the front-pas-
senger seat is occupied or not
i You will find further information abo utair-
bag inflation on ( =
page 54).
You will find fur ther information about the trig-
gering of belt tensioners and bel tforce limiters
on ( =
pag e50).
Head /tho rax airbags (Cabriolet) G
Risk of inju ry Observe th
efollowing notes to reduce the
risk ofserio us or fatal injury if the window-
bag istriggered:
! Vehicle occupants – in particular, chil-
dren – must never lean their head into
the area of the window in wh ich the win-
do wbag is triggered.
! Vehicle occupantsmust wear their seat
be lt correctly at all times.
! Secure chi ldren less than 1. 50m tall
an d under twelve years of agein suitable
child restraint systems. P91.40-2393-31 G
Risk ofinjury In order for the head/thorax airbag to pro-
vide its intended level of protection, you
must make
sure that:
! there are no other persons, animals or
obje cts between the vehicle occupan ts
and the inflation range of the head /tho-
rax airbags
! noheavy or sharp objects are left in the
pockets in clothing 209en_d2.boo Seite
58Diens tag, 25 .Mai 2004 7:26 19