2012 AUDI A3 seats

Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted h ead restraints are an im­
portant part of your vehicle's occupant r e­
straint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in accident situations.
F ig. 118 Hea d re str ain t: v ie w ed fro m the front
The head restraints must be correctly adjust­
ed to achieve the best protection.
,.. Adjust the head restrai nts so the upper
edge is as even as poss ible with the top of
your head. If that is not possib le, try to ad­
just the head restraint so that it is as close to this position as possib le
q fig. 118.
"'" If there are passengers in the rear seat,
s li de the head restra in ts upward at least to
the next notch on the occup ied seats .
Ad justing head restraints¢
page 65.
A WARNING
Driv ing with out head restraints or w ith
head restraints that are not properly ad­
justed increases the risk of serious o r fatal
neck injury d ramatically. To help reduce
the risk of inj ury:
- Always drive wit h the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted.
- Every pe rson in the veh icle must have a
properly ad justed head restra int .
- Always make sure each person in the ve ­
hicle p roperly adjus ts thei r head r e­
st raint. Ad just t he head rest raints so t he
upper edge is as even as possi ble w it h
the top of your head. If tha t is not possi­
ble, try to adjus t the head restra int so
that it is as close to this position as pos ­
sible.
-
Dr iving S afel y 107
-Never attempt to adj ust head restraint
while driving. I f you have driven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any
reason, first stop the vehicle safely be­
fore attempting to adjust the head re­
s traint .
- Ch ild ren must a lways be properly re ­
s trained i n a child rest ra int that is ap pro­
priate fo r their age and size ¢
page 143.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only re­
duce the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are
properly seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious
injury or death . Safety belts can only work
whe n they are properly positioned on the
body . Improper s eating positions red uce the
effectiveness of safety belts and w ill even in­
c rease the r is k of i njury and dea th by mov ing
the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the body .
Improper seating positions a lso increase t he
risk of serio us inju ry and death when an a ir­
bag deploys and str ikes an occupant who is
not in the proper seating posit ion. A dr iver is
responsible for the safety of all veh icle occu­
pants a nd espec ially for children. The refo re:
"'" Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being
used ¢_&. .
The following bulletins list on ly some samp le
pos itions that will increase the risk of serio us
injury and death. Our hope is that these exam­
ples will make you more aware of seating po ­
s itions tha t are dangerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is
moving:
- neve r stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- neve r kneel on the seats
- neve r ride wit h the seatback reclined
- never lie down o n the rear se at
- neve r lean up against the ins trumen t panel
- neve r sit on the edge of the seat
- neve r sit sideways
•
•
...

Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are nec­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly.
~ Read all the information that follows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts. Like all vehicle occupants, they are
more likely to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety belts. The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt. It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
Safety belts 113
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe­
ty belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod­
els only) to remind you about the importance
of buckling-up.
Fig. 120 Safety belt warning light in the instr ument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, always:
~ Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly.
~ Make sure that your passengers also buckle
up and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safety belts. In addi­
tion, you will hear a warning tone for a certain period of time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
•
•

occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what­
ever else is in the way
¢ fig. 123. This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the 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 sup­
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al­
though your Audi is equipped with airbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver, must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini­
mize 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 vehi­
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen­
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them­
selves but also the driver and other passen­
gers
r::;; fig. 124. In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward violently, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas ­
senger.
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. 125 Drive r is correct ly restrained in a sudden brak­
ing maneuver
Safety belts 115
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif­
ference. 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 fron­
tal collision, safety belts can also su bsta ntia l­
ly 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. Accident sta­
tistics 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 supplemen­
tal airbags to do their job in a collision . For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired 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 provid­
ed. Front airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air­
bags 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 everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly
c::> page 61, General recommenda­
tions .
... Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt
c::> ,&. .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&..
... Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch securely
c::> fig. 126.
... Pull on t he be lt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat­
i c belt retractor on the shoulder be lt. This fea­
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing 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 are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c::> page 16.
Sw itchable locking feature
E very safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read the important information about this
feature
c::> page 152.
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
o::> page 117, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protect ion
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 11 7
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when­
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used. If the backrest is not securely latched, the passenger w ill move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash .
- Never attach th e safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat . Atta ching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain ­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child safety seat in the vehicle
c::> page 154.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 1 27 Head restra int and safety belt pos it ion as
see n from the s ide
ill
q :r ... CD
Standard features on your vehicle he lp you ad ­
just the position of the safety belt to match
your body size.
- be lt h eight adjustment for the front seats,
- automatic belt height adjustment for the
rear seats .

,&_ WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi ­
cle is movi ng . Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust ­
ment, the thr ee point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord­
ing to body size.
Fi g. 13 0 Safety be lt heig ht ad justment fo r the fr ont
s e ats - loop -a ro un d f ittin gs
g 0 0 0 ... a,
• Push the loop -aro und fitti ngs up ¢ fig. 130
@ , or
• squee ze together the (D button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @.
• Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged .
_&. WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS an d
ot her i mpo rtant in format io n
¢ page 116.
(D Tips
-The sho ulder belt part sho uld route ap­
pro ximately over the middle of your
shou lde r -
under no circum stances
should it route over your neck and
throat area
¢ .&. in Safety belt posi tion
on page 118.
- Wi th the fr ont seats, the he igh t adju st­
me nt of the se at c an a lso be used to ad­
ju st the position o f the safety belts.
Safety belts 119
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can on ly
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Imprope r seat ing pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety be lts and will
even
inc rea se t he risk of inju ry and death by mov ­
in g t he safety be lt to c riti cal a reas o f the
bo dy. Improper seating posi tions a lso in ­
c rease the ris k of serious injury and death
when a n airbag dep loys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for ch il­
dren . Therefore:
• Never perm it anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing pos ition in the vehicle while traveling
¢ _& .
The following lists only some examples of im­
proper ly worn safety belts that will increase
the risk of ser ious injury and death . Our hope
is that these examp les w ill make you more
aware of seat ing pos itions that are dangerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is
moving:
- never wear the shoulder belt under your arm
- never let the s hou lder belt pass over yo ur
neck
- never wear the safety belt loose ly
- neve r place the lap belt port ion of the safety
be lt across your abdomen¢.&. .
_&. WARNING
Im properly worn safety belts increase the
risk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used .
- Always make s ure t hat all vehicle occu­
pa nts are co rrectly restra ined and stay in
a co rrect seati ng position whe never th e
veh icle is being used.
- A lways read and heed a ll WARNIN GS and
o th er impo rtant information
¢ pag e 116 .

possible to define a range of vehicle spee ds
that will cover every possible kind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the a irbags .
Important fact ors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alw ay s rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituation s in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another veh icle af ­
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 113 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the steering wheel or instrument pan­ el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing wheel, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w il l also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when an air ­
bag inflates, a lways wear safety belts
properly ¢
page 116, Safety belts .
Airbag system 123
-Always make certain that chi ld ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad ­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 104.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudde n maneuve r. Obje cts ne ar the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
_&. WARNING ~
A irbags that have de ployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read t he important information
a nd head the WAR NINGS fo r important de­
t ails about children and Advanced A irbags
¢ page 143. ..,.
•
•

124 Airbag system
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restrained for their age and size. 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 safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
ments of United States Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
pressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re ­
strai nts that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
r=v page 145.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS ­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child restraint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
r=v page 133, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
chi ld but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( re gard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
r=v page 145), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger s ide may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting upright with their back against a
non-reclined backrest with their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat
r=v page 104, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hroug h interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
r=v page 133, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap­
idly inflat ing passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The air bag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation .

For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
Q page 143, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-
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 inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, door or roof .
- 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 because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on , im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
authorized Aud i dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat may in­
terfe re with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause se rious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c irc umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forw ard-fac ing
seat has been des igned 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 aga inst or very near the instru­
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
A irbag system 12 5
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restraint. The
backrest must be adj usted to an upright
position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, per form the checks de ­
scribed
Q page 133, Monitoring the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System.
- Take 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 light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly .
-Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stall ing ch ild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's seat :
- Improper instal lation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effect iveness o r even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improper ly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the a irbag as it de­
ploys and seriously i njure o r even kill the
child -even with an Adv ance d Airbag
System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manu factur­
er 's ins truc tions p rov ided with the ch ild
safety seat or car rier . •
•