2012 AUDI A8 airbag off

136 Safety belts
occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what­
ever else is in the way
c::> fig. 138. This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
t hey had just before the crash.
Never rely on a irbags alone for protection.
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
additional protection. Airbags are not sup­
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al­
though your Audi is equipped with airbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver , must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini­
mize the risk of severe injury or death in a
crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always
there to offer protection in those accidents in
which airbags are not supposed to deploy or
when they have already deployed . Unbelted
occupants can also be thrown out of the vehi­
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen­
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them­
selves but also the driver and othe r passen­
gers ~
fig. 139. In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward violently, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas­
senger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true !
Fig. 140 Driver is co rr ect ly re strain ed in a sudd en brak­
ing maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif­
ference. Safety belts help to keep passengers
in their seats, gradually reduce energy levels
applied to the body in an accident, and help
prevent the uncontrolled movement tha t can
cause serious injuries . In addition, safety belts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features engineered into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing " the kinetic energy over a longer
period of ti me, the safety belts make the
forces on the body more "tolerable" and less
likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron­
tal collision, safety belts can also substantial­
ly reduce the r isk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta­
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen­
tal airbags to do their job in a collision . For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid­
ed. Front airbags , for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air­
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is no t enough decelera tion
through impact to the front of the vehicle .
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi . So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!

142 Airbag sys te m
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
• Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 125,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=;page 55,
• Wear safety be lts properly r=; page 13 7,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 166.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenger to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec­
tion in certain frontal collisions¢
page 125,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con­
trols ¢
page 55.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A udi work to­
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do i ts
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls , or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re­
lations at 1-800-822-2834 for poss ible modi­
ficat ions to your ve hicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener ­
ator will f il l the a irbags, break open t he pad­
ded cove rs, and i nflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru­
ment pane l and the front passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
t h rough the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t riggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the co llision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-

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 . •
•

144 Airbag sys tem
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
• Be sure to read the impo rtant in forma tion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
Q page 166.
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all children, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined 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-faci ng chi ld sea t.
It can be a
ve ry dangerous p lace for an infant or a c hild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufact ured.
The Standa rd requires the fron t air bag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a c hild up to about one yea r of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward-facing infant restra ints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Sta ndard
Q page 168.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on t he passenger side has been
turned off by t he e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
rest raint on the front passenger seat, -
w ill go off i f the front passenge r seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registere d by the
weight -sensing mat
<:!) page 153, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the contro l unit detects a tota l weight
on the front passenger seat that req uires the
front a irbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
c hi ld b ut less than the we ight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on , the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
bee n tur ned off by the elec tronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control uni t se nses an
impact that meets the con ditions stored i n its
memo ry .
For exampl e, the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ie r th an a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whethe r the child is in one of
t he child seats listed
Q page 168), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on t he front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instr ume nt cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li gh t does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small ad ult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- re cli ned ba ck res t w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle f loor in front of the sea t is on the front
passenge r seat
c::> page 125, Proper sea ting
position for the driver.
If t he front passenger a irbag dep loys, the
F ede ral Standard req uires the airbag to meet
t h e "low risk" dep loyment criteria to red uce
the risk of injury t hro ugh interactio n wit h the
airbag. "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions ..,_

as defined in the electronic control unit
¢ page 153, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a chi ld seat or infant ca rri­
e r i nsta lled on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly in­
flating passenger's airbag in a frontal colli­
sion. The airbag could greatly red uce the ef­
fectiveness of the child restraint and even se­ riously injure the child during inflat ion.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest p lace for children -when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and si ze -we
strongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat
¢ page 166, Child Safety.
A 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 w ill hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof .
- Always install rear -facing child seats on
the rear seat .
- If you mus t install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Aud i deale r.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and cause serious pe rsonal injury to the
child.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
A irbag system 145
-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 put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­ ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fa cing ch ild restra int. The
backrest mu st be ad justed to an upright
posi tion.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is swi tched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
¢ page 153, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
-Take t he chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacture rs when in­
stalling c hild restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in e xcept io na l circumstances, you must
ins tall a forward o r rearwa rd-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's se at:
- Imp roper install ation of ch ild restrai nts
can reduce their effec tiveness o r even
preven t them from providing any protec­
tion. •
•

146 Airbag system
-An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de ­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­ tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protect ion to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
Fig. 145 Location of dr iver airbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig. 146 Locat ion of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
s trument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time you r
vehicle was manufactured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve, depending on
the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­ sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretensioners are also activated by the electronic control unit for the airbag
system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
c::;, fig. 145 and the airbag for the
front passenge r is in the instrument panel
c::;, fig . 146 . The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature .
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of you r passengers, especially in­
fants and small children.
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only supplementa l protection .
-Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve ­
hicle is properly restrained .
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat , es­
pecially infants and sma ll children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee ..,.

that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" option
under the U .S . Federal Standard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured .
T he front Advanced Airbag System supple­
ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes .
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over­
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle .
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are sitting up­
right , wearing your 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 vehicle has been certified to meet the "low risk" re­
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite-
Airbag system 147
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury 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 addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
¢ page 168, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 168,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re­
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward­
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen ­
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re ­
quires the front 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 senses
11-
•
•

148 Airbag sys tem
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory .
I f the tota l weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld,
but less than the weight of a small adu lt, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
For e xample , the a irbag may depl oy if :
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front p assenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 168),
- a ch ild who h as o utg rown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight in the cente r
of the inst rument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passeng er side may
not dep loy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not ill umin ate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is o n the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright wit h
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of inj ury through inter action
with the airbag. " Low r isk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the e lectronic control
un it
¢ page 153.
Alwa ys remember : Even though yo ur vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
bac k 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.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an a irbag
i nflates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much h igher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even w ith an Advanced A irbag
¢ page 142.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front pa ssenger se at will be
se riously in jured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Al tho ugh the Advan ced Airbag Sys tem in
your veh icle is designe d to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been installed 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 car rier with g reat force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or
roof.
- Always inst all rearward-fa cing ch ild re­
s traints on the rear seat.
- I f you must ins tall a rearwa rd fa cing
child sea t on the fron t passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstan ces
an d the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, imme di­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
-