2012 AUDI A7 airbag

~ Always make sure that the shoulder portion
of the safety belt never rests against or across the child's neck.
~ Always make sure that the child can proper­
ly wear the lap portion of the belt low across
the thighs or pelvis and
never over the
stomach or abdomen .
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs
or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats designed for their age and weight . Ex ­
perts say that the skeletal structure, particu­
larly the pelvis, of these children is not fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts without a suitable child restraint.
It is usually best to put these children in ap­
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards.
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child's body in the right places. The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
important for the child's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
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 restrain any child, regard­
less of how big the child is. Always 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 possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety belt 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 the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air­ bag.
Child Safety 173
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating airbag. When an occupant 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 all vehicle occupants, especial ­
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
the child's body and the front of the passen­
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com­
pletely and provide supplemental protection
in certain 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 personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situation. To help re·
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
-Always make sure to position the should­
er portion of the three-point belt over
the middle of child's shoulder.
- Never let the shoulder portion 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-point belt is worn snug and
passes as low as possible across the
child's pelvis. Never let the belt pass over
the soft abdomen.
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause severe inju­
ries in an accident or other emergency
situation <=>
page 128.
-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
difficult to install the child seat with the head restraint in place
<=>page 52 . Install Ill-
•
•

174 Child Saf ety
the head restraint again immediately
once the child seat is removed. Dr iving
without head restraints or with head 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 w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri­
ously injured or even killed when an a ir­
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for example the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
-Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forward, sitt ing s ideways or out of posi­
t ion 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 install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep­
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch­
ed on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
<=> page 149, 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 .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
<=> page 128, Safety
belts, <=> page 137, Airbag system
and
<=> page 163, Important things to know.
_&, WARNING
A child in a booster seat installed with the
standard safety belt on the rear seat may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled resulting in serious per­
sonal injury and even death. -
Always secure unused rear seat safety
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
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re ­
tractor when routing the safety belts
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.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety belt have a con­
vertib le locking ret ractor for child restraints.
T he safety belt m ust be locked so that be lt
webbing cannot unreel. The retractor can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
during normal driving . A chi ld safety seat can
only be properly installed when the safety belt
is locked so that the child and child safety
seat w ill stay in place .
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and young ­
er, should always r ide in the back seat proper­
ly restrained for the ir age and size .
_&, WARNING
Improperly installed ch ild safety seats in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re­
tractor is lo cked when insta lling a child
safety seat . An un locked safety belt re -
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat ..,.

in place during normal driving or in a
crash.
- Always buck le the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose ch ild safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a col lision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat backrest to which the center rear safety
belt" is attached is secure ly latched
whenever the rear center safety belt is
being used to secure a ch ild restra int.
- If the backrest is not securely latched, the ch ild and the child restraint will be
thrown forward together with the back­ rest and will strike parts of the veh icle
in ter ior. The child c an be serio usly in­
jured or killed .
- Never install rea r-facing ch ild safety
sea ts or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat. A ch ild will be seriously in ­
jured and can be k illed when the passen­
ger airbag inflates.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild 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-fac ing ch ild safety seats or in­
fant carr iers installed on the front pas­
senger's seat may interfere with the de­ ployment of the airbag and cause serious
injury to the ch ild.
- It is safer to install a forward-fac ing
child safety seat on the rear seat .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave­
hicle is being used
r::;, page 163 . Special
precautions apply when installing a ch ild
safety seat on the front passenge r seat
r::;, page 139, Child restraints on the fron t
seat -some important things to know.
WARNING
Always take special precautions if you
must install a forward or rearward-facing
Child Sa fet y 175
child restraint on the front passenger's
seat in exceptional situations:
- Whenever a forwa rd 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 ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks descr ibed
<::;, page 149, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not s tay on
whenever the ignit ion is swi tched on.
- Imp roper installation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
preven t them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even ki ll the
child.
-Always carefu lly follow the manu fact ur­
er's instructions p rov ided with the chi ld
safety seat or carrier .
- After checking to make sure that the child restraint is properly insta lled, make
certa in that the ch ild restraint is correct­
ly recognized by the capac itive passenger
detection system in the front passenger
seat and that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght signals the correct front pas­
senger frontal a irbag status .
A WARNING
Forward-facing child rest raints:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a front seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up, against o r very near the in­
s trumen t panel. •
•

176 Child Safety
-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.
A 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- 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).
A 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
-

180 Child Safety
and proper use of tether straps as well as
the lower anchorages or safety belts in
your vehicle .
- Always read and heed the important in­
formation and WARNINGS about child
safety and the installation of child re­
straint systems
c:> page 163, Child Safe­
ty.
Tether anchors and tether straps
Fig. 159 Te the r ancho rs: recess fl aps be hind the rear
sea tback s
The tether anchors for the rear seating posi­
tions are located in recesses in the rear win­
dow shelf
c:> fig. 159
A tether is a straight or V-shaped strap that
attaches the top part of a child restraint to
special anchorage points in the vehicle.
T he purpose of the tether is to reduce the for­
ward movement of the child restraint in a crash, in order to help reduce the risk of head
injury that could be caused by striking the ve­
hicle interior.
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 safety
seats.
A WARNING
Improper installation of child restraints
will increase the risk of injury and death in
a crash . -
Always follow the instructions provided
by the manufacturer of the child re­
straint you intend to install in your Audi.
- Improper use of child restraint anchors
(including tether anchors) can lead to in­
jury in a collision. The anchors are de­
signed to withstand only those loads im­
posed by correctly fitted child restraints.
- Never mount two child restraint systems
on one LATCH lower anchor point.
- Never attach two child restraint systems
to one tether strap or tether anchorage .
- Never attach a tether strap to a tie-down
hook in the luggage compartment.
- Never use child restraint tether ancho­
rages to secure safety belts or other
kinds of occupant restraints.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or
other items to the LATCH lower ancho­
rages or to the tether anchors .
- 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.
Installing the upper tether strap on the
anchorage
Fig. 160 T eth er st rap: prop er rou ting and mounting
Installing the tether strap
.,. Release or deploy the tether strap on the
child restraint according to the child re­
stra int manufacturer's instructions.

~ Guide the upper tether strap und er the rear
head restraint ¢
fig. 160 (raise the head re­
stra int if necessary).
~ Attach the tether strap anchorage hook into
the tethe r anchorage .
~ Pull on the tether strap hook so that the
spring catch of the hook engages.
~ Tighten the tether strap firmly following
the chi ld restraint manufacturer's instruc­
tions .
Rele asing the tether str ap
~ Loosen the tension following the ch ild re ­
stra int manufacturer 's instructions .
~ Depress the spring catch on the hook and
release it from the anchorage.
{[) Note
If you leave the child restraint with the
tether strap firmly insta lled for severa l
days , th is co uld leave a mar k on the up­
holstery on the seat c ushion and bac krest
in the area whe re the tether st rap was in­
stalled. The upholstery wo uld a lso be per­
manently stretched around the tether
strap. This applies especially to leather
seats.
Using tether straps on rearward -facing
child restraints
Currently , few rear-facing child res traint sys­
tems come with a tether . P lease read and
heed the child restraint system manufactur­
er's instructions carefully to determine how to properly insta ll th e tether .
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 .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w it h great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, or door .
Child Safet y 181
-If you must insta ll a rearward fac ing
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 insta ll the rear-fac ing ch ild
safety seat i n a rear seating position and
h ave the airbag system i nspe cted by yo ur
Aud i dea le r.
Additional Information
Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
The re a re a number of sources of add itiona l
information about child rest raint se lection , in ­
stalla tion and use:
NH TSA advises that the best child safety seat
i s the one that fits your ch ild and fits in you r
vehicle , and that you will use correct ly and
consistently .
T ry before you buy !
U.S Na tional Highway Traffic Safety Admin ­
istration
Tel.: 1 -888 -327 -4236 (TI Y: 1-800 -424 -9153)
www .nhtsa .gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (202) 662-0600
www .safek ids .org
Safet y BeltSafe U.S.A
Tel.: (800) 7 45-SAFE ( English)
Tel.: (800) 747-SANO (Span ish)
www .carseat .org
T ransport Can ada Info rmation Cent re
Tel.: 1 (800) 333-0371 or call
1 (613) 998-8616 if you are in the Ot tawa
area
www .tc.gc.ca/roadsafety
Audi Custome r CARE
Tel.: (800) 822-2834 •
•

@ Tips
-Certain Audi pre sense functions are not
ava ilable when ASR is sw itched off (sport
mode) or when driving in reverse.
- The Audi pre sense functions may not be
available if there is a malfunction in the
ESP system or the airbag control mod­
ule.
- The Audi pre sense front/plus functions are not available if there is a malfunction
i n the adaptive cru ise control* system
9 page86.
-The Audi pre sense rear/plus functions
are not available if there is a malfunction
i n the Audi side assist* system
9 page86.
- The reversible safety belt tightening on
the front passenger's side deactivates
when the Advanced front passenger air­bag has been s uppressed or the seat is
not occup ied.
Audi pr e sense 183
•
•

184 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorde r (EDR), ins talled by some manu­
facture rs fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restr ict the retr ieval 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 ltho ugh yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine f unction, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during norma l vehicle op­
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir 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 ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a sys tem faul t or o ther
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith special equip­
ment.
Electronic stabilization
program (ESP)
Description
ESP helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESP detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw) o ut of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under contro l by se lectively braking the
whee ls, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle o n the dr ive r's intended cou rse. The in­
dicato r light
G] in the instrument cluste r
blinks when ESP is taking action to help you
control the veh icle.
ESP has l imitations.
It is importa nt to remem­
ber that ESP cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It will not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
F or example, ESP may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
s lush or snow, ESP cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESP will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle be cause con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESP cannot a lways deal as effectively
with difficult driv ing situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESP is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic; and weather condit ions. ESP can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the availab le tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departu re is a result of
drive r inattent io n. Instead, ESP improves the
poss ibil ity of keeping the vehi cle under con ­
trol and on the road during extreme maneu­
vers by using the d river's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
ca uses you to run off the road before ESP can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESP .