2012 AUDI Q7 belt

,&_ 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. 186 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 187 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies with vehicle 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.
Safety belts 1 71
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 times!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not
using safety belts
¢fig. 186, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, until something
stops them -here, the wall¢
fig. 187.
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision.
Even at city 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 apply to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col­
lisions.

172 Safety belts
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. 188 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
Fig. 189 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt
will fly forward and strike the drive r
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 oc­
cupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what­
ever else is in the way
q fig. 188. This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
they had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags 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 other passen­ gers¢
fig. 189. 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. 190 Driver is correctly restra ined in a sudden brak­
ing maneuver
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 that 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
lilJJ,

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 risk 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 not enough deceleration
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!
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 .
Safety belts 173
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly 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 driv­
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 being 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 .
- 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
that 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 required 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 .,..
L,_ _______________ _J
•
•

17 4 S afet y belt s
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Aud i dealer or qualified
workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct rep lacement safety be lt
by an authorized Audi dea le r. Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
c anno t be clear ly seen. Anchorages that
we re loaded m ust also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disass emble, or
t ry to repa ir t he safety be lts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts
may not wo rk p roperly and can impa ir
the funct io n of t he in ertia ree l
¢ page 248, Safety bel ts.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 191 Belt buckle and to ngue o n th e dr iver 's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly¢
page 71, General recommenda­
tions .
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
b ench is in a n upright pos ition and securely
l atched in p lace before using the belt ¢&_ .
.. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pe lvis ¢
.&,.
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latc h securely
¢ fig . 191.
.. Pull on the belt to ma ke sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buck le .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Eve ry safety belt is equipped with an automat­
i c be lt r etractor on t he shou lde r belt. This fea­
tu re loc ks the belt when t he be lt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident .
The be lt may a lso lock when you drive up or
down a steep h ill or thro ugh a sharp curve.
D uring normal driving the belt lets you move
freely .
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that he lps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a war ning light¢
page 16.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the d river
seat is equipped with a sw itchab le locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety be lt is
used to attach a c hild safety seat. Be sure to
read the important information about this
feature ¢
page 209 .
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious injury in an accide nt
¢ page 17 5, Safe ty belt po sition .
-
-Safety b elts offer opt imum p rotect ion
only whe n the sea tbac k is u prigh t an d
be lts ar e pr operly posit ioned on the
body .
- Always ma ke sure that the rear sea t
b a ckrest to wh ich the center rear safety
be lt is at tached is secure ly latched when ­
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used . If the backrest is not secure ly
latched, the passenger w ill move for­
ward with the backrest dur ing sudden
brak ing, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a c rash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck-
le for another seat . Attaching the belt to .,_

the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are secur ing a child
safety seat in the vehicle
~ page 211 .
Safety belt position
Correct bel t posi tion is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 192 Safety be lt pos it io n
Standard features on your vehicle help you ad­
just the position of the safety belt to match
your body size.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats
and the outer seating positions in the sec­
ond row seating,
- height-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen . The belt
Safety belts 175
should always fit snugly¢ fig. 192. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt
must be positioned as low as possible
across pelvis and never over the abdo­
men . Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug ¢
fig. 192 . Pull on the belt to tight ­
en if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its pos ition on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 173.
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.
Fig. 193 Safety belt pos ition du ring pregnan cy
To provide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 175 .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 71 , General recommenda ­
tions .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt.
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
¢fig. 193, ¢ A.

176 Safety belts
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 174, fig. 191.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelv is and be low the
rounding of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢ .&.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 174.
Unfastening safety belt s
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 194 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
• Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 194. The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
c:> &_ .
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
On vehicles with
third row seat* : an unfas­
tened safety belt can be secured in the retain­
ing clip in the luggage compartment side
tr im. In this way, the luggage compartment
cover can be removed without obstruction. Al­
so, the belt tongue height can be adjusted so
that luggage compartment can be loaded
without obstruction with the backrest folded
forward.
A WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi-
cle is mov ing. Do ing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord­
ing to body size.
Fig. 195 Safety belt heigh t adj ustment- loop -around
f ittings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢&.
in Safety belt
position on page 175.
• Push
the loop- around fittings up c:> fig. 195
@,or
• squeeze together the CD button, and push
the loop-around fittings down@.
• Pull the be lt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 173.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
ment of the seat can also be used to adjust
the position of the safety belts.

Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on the body . Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety belt to critical areas of the
body . Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chil­
dren . Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢ ,& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu­
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a correct seating posit ion whenever the
vehicle is be ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:>page 173.
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.
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sen­
sors in front, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover. This tightens
the belt and takes up be lt sla ck
c:> .& in Service
Safety belts 177
and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 178.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement dur ing a colli­
sion.
@ Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seat­
back that has been fo lded forward.
(D Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be
activated once.
- In minor frontal and side collisions, in
rear-end collisions and in accidents in­
volving very little impact force, the safe­
ty belt pretensioner are not activated.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are
activated, a fine dust is re leased. This is
normal and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle.
- The re levant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped. An au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop is familiar w ith these regulations
and w ill be pleased to pass on the infor­
mation to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
menta l and other regulations if the veh i­
cle or ind ividual 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
pretensioner
The safety belt pretens ioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Insta lling, remov­
ing, servic ing or repair ing of belt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a colli­
s ion .
T he re are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of .,. •
•

178 Safety belts
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pollute the environment .
.&_ 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 belt 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/haza rdouswaste/per­
chlorate. 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 familiar with these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dealer perform this service for you.