
________________________________________________ D_r_iv _ i _n_ g~ S_ a_ fe_ ly __ !II
& WARNING (continued)
• Always adjust the driver's seat and the steering wheel so that
there are at least 4 inches (10 cm) between the knees and the
lower part of the instrument panel.
• Always hold the steering wheel on the outside of the steering
wheel rim with your hands at the
9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions
to help reduce the risk of personal injury if the driver's airbag inflates .
• Never hold the steering wheel at the
12 o'clock position or with
your hands at other positions inside the steering wheel rim or on
the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel the wrong way
can cause serious injuries to the hands, arms and head if the
driver's airbag inflates
• Pointing the steering wheel toward your face decreases the
ability of the supplemental driver's airbag to protect you in a colli
sion .
• Always sit in an upright position and never lean against or
place any part of your body too close to the area where the airbags
are located.
• Before driving, always adjust the front seats and head
restraints properly and make sure that all passengers are properly
restrained .
• Never adjust the seats while the vehicle is moving. Your seat
may move unexpectedly and you could lose control of the vehicle.
• Never drive with the backrest reclined or tilted far back! The
farther the backrests are tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due to incorrect positioning of the safety belt and improper
seating position.
• Children must always ride in child seats=>
page 157. Special
precautions apply when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat =>
page 135. •
Controls and equip
ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
For your own safety and to reduce the ris k of injury in the
event of an accident, we recommend that you adjust the
seat for the front passenger to the following pos ition:
- Move the front passenger seat back as far as possible.
There must be a minimum of 10 inches (25 cm) between
the breastbone and the instrument panel =>
&.
- Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in an upright
position and your back comes in full contact with it
whenever the vehicle is moving.
- Adjust the head restraint so that the upper edge is as
even with the top of your head as possible but not lower
than eye level and so that it is as close to the back of your
head as possible =>
page 119.
-Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of the front
passenger seat.
- Fasten and wear safety belts correctly=>
page 129.
For detailed information on how to adjust the front passenger's
seat, see => page 69.
& WARNING
Front seat passengers who are unbelted, out of position or too
close to the airbag can be seriously injured or killed by the airbag
as it unfolds. To help reduce the risk of serious personal injury : .,
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& WARNING (continued)
• Passengers must always sit in an upright position and never
lean against or place any part of their body too close to the area
where the airbags are located.
• Passengers who are unbelted, out of position or too close to the
airbag can be seriously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye .
• Always make sure that there are at least 10 inches (25 cm)
between the front passenger's breastbone and the instrument
panel.
• Always make sure that there are at least 4 inches (10 cm)
between the front passenger's knees and the lower part of the
instrument panel .
• Each passenger must always sit on a seat of their own and
properly fasten and wear the safety belt belonging to that seat .
• Before driving, always adjust the front passenger seat and
head restraint properly.
• Always keep your feet on the floor in front of the seat. Never
rest them on the seat, instrument panel, out of the window, etc .
The airbag system and safety belt will not be able to protect you properly and can even increase the risk of injury in a crash .
• Never drive with the backrest reclined or tilted far back! The
farther the backrests are tilted back, the greater the risk of injury
due to incorrect positioning of the safety belt and improper
seating position.
• Children must always ride in child seats:::::,
page 157. Special
precautions apply when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat
=:> page 135. •
Proper seating positions for passengers in
rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with both feet on
the floor consistent with their physical size and be prop
erly restrained whenever the vehicle is in use.
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incorrect seating
position in the event of a sudden braking maneuver or an
accident, your passengers on the rear bench seat must
always observe the following:
- Make sure that the seatback is securely latched in the
upright position~
page 76.
Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front of the rear seat.
Fasten and wear safety belts properly ~
page 129.
-Make sure that children are always properly restrained in
a child restraint that is appropriate for their size and age
~ page 157.
& WARNING
Passengers who are improperly seated on the rear seat can be
seriously injured in a crash.
• Each passenger must always sit on a seat of their own and
properly fasten and wear the safety belt belonging to that seat.
• Safety belts only offer maximum protection when the seatback
is securely latched in the upright position and the safety belts are
properly positioned on the body . By not sitting upright, a rear seat
passenger increases the risk of personal injury from improperly
positioned safety belts! •

Driving Safely 111111 ______________________________________________________ __,::::;..._ _______ _
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an important part
of your vehicle's occupant restraint system and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in accident situations.
Fig. 98 Correctly
adjusted head restraint
viewed from the side
The head restraints must be correctly adjusted to achieve
the best protection.
- Adjust the head restraint so that the upper edge of the
restraint is level with the top of your head, but no lower
than eye level and so it is as close to the back of your
head as possible ~ fig. 98.
Adjusting head restraints=> page 74.
& WARNING
Driving without head restraints or with improperly adjusted head
restraints increases the risk of serious injuries in a collision. To
help reduce the risk of injury :
• Always drive with the head restraints in place and properly
adjusted.
• Every person in the vehicle must have a properly adjusted head
restraint.
Controls and equip ment Safety first Vehicle operation
& WARNING (continued)
•
Always make sure each person in the vehicle properly adjusts
their head restraint. Each head restraint must be adjusted
according to occupants' size so that the upper edge is as even
with the top of the person's head, but no lower than eye level and
so it is as close to the back of to the head as possible .
• Never attempt to adjust head restraint while driving. If you
have driven off and must adjust the driver headrest for any reason,
first stop the vehicle safely before attempting to adjust the head
restraint.
• Children must always be properly restrained in a child restraint
that is appropriate for their age and size=>
page 157. •
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce the risk of
injury if vehicle occupants ore properly seated.
Improper seating positions can cause serious injury or
death . Safety belts can only work when they are properly
positioned on the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt to critical
areas of the body. Improper seating positions also increase
the risk of serious injury and death when an airbag deploys
and strikes an occupant who is not in the proper seating
position. A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for children. Therefore:
- Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect seating posi
tion when the vehicle is being used~& .
The following bullets list only some sample positions that will
increase the risk of serious injury and death. Our hope is that these .,_
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examp les w ill make you mo re aware of seating positions that ar e
d an gerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is moving:
• ne ver stan d up i n the vehicle
• never stand on the seats
• never knee l on th e seats
• n ever ride with th e seatba ck re cl in ed
• never lie down on the rear seat
• nev er lea n up aga inst t he instrument pa ne l
• n ever sit on the e dge of the seat
• never sit sideways
• ne ve r le an ou t th e w indo w
• never put your feet out the window
• never put your feet on t he instrument p ane l
• n ever re st yo ur f ee t on t he seat cus hion or back of the sea t
• never ride in the footwell
• n ever ride i n the car go area
& WARNING
Improper seating positions increase the risk of serious personal
injury and death whenever a vehicle is being used.
• Always make sure that all vehi cle occupants stay in a proper
seating position and are properly restrained whenever the vehicle
is being used . •
Driver and passenger side footwell
Important safety instructions
& WARNING
Always make sure that the knee airbag can inflate without inter
ference . Objects between yourself and the airbag can increase the
risk of injury in an a ccident by interfering with the way the airbag
deploys or by being pushed into you as the airbag deploys .
• No persons (children) or animals should ride in the footwell
in
front of the passenger seat . If the airbag deploys , this can result in
serious or fatal injuries .
• No objects of any kind should be carried in the footwell area in
front of the driver's or passenger 's seat . Bulky objects (shopping
bags , for example) can hamper or prevent proper deployment of
the airbag. Small objects can be thrown through the vehicle if the
airbag deploys and injure you or your passengers. •
Pedal area
Pedals
The pedal s must a lways be fre e to move a nd mus t never
b e in terfe red with by a flo or mat or a ny othe r objec t.
Make sure that all pedals move freely w ithout interfe rence and that
n oth ing preve nts t hem fr om retu rni ng to t heir or igin a l pos itions.
On ly use floor mats that leave the pedal a rea free and can be
se cured w ith flo or mat fa stene rs.
If a bra ke circu it fai ls, i ncr eased brake pedal travel is r equ ired to
bring the veh icle to a full stop.

Fig. 102 The vehicle
crashes into the wall.
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehicle and the passen
gers possess energy which varies with vehicle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the vehicle's
weight, the more energy that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor. If the speed doubles
from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the occupants in this vehicle are not using safety belts
~ page 126, fig . 101, they will ke ep moving at the same sp eed the
vehicle was moving just before the crash, until something stops them -here, the wall~ fig. 102 .
The same principles apply to people sitting in a vehicle that is
involved in a frontal collision . Even at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph
(30 to 50 km/h), the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or more . At higher speeds , these forces are
even greater.
People who do not use safety belts are also not attached to their
vehicle. In a frontal collision they will also keep moving forward at
the speed their vehicle was travelling just before the crash. Of
course, the laws of physics don't just apply to frontal collisions, they
determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisions. •
Safety first
Safety belts
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop themselves
from flying forward and being injured or killed. Always
wear your safety belts!
Fig. 103 A driver not
wearing a safety belt is
violently thrown
forward
Fig . 104 A rear
passenger not wearing
a safety belt will fly
forward and strike the
driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tremendous forces of
impact by holding tight or bracing themselves. Without the benefit
of safety restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant will slam
violently into the steering wheel , instrument panel , windshield , or
whatever else is in the way~ fig. 103 . This impact with the vehicle
interior has all th e energy they had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even when they deploy,
airbags provide only additional protection. Airbags are not
91>
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___ S_a_ f_ e_ t-= y_ b_e_ l_ t _s _______________________________________________ _
supposed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, including the driver, must wear safety belts correctly in order to minimize the risk of
severe injury or death in a crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only once and that your
safety belts are always there to offer protection in those accidents
in which airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they have
already deployed. Unbelted occupants can also be thrown out of the
vehicle where even more severe or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to wear safety belts
correctly. Unbelted passengers in the rear seats endanger not only
themselves but also the driver and other passengers:::::,
page 127,
fig. 104. In a frontal collision they will be thrown forward violently,
where they can hit and injure the driver and/or front seat passenger. •
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to brace the
body in a minor collision. It's simply not true!
Fig . 105 Driver is prop
er ly restrained in a
sudden braking
maneuver.
Safety belts used properly can make a big difference . Safety belts
help to keep passengers in their seats, gradually reduce energy
levels applied to the body in an accident, and help prevent the uncontrolled movement that
can cause serious injuries. In addition,
safety belts reduce the danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give them the benefit
of being slowed down more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety features engineered
into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the kinetic energy over a
longer period of time, the safety belts make the forces on the body
more "tolerable" and less likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety belts can also substantially reduce the risk of injury in other kinds
of crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to the
corner store, always buckle up and make sure others do, too . Acci
dent statistics show that vehicle occupants properly wearing safety
belts have a lower risk of being injured and a much better chance of
surviving an accident. Properly using safety belts also greatly
increases the ability of the supplemental airbags to do their job in a
collision . For this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally required in
most countries including much of the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you still have to wear
the safety belts provided. Front airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front airbags are not activated in
all frontal collisions, in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is not enough deceleration through impact to the
front of the vehicle. The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi. So, always wear your safety belt and make sure every body in your vehicle is properly restrained! •
Important safety instruct~ons about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be properly positioned across
the strongest bones of your body.
Always wear safety belts as illustrated and described in
this chapter. _,

___ S_a_ f_ e_ t-= y_ b_e_ l_ t _s _______________________________________________ _
To provide maximum protection, safety belts must always
be positioned correctly on the wearer's body.
Adjust the front seat and head restraint properly
=> page 69, "General recommendations ".
Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly across the
chest and pelvis=>&.
- Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of your seat
until you hear it latch securely => page
129, fig. 106.
Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely latched in
the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic belt retractor on the
shoulder belt. This feature locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident . The belt may also lock
when you drive up or down a steep hill or through a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped with a belt preten
sion er that helps to tighten the safety belt and remove slack when
the pretensioner is activated. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light:::::,
page 78, "Airbag system
t!A (USA models) /!.ir (Canada models)".
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver seat is equipped with
a switchable locking feature that
must be used when the safety belt
is used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important informa
tion about this feature:::::,
page 168.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious injury in an
accident :::::,
page 130, "Safety belt position".
• Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat back
is upright and belts are properly positioned on the body.
• Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat.
Attaching the belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.
• A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously
injured by the safety belt itself when it moves from the stronger
parts of the body into critical areas like the abdomen.
• Always lock the convertible locking retractor when you are
securing a child seat in the vehicle:::::,
page 170. •
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maximum
protection f ram safety belts.
Fig. 107 Head restraint
and safety belt posi
tion as seen from the
side
Use the height adjustment to change the position of the shoulder
straps of the front seat safety belts.
~

-Safety belts ----=-----------------
& WARNING
Improperly positioned
safety belts can cause serious personal
injury in an accident.
• Expectant mothers must always wear the lap portion of the
safety belt as low as possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor
mation =>
& in "Fastening safety belts" on page 129. •
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release button only
after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig . 109 Releasing the
tongue from the buckle
-Push the red release button on the buckle=> fig. 109. The
belt tongue will spring out of the buckle=>& .
- Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you guide the belt
tongue to its stowed position.
& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing so
will increase your risk of being injured or killed .•
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe inju
ries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause serious injury or
death. Safety belts can only work when they are correctly positioned on the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt to critical
areas of the body. Improper seating positions also increase
the risk of serious injury and death when an airbag deploys
and strikes an occupant who is not in the correct seating
position . A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehic le
occupants and especially for children. Therefore :
- Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect sitting posi
tion in the vehicle while traveling=>&.
& WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk of serious personal
injury and death whenever a vehicle is being used.
• Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly
restrained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor
mation
=> page 128. •