2013 AUDI A6 warning

140 Safety belts
To provide maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint
properly ¢
page 50, General recommenda­
t ions .
.,. 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 ¢ ,& .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig. 151.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt. This 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 driv ing the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated ¢
page 143. The function of the pre­
tensioner is moni tored by a warning light
¢ page 19.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
¢ page 182 .
.,& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢ page 140, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is securely latched
whenever the rear center safety belt is
being used.
If the backrest is not secure­
ly latched, the passenger will move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash.
- 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 securing a child seat in the vehicle¢
page 184 .
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to ¢
page 143.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 152 Safety bel t position
"' .... 0
~ CD

Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
tion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts .
.&_ 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
even ly ac ross the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The be lt
sho uld a lways f it snugly ¢
fig. 152. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause seri­
o us injuries by shifting its position on
yo ur body from the strong bones to more
vulnerab le, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 139.
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.
Fi g. 153 Safety belt pos itio n during pr egnancy
To provide maxim um protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 140 .
Safety belts 141
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 50, General recommenda­
tions .
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelv is
¢ fig. 153, ¢ if:!. .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
r=:;, fig. 151 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that i t is se­
curely latched in the buck le .
A WARNING
-
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious persona l injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers m ust 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
i=:;, &. in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 140.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only ofter the vehicle has stopped.
,,,,,
Fig . 154 Re leas ing the tong ue from the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
r=:;, fig. 154 . The be lt tongue will spr ing out
of the buckle
¢ if:!. .
0 ...
"' 0 ±
~
.,. Let the belt w ind up on the retractor as you
guide the be lt tongue to its stowed position.
Ill>

142 Safet y belt s
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 fitted to the shoulder area, accord ­
ing to body size .
Fig. 155 Safety belt height adjustment for the front
sea ts - 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
Q A in Safety belt
position on page 141.
,. Push
the loop-around fittings up Qfi g. 155
@, or
"" squeeze together the (D button , and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @.
"" Pul l the belt to ma ke sure that the upper at­
tachment is p roperly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
other important information
Q page 139 .
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
men t of the seat can also be used to adjus t
the posit ion of the safety be lts.
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 o nly
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seating pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even
i ncrease t he 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 deploys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of
all veh icle occupants and especially for chil­
dren . Therefore:
"" Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
QA .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
r isk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always ma ke sure that all vehicle occ u­
pants are co rrectly restra ined and stay in
a correc t seating position whe never the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
o ther important inform ation
Qpage 139.

Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In fron t, side and rear-end collisions above a
parti cular severi ty and in a rollover, safety
b e lts ar e te nsion ed automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped wit h power reve rsible tensioners . T he fo l­
l ow ing f un ct ions are available w hen the dr iv ­
e r' s/fron t passenger 's sa fety bel ts are fas­
tened :
- Automatic tensioners: at the start of a d rive,
the safety be lts automatically adjust to the
passenge r aft er a certai n time period o r ve­
hicle speed. To switch the automa tic ten­
s ioners off, select the fo llow ing in the M MI:
I CAR I funct ion button > (Car )* systems > Ve·
hide sett ings
> Seats > Driver 's seat or Pas ­
senger's seat
> Automat ic belt tensione r >
Off.
-In certa in driving situations, the safety belts
may t ighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
¢ page 190.
-The safety belts may also tighten w ith this
r evers ible tension ing funct ion in mino r colli­
s ions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety be lts are equipped with safety be lt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen­
s o rs in fron t, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover . Th is tightens
the bel t and takes up be lt slack ¢&.
in Service
and disposal of safety belt pre tensioner on
page 144.
T aking up the s lack helps to redu ce
forward occup ant movemen t during a colli ­
sion.
A WARNING
- It is possib le for the pre tensioners to de­
ploy i ncor rect ly .
- T he pyrotechnic sys tem can only provide
protection for one co llision. If the pyro -
Safety belts 143
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten­
sioning system must be replaced .
(D Tips
The pyro technic safety be lt pretensioners
ca n only deploy once .
- T he safety bel t pretensioners do not de­
ploy in minor frontal and s ide collisions,
in rear-end co llisions, i n rollovers and in
co llisions involving very little impact
f o rce.
- A fine dust is released w hen the py ro­
technic safety be lt pretensioners dep loy.
Th is is normal and is not caused by a fire
in the vehicle.
- The re levant safety requi rements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified dealership is fam iliar with
these regulations and will be please d to
pa ss o n the information to yo u.
- Be sure to observe all safety, env iron­
ment al and ot her regu la tio ns if t he ve hi­
cle or ind ividu al p ar ts of t he system, par­
t ic ular ly the s afe ty belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized A udi dealer perform this
service fo r you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretens ione rs are parts of the
saf ety be lts on your Aud i. Insta lling, remov­
i ng, se rv ici ng o r repair ing of be lt pre tension­
ers can dam age the safe ty belt sy stem and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli­
sio n.
T he re a re some impo rtan t thi ngs you have to
kn ow to m ake su re th at the effectiveness o f
t h e sys tem w ill not be impaired and tha t dis­
ca rded components do not cause injury o r pol -
lu te the environment . ..,_ •
•

144 Safety belts
,8. WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretens ioner from act ivat ing when needed
or act ivat ing it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once. If belt pretens ioners
have been act ivated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems includ ing safety be lt
pretensione rs cannot be repaired. Spe­
ci al 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 specia l equip­
ment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and preten ­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/haza rdou swaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts w ith pretens ioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Aud i
deale r is familiar with these requ irements
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perform this service for you.

146 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat 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 also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re 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 airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 136.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 139, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 127.
-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 floor in front of the seat to
help prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal 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
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle.

Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tails about chi ldren and Advanced Airbags
~ page 171.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, always ride in the back seat properly restrained 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-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of United States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a chi ld up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed o n the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard ~
page 173.
The PASS ENG ER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 147
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd-facing or forward-facing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~page 173.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 15 7, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec trica l capacitan ce registe red on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic contro l unit and ca n deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact that mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is i n one of
the ch ild seats listed~
page 173), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat. .,,. •
•

148 Airbag sys tem
If the front passenger airbag is turned off , the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on .
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of in jury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low ris k" deployment oc curs in tho se
c rashe s that take pl ace a t lower decele ra tions
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 158, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lw ays r emember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be s truck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flati ng passenger's a irbag i n a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of t he ch ild restrai nt and even se­
r io usly in ju re the child during infla tion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when p roperly
r estra ined a ccord ing to the ir age and size - we
strongly recommend t hat childre n always si t
in the back seat
c::> page 171, Child Safety .
& 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 will hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the bac krest , cen ter armres t, door or
roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must i nstall a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
does not come on an d stay on, immedi­
a tely install the re ar-facin g chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forwa rd- facing child seats installed on
the front passenger 's seat may interfere
wit h the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child .
& WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sur e the forward-facing
seat has been designe d and certified by
its m anufacture r for u se on a fron t se at
wit h a passenger fron t and s ide airba g.
- Never p ut t he fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
men t pa nel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into it s
rearmost pos ition in the seat' s fore and
aft a djustmen t range, as fa r away from
the air bag as possible before installing
the forwar d-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignit ion is switched
on .
& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be display ed whe nev er a child re­
straint is insta lled on the front pa ssenger
se at and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t stay on, per form the che cks de­
scribed
c::> page 15 7, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke t he chi ld restraint off the fron t pas­
senger sea t and inst all it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.