2012 AUDI A8 warning

134 Safety belts
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. In some
vehicles, there are four seating positions: two in the front and two 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.
- 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 to remind you
about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig. 13S Safety bel t warning light in the instr ument
cl uster -enlarged
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 on as a reminder
to fasten the safety belts. In addition, 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.

-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. 1 36 Unbe lted occupants in a ve hicle head ing for a
wall
Fig. 137 T he vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
veh icle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy."
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 ene rgy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of th is veh icle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 136, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just befo re the crash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 137.
Safety belts 135
The same principles apply to people s itting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal coll ision .
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 fo rces are even
highe r.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli­
s ion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was travel ling just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all k inds of a cc ident s and col­
li s ions.
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!
F ig . 1 38 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th row n forwa rd
F ig. 139 A rear passenger not wearing a sa fety belt
w ill fly forward a nd strike the d river
Un belted oc cupants a re not able to resist the
tremendous forces o f impact by hold ing tight
o r bracing themse lves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unrestra ined .,..

Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
~ Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
~ Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety be lts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correc tly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit ­
ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being d riv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi ­
tion . Safety belts
13 7
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
tha t may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be requ ired for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web­
bing , bindings, buckles , or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­ shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer . Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the bel ts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inertia reel
c::> page 212, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 141 Bel t b uckle and to ngue on the driver's seat

138 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 54, General recommenda­
t ions .
.,. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis ¢
_&..
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ fig . 141.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se-
cu rely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat­
i c belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is 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 lo ck when you drive up or
down a steep hill or throug h a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safet y belt pretensioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a be lt p re­
tensione r that helps to t ighten the safety bel t
and remove s lack when the pretensio ner is ac­
tivated ¢
page 140. The function of the pre ­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c:;, page 18 .
Switchable locking feature
E very safe ty belt excep t the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a swit chab le locking fea ­
ture that
mus t be used when the safety bel t is
used to attach a child seat . Be s ure to read the
important information abo ut this feat ure
¢ page 175.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause-se rious injury in an accident
¢ page 138, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum pr otection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are prope rly positioned on the
body.
-
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serio us per­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it moves from the stron­
ge r parts of the body into cr itica l ar eas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the conve rtible locking re­
t ra cto r when you are se cu ring a c hild
s eat in the veh icle ¢
page 177.
(D Tips
For i nforma tion on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to¢
page 140.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
F ig . 14 2 Safety bel t pos it ion
U se the heig ht adjus tme nt to ch ange the posi­
tio n of the shoulder belt of the front sa fety
belts.
A WARNING
'-
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious personal inju ry in an acc i­
dent.
-
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on t he body. Hold the
be lt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as low as possib le on the pelv is an d th ere is
no pressure o n the abdomen. The belt ..,.

should a lways fit snugly¢ fig. 142. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety be lt ca n cause seri­
o us injuries by s hifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more vulnerab le , soft tissue and cause serious
injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other impo rtant information
¢ page 137.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
F ig . 14 3 Safety belt pos it io n during p regna ncy
To provide maxim um protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer's body
c> page 138.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restra int cor­
rect ly ¢
page 54, General recommenda­
tions.
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly ac ross the chest and pelvis
¢ fig . 143, ¢ &_ .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch securely
¢page 137, fig. 141.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se­
c u rely latched in the buckle.
Safety belts 139
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious perso nal inju ry in an acc i­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
round ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢
& in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 138.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped .
Fig . 144 Re leas ing the tong ue fro m the bu ckle
.,. Push the red release b utton on the buckle
o:::> fig. 144. T he be lt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
¢ .&_ .
0 .... N 9 I ;&
.,. Let the belt w ind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
=
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi-
cle is mov ing . Doing so will increase your
risk of being inj ured o r killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
You can adjust the height of the driver's and
front passenger 's safety belts.
The safety belt height adjustors for the front
seats can be used to adjust the height of the
shou lder portion of the safety belt so that it is
pos itioned correctly . .,,..

140 Safety belts
The s houl der belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body¢
A in Safety belt
position on page 138.
P ower safety belt h eight adju stment *
You can ad just the height of the safety belts
using the mu ltifunction button on the driver
or front passenge r seat ¢
page 56.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
¢page 137.
You can also adjust the height of the front
seats to change the position of the safety
be lts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries.
Wear ing safety be lts imprope rly can cause se ­
rio us inj ury or death. Safety be lts can on ly
wo rk when they are correct ly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effect iveness of safety belts and will even
increase the r isk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety belt to cr itical areas of the
body. Imprope r seat ing pos it ions also in­
crease the risk of serio us in jury and death
when an air bag deploys and str ikes a n occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A d river is responsib le for the sa fety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chi l­
dren. Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to ass ume an incorrect
sitting position in the veh icle w hile traveling
¢&_ .
A WARNING
Imprope rly worn safety belts increase the
r isk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used. -
Always make sure that all vehicle occu­
pants are co rrectly restrained and stay in
a correct seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
other important information
¢ page 137.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear -end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover , safety
belts are tensioned automatically.
Reversible safety belt tensioners
T he safety belts on the fro nt sea ts ar e e qui p­
ped with powe r reversib le tensioners . The fo l­
lowing functions a re ava ila bl e when the driv­
er's/front passenger's safety belts are fas­
tened :
- Automatic tens ioners : at the star t of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passe nger afte r a certain time period or ve ­
hicle speed. To switch the automatic ten­
sioners off, select the following in the MMI:
! CARI function button> Car systems > Vehi­
cle settings > Seats > Driver's seat or Pas­
s enger's seat
> Automatic belt t ensioner >
Off .
-In certain dr iv ing s ituations, the safety belts
may tighten w ith a revers ible tens ion ing
fu nction
¢ page 185.
-The safety be lts may a lso t ighten with th is
reve rsible tensioning function in minor co lli­
sion s.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equ ipped with safety belt
pre tensioners . The system is act ivated by se n­
sors i n front, s ide and rear-end co llisions of
great severity and in a rollover. This tig htens
t h e belt and t akes up belt slack¢.&.
in Service
and disposal of safety belt pretensi oner on
page 141.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce 1111>

forward occupant movement during a colli­
sion.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to de­
ploy incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision . If the pyro­
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten­
sioning system must be replaced.
(D Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
can only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not de­
ploy in minor frontal and side collisions,
in rear-end collisions, in rollovers and in
collisions involving very little impact
force .
- A fine dust is released when the pyro­
technic safety belt pretensioners deploy.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire
i n the veh icle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified dea lership is familiar with
these regulations and will be pleased to
pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this
service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretension er
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi . Installing, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of belt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and prevent it from working correctly in a colli­
sion.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
Safety belts 141
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment .
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly :
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­ vated only once .
If belt pretensioners
have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spe­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re­
pair manual, training and special equip­
ment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/per-
ch lorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts with pretensioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Audi
dealer is fami liar with these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dealer perform this service for you. •
•

Since the circumstances will vary considerably
between one collision and another , it is not
possible to define a range of veh icle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the airbags .
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will a lso not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alw ays rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offe r pro­
tect ion in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed ; for example , when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
ter the first co llision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supp lementary restraint and is not a s ubsti ­
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 134.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will inc rease
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instr ument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
ga te whethe r adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury 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.
A irbag system 143
-To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly ¢
page 137, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly injured 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 12S.
-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 preven t serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag infla tes.
- 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
sudden maneuve r. Obje cts near the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in ju ry when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i 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 . •
•