2012 AUDI A6 Owners Manual

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 airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de­
vice or power inverter). These may influ­
ence the electrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection
system and can also fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢page 133, Safety
belts,¢ page 142, Airbag system
and
¢ page 168, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
A child in a child restraint installed with
the LATCH lower universal anchorages or
with the standard safety belt on the rear
seat may play with unused rear seat safety
belts and become entangled resulting in
serious personal injury and even death.
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of children in chi ld
seats such as by properly routing them
around the head restraint for the seating
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
-
Child Safety 175
- Never activate the switchable locking re­
tractor when routing the safety belts
around the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear
seating position if the center rear safety
belt has been routed around a rear head
restraint.
- A child restrained in the child safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockable safe­
ty belts .
- Always secure unused lockable safety belts on the rear bench.
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. 155 Schemat ic overv iew : installat ion of the at·
tac hments applicable to a LATCH seat
Fig. 156 Schemat ic overview : instal lation of the seat
using the vehicl e's safety be lt 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 179 or install the seat using
the LATCH attachments.
IJ>-

176 Child Safety
• Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
¢page 179.
• 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
than
20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs . (18 kg) must
always be properly restrained in a child safety
seat certified for their size and weight
¢ fig. 155 and ¢fig . 156.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child safe­
ty seat. It is a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat!
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench ,
especially with LATCH universal anchorages,
the unused safety belts must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot
reach them.
A 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
collision or other emergency situation .
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri­
ously injured or even killed when an air­
bag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat will be seriously injured
and can be killed if the front airbag in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-
- 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
arm rest, 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
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
c>page 133, Safety
belts,
cc> page 142 , Airbag system and
cc> page 168, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safe ­
ty and well-being require that the follow­
ing special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu­
facturer for use on a front seat with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the child safety
seat or infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat in­
to the rearmost position of the passen­
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi­
ble before installing the child restraint.
- 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.
-

-Never place or use any electrical devic e
(such as a laptop, CD player, electron ic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat i f the device is con­
nected to the 12-volt sock et or the ciga­
rette lighte r socket .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never ins tall any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquid s on the front passenger seat
c u shion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a la ptop , CD player, elect ronic games de­
vice or power inverter) . These may influ ­
ence the e lectrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detect ion
system and can a lso fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- 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 .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forwa rd -facing child seat
at a seating posit ion on the rear seat and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
au thori zed Audi dealer .
- Take the child rest raint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the re ar seat posi tions if the
PASSEN ­
G ER AIR BAG OFF
light does not s tay on
whenever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
A child in a child rest raint insta lled with
the LATCH lower universal 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
ser ious personal injury and even death .
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of chi ld ren in ch ild
seats such as by properly routing them
-
Child S afety 177
around the head restraint for the seat ing
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re­
tractor when routing the safety be lts
around the head restraints.
-A child restrained in the chi ld safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockab le safe­
ty belts.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properl y used boos ter sea ts con help pro tect
children weighing be tween about 40 lb s. and
80 lbs . (1 8 kg and 36 kg) who ore less than 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) toll .
"' ...
"' 0 :i: ;lli
Fig . 1 57 Rea r seat : chil d pr oper ly restr ained in a boo s­
ter seat
The vehicle's s afe ty belt s alone will not fit
most children until they are at lea st 4
ft . 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs . (36 kg) . Booster seats raise these chi l­
dren up so tha t the safety belt w ill pass prop­
erly over the stronge r parts of the ir bodies
and the safety be lt can he lp protect them i n a
crash .
"' Do not use the convert ible loc king ret ractor
when using the veh icle's safety be lt to re­
s train a ch ild on a booster seat.
.. Always position the shoulder portion of the
safety belt m idway ov er th e ch ild's sho ulder.
If you must transport an o lder child in a
booster seat on th e fron t passenger seat,
yo u ca n use the sa fety be lt heigh t adjust­
ment to he lp adju st the shoulder portion
properly .

178 Child Saf ety
• Always make sure that the shoulder portion
of the safety belt never r ests against or
across the ch ild's neck .
• Always make sure that the child can proper­
ly wear the lap portion of the belt low across
the thighs or pe lvis and
never over the
stomach or abdomen .
Ch ildren up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs
or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats designed for the ir age and weight . Ex ­
perts say that the skeletal structure, particu­
l arly the pelvis, of these ch ild ren is not fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts without a su itab le child res traint .
It is usually best to put these children in ap­
p rop riate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all app licab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
ch ild and reposition bot h the lap and shou lder
pa rts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child's body in the right places. The
routing o f the be lt over t he ch ild's body is very
important for the c hild's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used. Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
C hi ld ren who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in­
ches/ 1.45 meters) ta ll can generally use the
ve hicle's three point lap and shou lder belts.
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle 's
safety belt a lone to restrain any child, regard­
less of how b ig the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pe l­
vic structu re required for the proper f unction
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three po int
l ap and shoulder be lts. The child's safety ab­
solutely req uires that a lap be lt po rtion of the
safety be lt be fastened sn ug ly and as low as
possible around the pelvis . Never le t the lap
be lt portion of the safety belt pass over the
chi ld's stomach or abdomen .
I n a crash, airbags mus t inflate within a b link
of an eye and with considerab le force . In orde r
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air­
bag. A vehicle occ
upant who is out of posit ion and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating airbag. When an occ upant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in­
jury .
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that a ll vehicle occupants, especial­
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances, be
properly restrai ned and as far away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
t h e ch ild's body and the front of the passen­
ger compa rtment, the airb ag c an inflate com­
pletely and p rov ide supplementa l protection
in ce rtain frontal collisions .
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos­
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri­
ous persona l injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situat ion. To he lp re ­
duce the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and/or death:
- Always make s ure to posit ion the sho uld­
e r po rtion of the three-point belt over
the middle of child's shoulder.
- Never let the shoulder portion of the belt
rest against o r across t he neck , face,
chin, or throat of the ch ild.
- Always make sure the lap belt portion of
the three-point belt is worn snug and
p asses as low as poss ible across the
chi ld's pelv is. Never let the belt pass over
the soft abdomen .
- Fai lure to properly ro ute safety belts
over a child's body wi ll ca use seve re i nju­
ries in an accident or othe r emergency
situation
c::> page 133.
-The rear side of the booster seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat. Adjust or re­
move the rear seat head restraint if it is
d ifficult to install the child seat with the
head restra int in place
c::> poge 52 . Ins tall ...

the head restraint again immediately o nce the child seat is removed. Dr iving
without h ead restraints or with h ead re­
straints that are not properly adjusted
increases the risk of ser ious or fatal neck
injury dramat ica lly .
- Children on the front seat of any car, even with Advanced A irbags, can be seri­
ous ly injured or even kill ed when an a ir­
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for e xamp le the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the ca rgo a rea of
your vehicle .
-Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forwar d, si tting s ideways o r out of posi­
t io n in any way during an acc iden t can be
st ruck by a deploying airbag . This will re­
sul t in se rious personal injury or deat h.
- If you mus t in stall a boos ter seat on the
front passenger seat be cause of e xcep­
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch­ ed on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
<=> page 154, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child rest raint 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.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave­
hicle is being use d
<=>page 133, Safety
belts, <=> page 1 42, Airbag system
and
<=> page 168, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
A child in a boos te r seat inst alled with t he
standar d safety belt on t he rear sea t may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled res ulting in ser ious per­
sonal injury and even death.
Child Sa fet y 1 79
-Always secure unused rear seat sa fety
be lts out of reach of children in child
seats such as by properly rout ing them
around the head restraint for the seat ing
posi tion where the child rest rain t is in­
stalled .
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re ­
tracto r when routing the safety be lts
around the head restraints.
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.
T he safety belts eme rgency locking retracto rs
fo r the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety be lt have a co n­
vertib le lo cking ret ractor for child re straints.
T he safety belt m ust be locked so tha t be lt
web bing cannot unree l. The retrac to r can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety be lt webbing from loosening up
during norma l dr iving . A chi ld safety seat can
o nl y be prope rly installed w hen t he safety belt
is locked so that t he ch ild and child safety
seat w ill stay in place .
A lways remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
c hi ldren, especially those 12 years and young ­
er, sho uld always r ide in the back seat prope r­
l y restrai ned fo r the ir age and size .
A WARNING
Improperly ins talled chi ld safety sea ts in­
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a co llision .
- Always ma ke sure tha t t he safe ty belt re­
tr actor is lo cked w hen in sta lling a child
safety sea t. An unlocke d safety bel t re -
tracto r cannot hold the child safety seat
Ill>
•
•

180 Child Safety
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
whenever 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
r::;,page 168 . Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
r::;, page 144, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
& 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
r::;, page 154, 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.
- After checking to make sure that the child restraint is properly installed, make
certain that the child restraint is correct­ ly recognized by the capacitive passenger
detection system in the front passenger
seat and that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light signals the correct front pas­
senger frontal airbag status.
& 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
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The
backrest must be adjusted to 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.
.8, WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be
killed 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 will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, 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
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your Audi
dealer.
Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to se­
cure a child restraint.
Always heed the child safety seat manufactur­
er's instructions when installing a child re-
Child Safety 181
straint in your vehicle. To activate the conver­
tible locking retractor:
.,. Place the child restraint on a seat , prefera­
bly on the rear seat.
.,. Slowly pull the belt
all the way out.
.,. Route it around or through the child re­
straint belt path
¢ A -
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight.
.,. Insert the belt tongue into the buckle for
that seating position .
.,. Guide the safety belt back into the retractor
until the belt lies flat and snug on the child
safety seat.
.,. You should hear a "clicking" noise as the
belt winds back into the inertia reel. Test the
convertible locking retractor by pulling on
the belt. You should no longer be able to
pull the belt out of the retractor. The con­
vertible locking retractor is now activated.
.,. Make sure that the red release button is fac­
ing away from the child restraint so that it
can be unbuckled quickly.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure the safety belt
is properly tight and fastened so that the
seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2.5 cm).
.8, WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an im­
properly installed child restraint can cause
serious personal injury or death in a crash.
- 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 crash.
- Always make sure the seat backrest to
which the child restraint is installed is in
an upright position and securely latched
-
•
•

182 Child Safety
into place and cannot fold forward. Oth­
erwise, the seatback with the child safety
seat attached to it could fly forward in
the event of an accident or other emer­ gency situation .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
c:;, page 168. Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
c:;, page 144, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor far child re­
straints will be deactivated automatically
when the belt is wound all the way back into the retractor.
• Press the red button on the safety belt
buckle . The belt tongue will pop out of the
buckle.
... Guid@ th@ safety belt all th@ way back into
its stowed position.
Always let the safety belt retract completely into its stowed position. The safety belt can
now be used as an ordinary safety belt with­
out the convertible locking retractor for child
restraints .
If the convertible locking retractor should be
activated inadvertently, the safety belt must be unfastened and guided completely back in­
to its stowed position to deactivate this fea­
ture . If the convertible locking retractor is not
deactivated, the safety belt will gradually be­
come tighter and uncomfortable to wear .
_&, WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deacti­
vate the convertible locking retractor for
child restraints while the vehicle is mov- ing
. You would not be restrained and
could be seriously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
c:;, page 168. Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
c:;, page 144, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
LATCH Lower
anchorages and tethers
for children
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
To provide a simpler and more practicable way
to attach the child restraint on the vehicle
seat, Federal regulations require special lower anchorages in vehicles and devices on new
child restraints to attach to the vehicle ancho ­
rages.
The combination of the tether anchorages and
the lower anchorages is now generally called
the
LATCH system for "Lower Anchorages and
Tet hers for Children ."
Forward-facing child restraints manufactured
after September 1 , 1999, are required by U.S.
federal regulations to comply with new child head movement performance requirements .
These new performance requirements make a
tether necessary on most new child seats.
Installing a child restraint that requires a top
tether without one can seriously impair the
performance of the child restraint and its abil­
ity to protect the child in a collision. Installing
a child restraint that requires a top tether
without the top tether may be a violation of
state law.
Child restraint manufacturers offer LATCH
lower anchorages on their child seats with
hook-on or push -on connectors attached to
adjustable straps.
In addition to the LATCH lower anchorages,
these child restraint systems usually require .,.