
170 Child Safety
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
-If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat in exceptiona l circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immed iately
install the rear-facing child safety seat in
a re ar seating posit ion and have the air
bag system inspec ted immediately by
yo ur Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make su re the forward-fac ing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the man ufacturer's in
struct ions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat 's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible before installing
the ch ild restraint. The backrest must be
adjusted to an upr ight position .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
Advanced front airbag system and
children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Ad
vanced A irbag System" in compliance wit h
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as app licab le at the
time your veh icle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the " low-risk" re
qu irements for 3- and 6-year old ch ildren on
the passenger s ide and small adults on the
driver side . The low risk deployment criter ia are intended
to red uce the risk of in jury
thro ugh interaction with the airbag that can
occur, for examp le, by being too close to the
steering wheel and instrument panel when
the a irbag inflates. In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand
ard, to turn off the front a irbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front
passenge r seat in child restra ints that are list
ed in the Standard .
Even though your veh icle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, a ll children, espe
cially those 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back seat properly res trained
for their age and size . The airbag on the pas
senger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a ch ild to ride . The front
seat is not the safest p lace for a child in a for
ward-fac ing ch ild safety seat. It can be a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-fac ing seat .
Advanced Airbags and the weight
sensing mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in you r vehicle
detects the presence of an infant or child in a
child restraint on the front passenger seat us
ing the weight-sens ing mat in the seat cush
ion and the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the front passenger seat that measures the
tens ion on the safety belt .
The weight-sensing mat measures total
weight of the child and the child safety seat and a ch ild blanket on the front passenger
seat. The we ight on the front passenger seat
is related to the design of the ch ild restraint
and its "footp rint", the s ize and shape of the
bottom of the child res traint as it sit s on the
seat. The weight of a ch ild restra int and its
"footprint" vary for different kinds of child re
straints and for the different mode ls of the
same kind of chi ld restraint offered by ch ild
restraint manufacturers.
T he weight ranges fo r the individual types,
makes and models of child restraints that the .,._

NHTSA has specified in the Safety Standard
together with the weight ranges of typical in
fants and typical 1 year-o ld child have been
stored in the control unit of the Advanced A ir
bag System. When a child restraint is being
used on the front passenger seat with a typi
cal 1 year-old ch ild, the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem compares the we ight measured by the
weight sens ing mat with the informat ion s to r
ed i n the electron ic cont rol unit.
The electron ic control unit a lso registers the
tension on the front passenger safety be lt .
The te nsio n on the safety be lt fo r the front
passenger seat will be d iffe rent for an ad ult
who is properly using the safety belt as com
pa red to the tension on the be lt when it is
used to attach a child restraint to the seat.
T he sensor below the latch for the safety be lt
for the front seat passenger measures the t ension on the be lt. The input from this sen
sor is then used with the we ight to "decide",
whether there is a ch ild restrai nt with a typ ica l
1 year-o ld child on the front passenger seat
and whether or no t the airbag mus t be turned
off.
Child restraints and Advanced Airbags
Regard less o f the chi ld res traint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards and has been certified by its manu
facturer for use with an airbag. Always be sure
that the child restraint is properly insta lled at
one of the rear seat ing pos itions .
If in excep
tional c ircumstances you must use it on the
fr ont passenge r seat, caref ully read all of the
information on c hild safety and Adv ance d Air
b ags and heed a ll of the app licable WAR N
I NGS . Ma ke certai n that the child restraint is
correctly recognized by the weig ht-sensing
mat inside the front passenger seat, that the
front passenger airbag is turned off and that
t he airbag status is always correctly signaled
by the
PASSENGE R AIR BAG OFF light .
Many types and models of child restraints
h ave been ava ilable over the years, new mod
els are introduced regularly incorporating new
Child Sa fet y 1 71
and imp roved des igns and o lde r models a re
taken out of production . Chi ld restraints are
not standard ized. Child rest raints of the same
type typically have d ifferent weights and si zes
and different 'footpr ints,' the size and shape
of the bottom of the ch ild restrai nt that sits
o n the sea t, when they a re installed on a veh i
cle seat . These diffe ren ces make it v irtually
i mpossible to certify complian ce with t he re
quiremen ts for advanced airbags with eac h
and every ch ild restraint tha t h as eve r been
so ld in the past or wi ll be so ld over the course
of the useful life of your vehicle.
Fo r thi s reason, the Uni ted S ta tes Na tional
Hig hway Traffic Safety Adm inist rat ion has
published a list o f specific type, makes and
models of child restraints that must be used
to certify comp liance of the Advanced Airbag
System in your veh icle with the suppression
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are :
Subpart A - Car bed child restra ints
Model
A ngel Guard A ngel
Ride AA2403FOF
Manufactured on or
after
September 25, 2007
Subpart B - Rear-facing child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartF it December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 25, 2007
I
22-013PAW and base
22-999WHO
I
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 21 2
Evenflo First Choice December
1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snug ride September 25, 2007 Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
•
•
....

172 Child Safety
Subpart C - Forward-facing and
convertible child r estra in ts
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundab out September 25, 2007
E 9 L02xx
Cos co Touriva 02519 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit Deluxe September 25, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco High Back September 25, 2007
Booster 22-209
Evenflo Tribu te V Sep tember 25 , 200 7
379xxxx
Evenflo Medallion December 1, 1999
254
Evenflo Generations
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport
Graco Toddler Safety
Seat Step 2 September 25, 2007
September 25, 2007
September 25, 2007
Graco Platinum Cargo September 2S, 2007
8_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat and the ignition is sw itched
on .
- Take the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at o ne
of the rea r seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur autho riz ed Aud i dealer immediat e
ly.
The c hild seats listed in catego ries A to C
have been tested by A udi on ly for th e Ad
vanced Ai rbag function .
Important safety instructions for using
child safety seats
Correct use of child safety seats substantially
reduces the risk of injury in an accident!
As the dr iver, yo u are respons ib le for the safe
ty of everybody in the veh icle, especially ch il
dren:
.,. Always use the right ch ild safety seat for
each child and always use it properly
~ page 174.
.,. Always carefu lly fo llow the child sa fe ty seat
manufac turer's inst ruct ions on how to ro ute
t he sa fe ty belt properly through the child
safety seat .
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertib le locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from mov ing
r=> page 178.
.,. Push the c hild safety seat down with you r
full weight to get t he safety be lt really tight
s o that t he seat ca n no t move fo rward o r
sideways more th an one inch
(2 .5 cm) .
.,. If a s trap o r tet her is being used to tie the
child safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make sure that it is not so tight that it
causes the weight-sensing mat to measure
more weight than is actually on the seat .
Always remember : Even tho ugh yo ur vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and young
er, shou ld always r ide in the back seat proper
ly restra ined fo r the ir age and size .
A WARNING
-Not usi ng a child safety seat, using t he
wrong child safety s eat o r imprope rly in
stalling a c hild res tra int increases the risk
of ser ious perso na l in ju ry an d de ath.
- All vehicle oc cupants and espe cially chil
d ren mu st always be res tra ine d pr operly
wheneve r rid ing in a vehicle.
-

17 4 Child Safety
A loose ch ild safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a coll ision.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in
ave
hicle is being used<=> page 137, Safety
belts,
<=> page 145, Airbag system and
r=> page 169, Child Safety.
&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Ta ke the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it proper ly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur authorized Audi dealer immediate
ly .
&_ WARNING
A child in a child restraint installed with
the LATCH lower anchorages or w ith the
standard safety belt on the rear seat may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled resulting in serious per
sonal injury and even death.
- Always buckle unused rear seat safety belts out of reach of ch ildren in ch ild
seats and properly activate the converti
ble locking retracto r so that the child
cannot unreel the safety belt from the
retractor .
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and
20 lbs . or 9 kg need special rearward-fac
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash.
Fig. 158 Schematic overview: rearward -fac ing infant
seat, p rope rly installed on the rear seat
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertib le locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
r=>page 178 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments .
.,. Push the chi ld safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety be lt really tight
so that the seat cannot
move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best protected in special infant carriers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small children should r ide only in special re
stra ints in wh ich the child faces the back of
the vehicle. These infant seats support the ba
by's back, neck and head in a crash
c:> fig. 158.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
ch ild to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child sea t.
It is a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat. ..,_

_& WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
crash.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas
senger seat - even with an Advanced Air
bag System. A child wilt be seriously in
jured and can be killed when the inflat
ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in
fant carrier with great force and smashes
the child safety seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof¢
page 147, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing child restraint
in the forward-facing direction. Such re
straints are designed for the special needs of infants and very small children
and cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-facing.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
¢page 137, Safety
belts,¢ page 145, Airbag system
and
¢ page 169, Important things to know.
Child Safety 175
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash .
Fig. 159 Schematic overview: installat ion of the at
tachments applicable to a LATCH seat
Fig. 160 Schematic overview: instal latio n of the seat
using the vehicl e's safety belt system
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking feature on the safety
belt to prevent the child safety seat from
moving <=>
page 178 or install the seat using
the LATCH attachments.
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt realty tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
¢page 178.
.,. If the child safety seat is equipped with a
tether strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢page 185.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in
fant restraint if it is more than one year old
and weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg).
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about 4 years old and weigh more
~

176 Child Safety
than 20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must
a lways be properly restrai ned in a chi ld safety
seat certified for the ir s ize and wei ght
¢
fig. 159 and ¢ fig. 160.
The airba g on the passen ger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
chi ld to r ide. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child safe
ty seat. It is a very dan gerous plac e for an in
fant or a larger child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
A WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety seat, using the
wrong ch ild safety seat or improperly in
stall ing a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
co llision or other eme rgency s ituation.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri
o usly inju red or even killed when an a ir
bag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat w ill be seriously injured
and can be k illed if the front a irbag in
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant car rier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, cente r
arm rest, door o r roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear sea t.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
sea t because of excep tional circ ums tan
c es and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately install the rea r-facin g child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used¢
page 137, Safety
belts,¢ page 145, Airbag system
and
¢ page 169, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a fo rward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat, the child's safe
ty and well-being require t hat the follow
i ng spe cial preca utions be ta ken:
- Make sure t he forward-facing seat has
been designed and cert ified by its man u
facturer fo r use on a front seat with a
p assenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer' s in
s truc tions prov ided with t he ch ild safety
seat o r infant ca rr ier.
- Always move the front passenger seat in
to the rearmos t position of the passen
ge r seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi
b le before installing the ch ild restraint.
- Always ma ke sure that no thing prevents
the front passenger 's seat from being
moved to the rea rmost pos ition in its
fore and aft ad justment range.
- Always make sure the bac krest is in an
upright pos ition.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignit ion is switched
on.
- I f the light does not stay on, perform the
checks¢
page 156, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
l ight does not stay on
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on.
-

178 Child Safety
the child's body and the front of the passen
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate comp lete ly and provide supp lemental protection
in certain fronta l collisions .
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, us ing the boos
ter seat improperly, incorrect ly install ing a
booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous personal injury and death in a col lision
or other eme rgency s ituation. To help re
duce the risk of ser ious persona l injury
and/or death:
- Always make su re to position the should
er portion of the three -point belt over
the midd le of child's sho ulder.
- Never le t the shoulder port ion of the belt
rest against or across the neck, face,
chin, or throat of the child.
- Always make su re the lap belt portion of
the three-po int be lt is worn sn ug and
passes as low as possib le across the
child's pelvis. Never let the belt pass over
the soft abdomen.
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a ch ild's body will cause severe inju
ries in an acc ident or other emergency
situation
c;,page 137.
-Children on the front seat of any car,
even w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri
ous ly injured or even killed when an a ir
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for example the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
- Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forward, sitt ing s ideways or out of posi
t ion i n any way during an acc ident can be
struck by a deploying airbag . This will re
sult in serious personal injury o r death.
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is sw itch
ed on .
-
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
c;, page 156, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever us ing a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
¢ page 137, Safety
belts,
c;, page 145, Airbag system and
c;, page 169, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
· Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
passenger can be locked with the convertible locking retractor to properly secure child
safety seats.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety be lt have a con
vertib le locking retractor for child restraints .
The safety belt must be locked so that be lt
webbing cannot unreel. The retractor can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
during normal dr iving . A child safety seat can
o n ly be properly instal led when the safety belt
is locked so that the chi ld and child safety
seat w ill stay in place .
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
child ren, especially those 12 years and young
er, shou ld always r ide in the back seat prope r
ly restrained for the ir age and size.
A WARNING
Improperly installed chi ld safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a co llision. -

-Always make sure that the safety belt re
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt re
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat
in place during normal driving or in a
crash .
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around
during a sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt is attached is securely latched when
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used to secure a child restraint.
- If the backrest is not securely latched,
the child and the child restraint will be
thrown forward together with the back
rest and will strike parts of the vehicle
interior. The child can be seriously in
jured or killed.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas
senger seat. A child will be seriously in
jured and can be killed when the passen ger airbag inflates .
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats or in
fant carriers installed on the front pas
senger's seat may interfere with the de
ployment of the airbag and cause serious
injury to the child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing
child safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
¢page 169. Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 147, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
Child Safety 1 79
A WARNING
-
Always take special precautions if you
must install a forward or rearward -facing
child restraint on the front passenger's
seat in exceptional situations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward -facing
child restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
¢page 156, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur
er's instructions provided with the child
safety seat or carrier .
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
A WARNING
Forward-facing child restraints:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re
straint up, against or very near the in
strument panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from •
•