2006 MERCEDES-BENZ SLR warning

65 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Should you choose to place a child 12 years
old or under in the passenger seat of your
vehicle, you must properly use a
BabySmart
TM child restraint which will turn
off the passenger front airbag (
page 72).
BabySmart
TM will not, however, turn off any
side impact airbag.
It should be noted, however, that there is a
possibility for a head-thorax airbag related
injury if occupants, especially children, are
not properly seated or restrained when next
to a head-thorax airbag which needs to de-
ploy rapidly in a side impact in order to do its
job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury, please
follow these guidelines:
(1) Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
head-thorax airbag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the head-thorax airbag be activated.
(2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use
the seat belts and use an appropriately
sized infant or child restraint system for
all children 12 years old or under.
(3) Always wear seat belts properly.
If you believe that, even with the use of
these guidelines, it would be safer for your
passenger seat occupants to have the pas-
senger side head-thorax airbag deactivated,
then deactivation can be accomplished
upon your written election to do so at an au-
thorized Mercedes-Benz Center at an addi-
tional cost. Please contact your local
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center or call
our Customer Assistance Center at
1-800-FOR-MERCedes (1-800-367-6372)
for details.

67 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
emergency tensioning device and
airbag
When you sell your vehicle, we strongly
urge you to give notice to the subsequent
owner that it is equipped with an SRS by
alerting them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.Warning!
G


Damaged seat belts or belts that were
highly stressed in an accident must be
replaced and their anchoring points
must also be checked. Only use belts in-
stalled or supplied by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.


Airbags and ETDs (Emergency Tension-
ing Devices) are designed to function on
a one-time-only basis. An airbag or ETD
that was activated must be replaced.


No modifications of any kind may be
made to any components or wiring of
the SRS. This includes changing or re-
moving any component or part of the
SRS, the installation of additional trim
material, badges, etc. over the steering
wheel hub, passenger front airbag cov-
er, outboard sides of the front seat
backrests, door trim panels, or door trim
panels, and installation of additional
electrical/electronic equipment on or
near SRS components and wiring. Keep
area between airbags and occupants
free from objects (e.g. packages, purs-
es, umbrellas, etc.).


Do not pass belts over sharp edges.
They could tear.


D o n o t m a k e a n y m o d i f i c a t i o n t h a t c o u l d
change the effectiveness of the belts.


Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this
may severely weaken them. In a crash,
they may not be able to provide
adequate protection.


Airbag system components will be hot
after an airbag has inflated. Do not
touch.


Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard, or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.


In addition, improper repair work on the
SRS creates a risk of rendering the SRS
inoperative or causing unintended air-
bag deployment. Work on the SRS must
therefore only be performed by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.


For your protection and the protection
of others, when scrapping the airbag
unit or emergency tensioning device,
our safety instructions must be fol-
lowed. These instructions are available
from your authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.


Given the considerable deployment
speed and the textile structure of the
airbags, there is the possibility of abra-
sions or other injuries resulting from air-
bag deployment.

69 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Head/thorax airbags
1Head/thorax airbag
The head-thorax airbags are deployed:

on the impacted side of the vehicle


in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold


independently of the front airbags
The head-thorax airbags are not deployed
in impacts which do not exceed the sys-
tem’s deployment threshold.
The passenger head-thorax airbag will only
deploy if the system senses that the pas-
senger seat is occupied.
Seat belts
When the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale < illuminates to remind you and
your passenger to fasten your seat belts. If
the driver’s seat belt is not fastened before
the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale< illuminates and a warning
chime sounds for approximately 6 seconds
when the engine is started.
Always wear your seat belt. All vehicle oc-
cupants always need to have their seat
belts fastened and wear them properly.
In addition, applicable motor vehicle safety
laws require you to wear seat belts. Even
where this is not the case, we strongly rec-
ommend that all vehicle occupants have
their seat belts fastened and wear them
properly.
For information on fastening seat belts,
see “Fastening the seat belts” (
page 46).
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and re-
straint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 72).

70 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyWarning!
G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure your passenger is
properly restrained, even pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and po-
sition your seat belt greatly increases your
risk of injuries and their likely severity in an
accident. You and your passenger should al-
ways wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are wearing your
seat belt. The airbags can only provide the
protection they were designed to afford if
the occupants are using their seat belts
(page 69).
Warning!
G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
backrest in an excessively reclined position
as this can be dangerous. You could slide
under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the belt would apply force at the ab-
domen or neck. That could cause serious or
even fatal injuries. The seat backrest and
seat belt provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and the
belt is properly positioned on the body.Warning!
G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Be sure
everyone riding in the vehicle is correctly re-
strained with a separate seat belt. Never use
a seat belt for more than one person at a
time.
Warning!
G
Damaged seat belts or belts that were highly
stressed in an accident must be replaced
and their anchoring points must also be
checked.
Only use seat belts which have been ap-
proved by Mercedes-Benz.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to failure of the seat
belts.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash, they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
Have all work carried out only by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.

71 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this sec-
tion, as that could result in serious inju-
ries in case of an accident.


Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts help
reduce the likelihood of and potential
severity of injuries in accidents, includ-
ing rollovers. The integrated restraint
system includes SRS (driver airbag, pas-
senger airbag, knee airbags, head-tho-
rax airbags) and ETD (seat belt
emergency tensioning device). The sys-
tem is designed to enhance the protec-
tion offered to properly belted
occupants in certain frontal (front air-
bags, knee airbags and ETD) and side
(head-thorax airbags and ETD) impacts
which exceed preset deployment
thresholds.


Never wear the shoulder belt under your
arm, against your neck or off your shoul-
der. In a crash, your body would move
too far forward. That would increase the
chance of head and neck injuries. The
belt would also apply too much force to
the ribs or abdomen, which could se-
verely injure internal organs such as
your liver or spleen.


Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eyeglasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
might cause injuries.


Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips and not across the abdo-
men. If the belt is positioned across your
abdomen, it could cause serious injuries
in a crash.


Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at a time. Do not fasten a seat
belt around a person and another per-
son or other objects.


Belts should not be worn twisted. In a
crash, you wouldn’t have the full width
of the belt to manage impact forces. The
twisted belt against your body could
cause injuries.


Pregnant women should also use a
lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion
should be positioned as low as possible
on the hips to avoid any possible pres-
sure on the abdomen.


Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.

72 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyEmergency tensioning device (ETD),
seat belt force limiter
The seat belts are equipped with
emergency tensioning devices and belt
force limiters.
The ETD is designed to activate in the
following cases when the seat belts are
fastened:

in frontal or rear-end impacts exceed-
ing a preset severity level


if the restraint systems are operational
and functioning correctly, see 1 in-
dicator lamp (
page 62)
In an impact, emergency tensioning devic-
es remove slack from the belts in such a
way that the seat belts fit more snugly
against the body. Belt force limiters reduce
the force exerted by the seat belts on
occupants during a crash.
Children in the vehicle
If an infant or child is traveling with you in
the vehicle:

Secure the child using an infant or child
restraint appropriate to the age and
size of the child.


Make sure the infant or child is proper-
ly secured at all times while the vehicle
is in motion.
Infant and child restraint seats and infor-
mation on choosing an appropriate re-
straint system can be obtained from any
Mercedes-Benz Center.
Warning!
G
An emergency tensioning device (ETD) that
was activated must be replaced.
When disposing of the emergency tension-
ing device, our safety instructions must be
followed. These are available at your autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Center.!Do not place objects heavier than
20 lbs (9 kg) on the front passenger
seat. This could cause the front or side
impact airbag on the passenger side
and, with the seat belt fastened to se-
cure the object, the ETD to deploy in a
crash which exceeds the system’s de-
ployment threshold.

73 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Infant and child restraint systems
Only use a BabySmart
TM compatible child
restraint for the front passenger seat in
this vehicle.
We recommend all infants and children be
properly restrained at all times while the
vehicle is in motion.
The passenger lap-shoulder belt has a spe-
cial seat belt retractor for the secure fas-
tening of child restraints.
To fasten a child restraint follow child re-
straint instructions for mounting. Then pull
the shoulder belt out completely and let it
retract. During the seat belt retraction a
ratcheting sound can be heard to indicate
that the special seat belt retractor is acti-
vated. The belt is now locked. Push down
on child restraint to take up any slack.To deactivate, release seat belt buckle and
let seat belt retract completely. The seat
belt can again be used in the usual
manner.
Warning!
G
Never release the seat belt buckle while the
vehicle is in motion, since the special seat
belt retractor will be deactivated.
!The use of infant or child restraints is
required by law in all 50 states, the Dis-
trict of Columbia, the U.S. territories,
and all Canadian provinces.
Infants and small children should be
seated in an appropriate infant or child
restraint system which is properly
secured by a lap-shoulder belt and top
tether strap that complies with U.S.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 213 and Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 213.
A statement by the child restraint man-
ufacturer of compliance with this stan-
dard can be found on the instruction
label on the restraint and in the instruc-
tion manual provided with the restraint.

74 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
When using any infant or child restraint
system, be sure to carefully read and
follow all manufacturer’s instructions
for installation and use.
Please read and observe warning labels
affixed to inside of vehicle and to infant
or child restraints.Warning!
G
Children 12 years old and under must never
ride in this vehicle, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized BabySmart
TM
compatible child seat, which operates with
the BabySmart
TM system installed in the ve-
hicle to deactivate the passenger front air-
bag when it is properly installed. Otherwise
they will be struck by the airbag when it in-
flates in a crash. If this happens, serious or
fatal injury will result.
Infants and small children must be seated in
an appropriate BabySmart
TM compatible in-
fant or child restraint system, which is prop-
erly secured with the vehicle’s seat belt and
top tether strap, fully in accordance with the
child seat manufacturer’s instructions.
Infants and small children should never
share a seat belt with another occupant.
During an accident, they could be crushed
between the occupant and seat belt.
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle and
the child is not properly secured in the child
restraint.
Adjust the passenger seat as far as possible
rearward from the dashboard when the seat
is occupied.
Warning!
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Children too big for child restraint systems
should use regular seat belts. Position the
shoulder belt across chest and shoulder, not
face or neck. A booster seat may be neces-
sary to achieve proper belt positioning for
children from 41 lbs until they reach a
height where a lap/shoulder belt fits
properly without a booster.
When the child restraint is not in use, re-
m o v e i t f r o m t h e v e h i c l e o r s e c u r e i t w i t h t h e
seat belt to prevent the child restraint from
becoming a projectile in the event of an
accident.
Do not leave children unattended in the
vehicle; even if the children are secured in a
child restraint system. Unsupervised
children in a child restraint system may use
vehicle equipment and cause an accident
and/or serious personal injury.