2012 AUDI A7 light

.. Make sure to use the right child restraint
correct ly to protect children
Q page 163,
Child Safety.
.. Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same¢
page SO,
General recommendations .
.. Faste n your safety belt and wear it properly.
Also instruct your passengers to fasten their
safety belts properly ¢
page 128.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condi­
tion of the vehicle, the driver as well as the
driver 's ability to concentrate on the road
without being distracted.
The driver is respons ible for the safety of the
veh icle and all of its occupants.
If your ability
to drive is impai red, safety r isks for everybody
in the vehicle increase and you also become a
hazard to everyone else on the road ¢ _&. .
Therefore:
.. Do not let yourself be dist racted by passen­
gers or by using a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im ­
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road
and speed limits and plain common sense .
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic
and weather conditions .
.,. Take frequent breaks on long trips . Do not
drive for more than two hours at a stretch.
.. Do NOT drive when you are tired, under
pressure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death when­
ever a vehicle is being used.
Driving Safely 119
Proper occupant
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is impor­
tant for safe, relaxed driving .
Fig. 128 Correct seat ing pos it ion
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of
injury in the event of an accident, we recom­
mend that you adjust the driver's seat to the
follow ing pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easi­
ly push the pedals all the way to the floor
wh ile keeping your knee(s) slightly bent
¢ _&. .
.. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is
in an upr ight position so that your back
comes in full contact w ith it when you drive.
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that there is a
distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) be­
tween the steering wheel and yo ur breast
bone
Q fig. 128. If not possible, see your au ­
thorized Audi dealership about adaptive
equipment .
.. Adjust the steer ing wheel so that the steer­
ing wheel and airbag cover points at your
chest and not at your face.
.,. Grasp the top of the steering whee l with
your elbow(s) slightly bent.
.. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge
is as even as possible with the top of your
head. If that is not poss ible, try to adjust
the head restraint so that it is as close to
this position as possible .
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 131.

128 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safe ty bel ts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instruct ions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se­
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci­
dents . For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- P regnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns mu st also use safety
bel ts . Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r safety be lts . 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 four seating position s:
two in the front and two in the rear . Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases th e risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and dea th.
- N ever st rap more than one pe rson, in­
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe ­
ty belt or child restra int.
t Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod­
els only) to remind you abou t the impor tance
of buckling-up .
Fi g. 130 Safety bel t warni ng lig ht in the inst rum ent
cl uster -e nl ar ged
Before driving off, alway s:
.. Fasten you r safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make s ure that your passengers a lso buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect children wit h a child restraint sys-
tem app ro priate for the s ize and age .
The warn ing light . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ignit ion is on as a reminder
to fasten the safety belts . In addit ion, you will
hear a wa rning tone fo r a ce rtain per iod of
t ime .
Fasten your safety belt and make su re that
your pass eng ers also properly put on their
s afety belt s.
A WARNING .....=-
- Safety b elts are the s ingle most eff ect ive
means availa ble to redu ce t he ri sk of se­
rio us inju ry and de ath in au tomobile a cci­
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways correctly wear
safety belts w hen t he vehicle is moving .

-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 131 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 132 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
ergy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not
using safety belts
c:::;, fig. 131, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, until something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 132.
Safety belts 129
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision.
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these forces are even
higher.
People who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli­
sion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the crash . Of course, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col­
lisions.
What happens to occupants not wearing safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 133 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th rown forward
Fig. 134 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt
w ill fly forward and strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
tremendous forces of impact by holding tight
or bracing themselves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unrestrained .,..

13 2 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly ¢
page 50, General recommenda­
t ions .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt¢,&.
.,. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis ¢ ,& .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latc h securely
¢ fig. 136.
.,. Pu ll on the 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 whe n the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and i n an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv ing the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt preten sione rs
The safety belts are equipped with a be lt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated
¢ page 135. The function of the pre­
tensioner is moni tored by a warning light
¢ page 17.
Sw itchabl e locking fe atur e
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a switchable locking fea ­
ture that
m ust be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
¢ page 174 .
.,& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢ page 132, Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly posit ioned on the
body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is securely latched
wheneve r the rea r center safety belt is
being used.
If the backrest is not secu re­
ly latched, the passenger will move for­
ward with the back rest dur ing sudden
brak ing, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash.
- Never at tach the safety bel t to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into cr itical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child seat in the veh icle ¢
page 176.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to¢
page 135.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
F ig. 137 Head restra int an d safety be lt pos it io n as
see n from the s id e

Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tails about chi ldren and Advanced Airbags
c> page 163.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, always 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 child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of United States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
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 t urned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a chi ld up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed o n the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Sta ndard
c> page 165.
The PASS ENG ER 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 u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 139
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd-facing or forward-facing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
i=>page 165.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
c> page 149, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec trica l capacitan ce registe red on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic contro l unit and ca n deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact that mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is i n one of
the ch ild seats listed
c> page 165), o r
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat. .,,. •
•

140 Airbag sys tem
If the front passenger airbag is turned off , the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on .
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of in jury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low ris k" deployment oc curs in tho se
c rashe s that take pl ace a t lower decele ra tions
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 150, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lw ays r emember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be s truck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flati ng passenger's a irbag i n a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of t he ch ild restrai nt and even se­
r io usly in ju re the child during infla tion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when p roperly
r estra ined a ccord ing to the ir age and size - we
strongly recommend t hat childre n always si t
in the back seat
c::> page 163, Child Safety .
& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the bac krest , cen ter armres t, door or
roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must i nstall a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
does not come on an d stay on, immedi­
a tely install the re ar-facin g chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forwa rd- facing child seats installed on
the front passenger 's seat may interfere
wit h the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child .
& WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sur e the forward-facing
seat has been designe d and certified by
its m anufacture r for u se on a fron t se at
wit h a passenger fron t and s ide airba g.
- Never p ut t he fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
men t pa nel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into it s
rearmost pos ition in the seat' s fore and
aft a djustmen t range, as fa r away from
the air bag as possible before installing
the forwar d-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- 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 .
& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be display ed whe nev er a child re­
straint is insta lled on the front pa ssenger
se at and the igni tion is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t stay on, per form the che cks de­
scribed
c::> page 1 49, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke t he chi ld restraint off the fron t pas­
senger sea t and inst all it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.

-The Advanced Ai rbag System can deploy
in accordance wi th the .,low risk" opt ion
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Federal Standard if a chi ld w ith elec­
trical capac itance greater than the com­
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infan t restra ined in one of the fo r­
wa rd fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats w ith which you r vehicle was cer ti­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Accident statist ics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safe r in the rear seat
area than in the front seating posit ion.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 yea rs and younger, sho uld al ­
ways ride in the back properly rest rained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w it h a front Advanced
A irbag System in compliance with U nited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide add it ional
p rotection fo r th e driver's and front passeng­
e r' s heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags in flate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece le rat ion is high enough .
The front Advanced A irbag System for the
fro nt sea t occ upants is no t a subs titu te for
your safety bel ts. Ra ther, it is p art of t he over­
all occupant restraint system in your veh icle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect yo u, if you are s itting up­
right, wearing yo ur safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to meet the " low r isk" re­
qu irements for 3 and 6 year-o ld childre n on
the passenge r side and very small adu lts on
A irbag system 143
the d river side . The low risk deployment c rit e­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
ju ry through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur, for example, by being too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In add ition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are res trained on the fro nt passenger
seat in child rest raints that ar e listed in the
Standard
¢ page 165, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"Suppress ion " requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat i n one
of the rear-fac ing o r forward-facing infant
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standa rd 208 wi th wh ich the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing o f the chi ld res traints
t ha t were used to certify your vehicle's com ­
pliance wit h the US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 165,
-When a person is detected o n the front pas ­
senger seat that has an e lectrical capaci­
tance that is more t han the tota l electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing o r
forwa rd -facing infant restraints ( listed in
Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
w ith which the Advan ced A irbag System in
your veh icle was certi fied), the front air bag
on the passenger side m ay or m ay no t de­
p loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
whe n the elect ro ni c con trol unit de te cts a to ­
t al elec trical c apac itance on the front passen­
ger seat that requi res the fron t airbag to be
turned off . 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 control unit and can deploy if the control unit se nses an impact that meets the condi -
t ions stored in its memo ry .
IJJ,,
•
•

144 Airbag sys tem
If the tota l electrical capacitance registe red
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front a irbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSE N­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For e xample , the airbag m ay deploy if :
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 165),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
¢ page 149 .
Alw ays rem ember : Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place for children is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 137.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
van ced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been instal led on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
a tely insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING ,..___
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- 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 s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before install ing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
-