2013 AUDI A4 belt

Proper adjustment of head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with adj ustable head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints ore on im­
portant port of your vehicle's occupant re­
straint system and con help to reduce the risk of injuries in occident situations.
F ig . 140 H ead re str ain t: v ie w ed fro m the front
The head restraints must be correctly adjust ­
ed to achieve the best protection .
.,. Adjus t the head restraints so the upper
edge is as even as possible with the top of
your head. If that is not possib le, try to ad­
just the head restraint so that it is as close to this position as possible
r::> fig . 140.
.,. If there is a passenger on the rear center
seating position, slide the center head re­
straint upward at least to the next notch .
Adj usting head restraints
c:;, page 61.
A WARNING
All seats are equipped with head re­
straints. Driv ing without head restraints or
w ith head restra ints that are not properly
adjusted increases the risk of ser ious or fa­
tal neck injury dramat ica lly. To help reduce
the risk of in ju ry:
- Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted.
- Every pe rson in the veh icle must have a
properly adj usted head restra int.
- Always make sure each person in the ve­
hicle properly adjusts their head re­
strain t. Adj ust the head restrain ts so the
upper edge is as even as poss ib le w ith
the top of your head .
If that is not possi­
ble, try to adjust the head restraint so
Dr ivin g Sa fely 131
that it is as close to this posit ion as pos­
sible.
- Never attempt to adj ust head restraint
while driving. If you have driven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any
reason, first stop the vehicle safely be­
fore attempting to adjust the head re­ straint .
- Ch ildren must a lways be properly re­
strained i n a child rest raint that is appro­
priate for their age and size
c:;, page 166 .
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupan t restraint system con only re­
duce the risk of injury if vehicle occupants ore
properly seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious
injury or death . Safety belts can only work
when they are properly positioned on the body . Imp roper seating positions red uce the
effe ct iveness of safety belts and wi ll even in ­
c rease the r is k of injury and dea th by moving
the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the body.
Improper seating positions a lso increase the
risk of serious injury and death when an air­
bag deploys and strikes an occupant who is
not in the proper seating posit ion. A driver is
responsible for the safety of all veh icle occu­
pants a nd espec ially for children . Therefo re :
.,. Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being
used
c:;, .&, .
The following bulletins list on ly some samp le
positions that will increase the risk of serious
injury and death . Our hope is that these exam­
ples will make you more aware of seat ing po­
s itions that are dangerous .
Therefore , whenever the vehicle is
moving:
- never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- never kneel on the seats
- neve r ride wit h the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- neve r lean up aga inst the instrumen t panel ..,_

Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts a re nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly.
~ Read all the information that fo llows and
heed all of the inst ruct ions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to red uce the r isk of se­
rious injury and death in a utomob ile acci­
de nts . For your prot ecti on and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrec tly wear
sa fe ty bel ts when the ve hicle is mov ing.
- P re g nant women, injured, or physically
imp aired perso ns must also use safe ty
belts. L ike a ll vehicle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser ious ly injure d if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fet us is to protect the mother -
thro ughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating posit ions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety belts or wea ring the m
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
perso nal i njur y an d deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in­
cl ud ing s mall ch ild ren, into any belt . It is
e speci ally dangerous t o pl ac e a safety
bel t over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re peo ple ride in t he ve hicle
th an there are s afety be lts availab le.
Safety belts 13 7
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate sa fe­
ty belt or child restra int.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and (on USA models only) front seat
passenger to remind you about the impor­
tance of buckling-up.
Fig . 14 2 Safety belt warni ng lig ht in the instr ument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, alway s:
~ Fasten your safety be lt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
~ Make sure that yo ur passengers a lso buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
~ Protect your childre n w ith a child rest raint
sys tem app ropriate fo r the size a nd age of
t h e children.
The . warn ing light in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ig nit ion is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safe ty belts. In addi­
tion, you will hea r a warning tone for a certa in
per iod of t ime.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure
that your pas sengers also properly put on
th eir safety belts.
•
•

138 Safet y belt s
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 14 3 Unbe lted occupa nts in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig . 14 4 The ve hicle c ras hes into t he wall
The physical princip les are simp le. Both the
ve hicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call th is 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 doub les from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this veh icle are not
using safety belts ¢
fig. 143, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, unti l something
stops them -here, the wall¢
fig. 144 .
The same pr inc iples apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal co llision .
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
.
Peop le who do no t use sa fe ty belts are also
not a ttached to their vehicle. In a frontal coll i­
sion they wi ll also keep moving forward at t he
speed their vehicle was travell ing just before
the crash. Of course, the laws of physics do n't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of acc idents and col ­
lis 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 safe ty belts!
Fig. 14 S A driver not wea ring a safety belt is vio le n tl y
t hrown forward
Fig . 146 A re ar passe nger not w earing a safety be lt
w ill fl y forw ard a nd strike t he d rive r
Unbelted occupants a re not able to resist the
t remendous forces of impact by hold ing tight
o r bracing themse lves . Without the benefit of
safety restra int systems, the unrestra ined oc­
cu pan t will slam violen tly into the steer ing
whee l, instr ument pane l, w indshield, o r what­
ever else is i n the way r:!> fig . 145 . This impact II>-

with the vehicle interior has all the energy
they had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags a lone for protection.
E ven when they deploy, airbags provide only
additional protection . Ai rbags are not sup­
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al­
though your Audi is equipped with a irbags, all
veh icle occupants, including the driver , must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini­ mize t he risk of severe injury or death in a
crash .
Remember too, that airbags wi ll deploy on ly
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 a lready deployed . Unbelted
occupants ca n also be thrown out of the vehi­
cle whe re even more severe or fa tal in ju ries
can occur .
It is also impo rtant fo r the rear passenge rs to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbe lted passen­
ge rs in the rea r seats endanger no t on ly them­
se lves bu t also the driver a nd o ther passen­
gers
¢ fig. 146 . In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward vio lent ly, where they can
h it and injure the dr iver 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!
F ig . 1 47 Driver is correctly restra ined in a sudden bral<·
ing maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif­
ference . Safety be lts he lp to keep passengers
in their seats, gradually reduce energy levels
Safety belts 139
applied to the body in an accident, and he lp
prevent the uncontrolled movement that can
ca use serio us injuries . In addition, safety be lts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle.
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and
give t hem the benefit of being s lowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features enginee red into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing" t he kinetic energy over a longer
per iod of t ime, the safety be lts make the
fo rces on the body more "tolerable" and less
li kely to ca use inju ry.
Althoug h these examples a re based o n a fron­
ta l co llision, safety belts can a lso substantia l­
l y reduce the risk of in jury in other kinds of
cr ashes. So, whethe r you're on a long trip o r
just going to the co rner store, a lways buckle
u p and make sure others do, too . Accident sta ­
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of be ing
i njured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen ­
ta l airbags to do the ir job in a collision . Fo r
th is reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired in mos t countries including much of
t he United States and Canada.
Althoug h your Aud i is equipped wi th a irbags,
you st ill have to wear the safety belts p rov id­
ed . Front airbags, fo r example, a re activa ted
o nly in some frontal collisions. The front a ir­
bags are not act ivated in a ll frontal coll isions,
in s ide and rear co llisions, in roll ove rs or in
cases where t here is not eno ugh deceleration
through impact to the front of the veh icle.
The same goes for the other a irbag systems in
your Audi . So, always wear your safety belt
and make su re everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrai ned!

140 Safety belts
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 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 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 pa rt of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos i­
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, b indings, buck les, 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 belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inert ia reel
¢ page 212, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 148 Belt buck le and to ngue on t he drive r's seat

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly
r::!:> page 58, Seats and storage.
• Make sure the seatback of t he rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt¢,&. .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis ¢ ,&. .
"" Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch securely
r::!:>fig . 148.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
c ur ely la tched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat­
i c belt retractor on the shoulder be lt. T his fea­
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten t he safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is monitored by a warning light¢
page 20 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat . Be sure to
read the important information about this
feature¢
page 176.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
r::!:> page 141, Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 141
belts are proper ly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when­
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used. If the backrest is not securely latched, the passenger w ill move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash .
- Never attach th e safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat . A tt ach ing the belt to
t he wrong buckle will reduce s afety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious 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
ger parts of the body into cr itical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child safety seat in the vehicle
¢ page 178.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 149 Safety belt position
Standa rd features on your veh icle help you ad­
just the position of the safety belt to match you r body size.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- automatic belt height adjustment for the
rear seats .

142 Safety belts
& WARNING
Improperly positione d 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
should always fit snugly¢
fig. 149. 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. 149. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its position 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 140.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
saf ety belts correctly -throughout the pr eg­
nancy.
Fig. 150 Safety belt posit io n during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
¢ page 141.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 58, Seats and storage.
.. 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. 150, ¢ ,&..
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ page 140, fig. 148 .
.. 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.
-
- E xpectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢
& in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 141.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 151 Releasin g the tongue from the buckle
.. Push the red releas e button on the buckle
¢ fig. 151 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle ¢
A. .,..

.. Let the belt wind 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 moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk 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 fit ted to the shoulder area , accord­
ing to body size .
;g 0 0 C) .., m
Fig. 152 Saf ety be lt height ad justme nt fo r th e fro nt
seats - loop -ar ou nd fitt ings
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 142 .
.,. Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢ fig. 152
@ , or
.. squeeze together the (D button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @ .
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other impo rtant informat io n ¢
page 140.
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
men t of the seat can also be used to adjust
t he pos it ion of the safety be lts.
Safety belts 143
Improperly worn safety belts
I ncorrectly 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 seat ing pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety be lts and will even
i ncrease the risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the
body. Improper seating positions also in ­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag dep loys 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 ch il­
dren . Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing position in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &,. .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a ve hicle is being used.
- Always make s ure that all vehicle occu­
pa nts are co rrectly restrained and stay in
a co rrec t seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed al l WARNINGS a nd
o ther important informat ion
¢ page 140.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front , side and rear -end collisions above a
particular severity, 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 co llisions of
great seve rity . This tightens the belt and takes
u p belt slack¢.&.
in Service and disposal of Iii>