142 Child Safet y
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. 128 Sche mati c ove rview : in stallat ion o f the seat
u sing t he ve hicle's safety be lt system
~ When using the vehicle safety be lt to install
a ch ild safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retracto r on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from movi ng
Q page 144.
~ Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
Q page 144.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in
fant restraint if it is more than one year o ld
and weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg) .
Toddle rs and c hildren who are o lder than one
year up to about 4 years o ld and weigh more
than 20 lbs . (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must
a lways be properly restrained in a ch ild safety
seat certi fied for the ir size and weight
Q fig . 128 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide. The front seat is not the safes t
p lace for a child in a forward -facing child safe
ty seat.
It is a very dangero us p lace for an in
fant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat .
A WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, usi ng the
w ro ng ch ild s afety sea t or improperly in-
-
stalling a ch ild restra int increases the risk
of ser ious personal in jury and death in a
collis ion or other emergency situat ion.
- Ch ildren on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri
ously i njured or even k illed when an air
bag inflates . A chi ld in a rearwa rd-facing
child safety seat installed on the front passenger s eat will be s erio usly injured
an d can be killed if the front a irbag in
f lates -even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.
- T he infla ting airbag will h it the c hild
safety sea t or i nfan t carrier wi th grea t
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child aga inst the back rest, door or
roof.
- Never i nsta ll a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
un less the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on. If the PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come on and stay on have the airbag sys
tem inspected immediate ly by yo ur Audi
deale r.
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS
wh eneve r using a child restrained in ave
h icle is being used
9 page 107, Safety
belts,
Q page 115, Airbag system and
Q page 136, Importan t thing s to know .
.8_ WARNING
If excep tional circ ums tan ces require the
use of a fo rward -f a cing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safe
ty and we ll-being requ ire that the fo llow
in g spec ial precautions be taken:
- Make sure t he forward -facing seat has
been designed and cert ified by its man u
facturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag .
- Always follow the manufacturer's in
structions prov ided with the c hild safety
seat o r infant ca rr ie r.
- Always move the front passenger seat in
to the rearmost position of the passen- ge r seat's fo re and aft adjustment range, ,..
and as far away from the airbag as
poss ible before installing the child re
straint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range .
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on .
- If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks ~
page 125, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on have the
airbag system inspected immed iate ly by
your Audi dealer.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
~- 9 in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall.
Fig. 129 Passe nger seat : ch ild p rop erly rest ra in ed in a
boos ter sea t
Booster seats raise these children up so that
the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronge r parts of their bodies and the safety
belt can he lp pro tec t them in a crash .
• Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re
strain a child on a booster seat.
• Always position the shoulder portion of the
safety belt midway over the chi ld's shoulder . Child Safety 143
• Always make sure that the shou lder portion
of the safety belt never rests against or
across the child's neck.
• Always make sure that the ch ild can properly
we ar the lap portion of the belt low across
the th ighs or pelvis and
never over the
stomach or abdomen .
It is usually best to put these children in ap
propr iate booster seats . Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and repo sition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the ch ild's body in the right places . The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
im portant for the child's protect ion, whether
or not a booster seat is used.
Children who are at least 4 ft. 9 in . (57 in
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle 's three point lap and shoulder belts.
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's
safety belt alone to restra in any child, regard
less of how big the chi ld is. A lways remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder belts. The child's safety ab
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
poss ible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety be lt pass over the
child's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with considerable force . In order
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect th e occupant
as the occupan t moves forwa rd into the air
bag .
A vehi cle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
inflating airbag. When an occupa nt i s too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in -
jury.
Ill>
144 Child Safety
In o rder for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especia l
l y any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
a irbag as poss ible. By keep ing room between
the child's body and the front of the passen
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com
p letely and provide supplemen tal p rotection
i n cer tain frontal co llisions .
& WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos
ter seat improperly, incorrect ly installing a
booste r seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or ot her emergency situation. To help re
duce the risk of ser ious personal injury
and/or death:
- Always make sure to position the should
er port ion of the three-po int belt over
the midd le of ch ild's shou lder .
- Never let the shoulder port ion of the belt
rest against or across the neck, face,
chin, or throat of the child .
-Always make sure the lap belt portion of the three-po int be lt is worn snug and
passes as low as possib le across the
c hild's pelvis. Neve r let the belt pass over
the soft abdomen.
- Failure to properly route safe ty belts
over a ch ild 's body will cause severe inju
ries in an acc iden t or other emergency
sit uation
c;, page 10 7.
- Children on t he front seat of any car ,
even w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri
o usly injured or even killed when an air
bag inflates .
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for examp le the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the ca rgo a rea of
yo ur vehicle.
- Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
f orward, sitting sideways or o ut o f posi
t ion in any way during an acc ident can be
struck by a deploying airbag. This will re
sult in serious personal injury or death.
-
- If you must insta ll a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
li ght must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch
ed on .
- If the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, pe rform
the checks descr ibed
¢page 125, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on the infla ting
ai rbag w ill hit the child sa fety seat or in
fant car rier with g reat force and will
smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, door or roof . Have
the airbag system inspected immed iately
by your Audi dea ler.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever us ing a child restrained in ave
h icle is being used
c;, page 107, Safety
belts,
c;, page 115, Airbag system and
c;, page 136, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for 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 front passenger's seat safety belt have
a convertible locking retractor for ch ild re
stra ints . The safety be lt must be locked so
that be lt webbing cannot unree l. The retrac
tor can be act ivated to lock the safety belt and
prevent the safety be lt webb ing from loosen
ing up during norma l driving. A child safety
seat can only be properly insta lled when the
safety belt is locked so that the chi ld and child
safety seat will stay in place.
Always remember : Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, a
ll-
child should always ride in the seat properly
restrained for its age and size .
A WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in
crease the risk of ser ious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re tractor is locked when installing a ch ild
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 s itting in it .
A loose ch ild safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop o r in a coll ision
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
f orce and w ill smash t he ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, door or
roof .
- F orward-fac ing ch ild safe ty sea ts or in
f ant ca rriers installed on the front pas
senger's seat may inte rfe re with the de
ployment of the airbag and cause serious
injury to the ch ild.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in
ave
hicle is being used¢ page 136 . Special
precautions apply when installing a ch ild
safety seat on the front passenge r seat
¢ page 116, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
A WARNING
-
Always take special precautions if you
m ust in stal l a forw ard or rearward-f acing
child restrain t on the front passenger's
sea t in except iona l situat ions:
- Whenever a fo rw ard or rearward- facing
child restraint is installed on the fron t
passenge r 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
Child Sa fet y 145
the checks described ¢ page 125, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on the inflating
airbag w ill hit the child safety seat or in
fant carrier with great force and will
smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, door or roof. Have
the airbag system i nspe cte d immed iate ly
by your Audi de aler.
- I mp roper installation of ch ild restraints
can reduce t heir effec tiveness o r even
preven t them from providing any pro tec
tion.
- An improperly installed ch ild restr aint
can interfere with the airbag as i t de
ploys and seriously injure o r even kil l the
child.
- Always carefu lly follow the manu fact ur
er 's instructions p rovi ded with t he chi ld
safety seat or car rier .
- Never p lace additiona l items on the seat
that ca n increase the total weight reg is
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
A WARNING
Forward-facing child rest raints:
- Always make s ure the forward- facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag .
- 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 pos ition in the seat 's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fa cing ch ild restra int. The
b ackrest mus t be ad ju ste d to a n up right
posi tion.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and st ays o n all the
time whenever the ignit ion is switched
on. •
•
146 Child Safety
_& WARNING
Rearward -fac ing ch ild restraints:
- A ch ild in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenge r
seat will be seriously injured and can be
ki lled if the front airbag inflates - even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, door or
roof.
- Always be especially careful if you must
install a rearward facing child safety seat
on the front passenger seat in exception
al circumstances .
- Make sure that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
unless the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t comes on and stays on. H the PAS
SEN GER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on have the airbag sys
tem inspected immediately by your Audi
dealer.
Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to se
cure a child restraint.
A lways heed the child safety seat man ufactur
er's instructions when installing a child re
straint in your vehicle. To activate the conver
tible locking retractor:
• Place the child restraint on a seat .
• Slow ly pull the be lt
all the way out .
• Route it around or through the child re
stra int be lt path
c::> &_ .
• Push the child safety seat dow n with your
full weight to get the safety belt really t ight .
• Insert the be lt tongue into t he buckle for
t h at seating position. •
Guide the safety belt back into the retractor
until the be lt lies flat and snug on the child
safety seat .
• You shou ld hear a "clicking" noise as the
be lt winds back into the inertia reel. Test the
convert ible lock ing retractor by pu lling on
the belt. You should no longer be able to
pull the be lt out of the retractor . The con
ve rtible locking re trac to r i s now activated .
• Ma ke s ure t hat the red release b utton is fac
ing away from the child rest raint so that it
can be unbuckled quic kly.
• Pull on the belt to make sure the safety be lt
is properly tight and fastened so that the
seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2 .5 cm).
_& WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an im
p roperly installed chi ld restrai nt can cause
se rious pe rsonal injury or deat h in a cr ash.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re-
tracto r is loc ked when insta lling a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt re
tracto r ca nnot hold the child safety sea t
in place dur ing no rma l dr iving o r in a
crash.
- Always buckle the child sa fe ty seat firmly
in p lace even if a ch ild is not si tt ing in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around
during a s udden stop or in a crash .
- Always ma ke sure the seat backrest to
which the child restraint is installed is in
an upright pos ition. Otherw ise, the seat
back with the ch ild safety seat attached
to it could fly forward in the event of an
accident o r other emergency situation .
- Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS
whenever us ing a child restrained in ave
h icle is being used
c::> page 136. Special
p reca utions apply when insta lling a child
safety sea t on the front passenger seat
c::> page 116, Child re straints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
-
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re
straints will be deactiva ted automatically
when the belt is wound all the way back into the retractor.
" Press the red button on the safe ty belt buc k
l e. The bel t tongue w ill pop out of the buck
l e .
" Guide the safety be lt all the way back into
its stowed pos ition .
A lways le t the safety belt retrac t complete ly
into its stowed pos it ion . The sa fety belt can
now be used as an ordinary safety belt with
out the convert ib le lock ing ret ractor for chi ld
rest ra ints .
If the conver tible locking retractor shou ld be
activated inadve rtently , the safety belt m ust
be unfastened and guided comp letely back in
to its stowed position to deactivate th is fea
ture. If the conver tib le locking retractor is not
deactivated, the safety belt will gradually be
come tighter and u ncomfo rtable to wea r.
A WARNING
Imprope rly insta lled child saf ety seats in
c rease the risk of ser ious perso nal inju ry
a n d de ath in a colli sion.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deacti
va te the convert ible lo cking re tr actor for
ch ild re st rain ts w hile the veh icle is mov
ing. You would not be rest rained an d
cou ld be ser iously injure d in an accident.
- Always read and hee d all WARN INGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave
hicle is being use d¢
page 136. Spec ial
precautions apply when installing a ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 116, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know .
Child Safet y 147
Additional Information
Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
T here a re a number o f sources of add itiona l
information abo ut child restraint se lection, in
stallation and use :
N HT SA advises t hat the bes t ch ild safety seat
is the one that fi ts your chi ld and fits in your
vehicle, and that yo u will use correct ly and
consistently.
T ry before yo u buy!
U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Admin
istration
T el.: 1 -888 -3 27-42 36 (TIY: 1-800-4 24-9153)
www. n hts a .gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (202) 66 2-0600
www.safe kids.o rg
Safety BeltSafe U. S.A
Tel.: (800) 7 45-SAFE (English)
Te l.: (800) 7 47-SANO (Span ish)
www. carseat .org
Transport Canada Information Centre
Tel.: 1 (800) 333-037 1 or call
1 (613) 9 98-8616 if you are in the Ottawa
area
www.tc.gc. ca/ ro ad safe ty
Audi Cu stomer CARE
T el.: (800) 82 2-2834 •
•
148 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu
facturers fo r the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event . EDR's are sometimes called "crash re
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retrieval or down
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A lthough your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for example, engine function, emis
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts .
These electronic control modules also record
vehicle-related data during normal vehicle op
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac
tually recorded over a very limited period of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as well as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded with special equip
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Program (ESP)
General
The Electronic Stability Program increases
driving stability.
With ESP, control over the vehicle is increased
in situations when the vehicle is close to the
limits of grip, such as during acceleration and
in curves . ESP reduces the risk of skidding and
improves vehicle stability under all road con
ditions.
It operates at all speeds.
The Anti -Lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic
Differential Lock (EDS) and Anti-Slip Regula
tion System (ASR) are integrated in the Elec
tronic Stability Program .
How ESP works
The ESP control unit processes the following
data from high-sensitive sensors : the rota
tional speed of the vehicle about its vertical
axis , fore-and-aft and lateral acceleration
forces, brake pressure and steering angle.
Using steering angle and vehicle speed, the
direction the driver wishes to travel is deter
mined and continuously compared with actual
vehicle behavior. If the two do not match, for
example when the vehicle begins to skid, ESP
brakes the appropriate wheel automatically.
The vehicle is stabilized again by the forces
acting on the wheel during braking. With an
oversteering vehicle (tendency for the rear end to skid out of the curve), the brake appli
cation is mainly at the front wheel on the out
side of the curve, with an understeering vehi
cle (tendency to run wide in the curve) at the
rear wheel on the inside of the curve or addi
tionally at the other wheels as needed. This
brake application is accompanied by noises.
ESP works in conjunction w ith ABS
~ page 153. If there is malfunction in the
ABS, ESP is also inoperative.
A WARNING
- The limits of physics cannot be suspended by ESP. Even in vehicles w ith ESP, you
should always adapt your driving to road
and traffic conditions. This is particular ly
t rue on a slippery and wet road. Do not
be tempted by the inc reased safety pro
vided to take ris ks - danger of an acci
dent!
- Please note tha t when ESP/ASR is deacti
vated, the drive whee ls can spin on icy
and slippery roads and the veh icle can
break away - danger of skidding!
Switching on and off
Fi g. 130 Center co nsole wit h ESP switch
The ES P is a utomatically activated when the
engine is star ted, and it performs a self-test.
As soon as the test is completed, the system
is in normal operating mode.
Deactivating
ESP should normally be activated at all times
because this ensures optimum vehicle stabil i
ty. Only in some cases it does make sense to
deactivate the Electronic Stability P rogram
(ESP) by press ing the button
~fig . 130. Deac
tivation is ind icated by the ESP lamp
I in the
instr ument cluster f lashes. The message
ESP
OFF
appears in the instrument cluster. Ant i
Slip Regulation is completely deactivated and
the stabilization effects from the ESP system are lim ited. Th is makes a mo re agile and spor
ty driv ing style poss ible, but the fu ll exte nt of
t he s tabiliza tion f unct ion is not available .
Intelligent technolog y 149
Activating
Press the@] button again~ fig. 130. T he ind i
cator light
I goes out . The message ESP ON
appears brief ly in the instrument cluster dis
play.
&_ WARNING
i=
You shou ld only switch the ESP off if your
driving ab ility and the traff ic situat ion al
low. Please note that when ESP/ASR is de
activated, the d rive wheels can spin on icy
a nd slippery roads and th e vehicle can
b reak away- dange r of skidd ing!
a) Tips
- If Aud i magnetic ride* is malfunct io ni ng,
the ESP may not sw itch off or it may
switch off automatically.
- In the event of a defect in the rear spoil er sys tem or in Audi magnet ic ride, it can
happen that ASR and ASR/ESP cannot be
deactivated, o r they are ac tiva ted au to
matically in the deactiva ted st ate.
Electronic differential lock (EDL)
The electronic differential lock monitors the
rotational speed of the drive wheels.
General notes
The electronic d ifferential lock (EDL) helps the
ca r to start moving, accele rate and climb a
gradient on su rfaces provid ing poor or a lmost
no g rip. Withou t EDL, this would be d iff icul t ,
i f not impossib le.
How the system works
The EDL operates automatica lly. It mon itors
the rotational speed of the dr ive wheels on an
axle with the help of the ABS sensors
c;:> page 153. If a noticeable difference in ro
tational speed
between the drive wheels on
o ne axle is detected (e.g. on s lippery ground
on one side), the s pinning wheel is braked,
thereby t ransferring power to the other drive
whee l or wheels (a ll-wheel drive). This is done
up to a speed of about 60 mph (100 km/h). ..,_