2013 AUDI A8 warning light

144 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automob ile acci­
dents . For your protection and that of
your passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts. Like all veh icle occupants, they are
more like ly to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and three in the rear. In some
vehicles, there are four seat ing pos itions: two
in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal injury and death .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small ch ildren, into any belt.
It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap. -
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe­
ty belt or child restra int.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger to remind you
about the importance of buckling-up.
F ig. 155 Safety bel t warni ng light in the instr ument
cl uster -en larged
Befor e dr ivi ng o ff, alway s:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make sure that your passengers a lso buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the s ize and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder
to fasten the safety belts. In addit ion, you will
hear a warning tone for a certain per iod of
t ime .
Fasten your sa fet y belt and m ake s ure th at
y ou r passenge rs also prope rly put on the ir
s afe ty belt s.
A WARNING
--Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious inju ry and death in automobile acci­
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways cor rectly 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. 156 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 157 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
veh icle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the ene rgy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of th is vehicle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 156, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 157.
Safety belts 145
The same principles apply to people s itting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision.
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these fo rces are even
higher.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli­
s ion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col­
li s ions.
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 158 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th rown forwa rd
Fig. 159 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt
w ill fly forward a nd strike the driver
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 unrestra ined .,..

148 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly ¢
page 57, General recommenda­
t ions .
.,. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis ¢
_&..
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ fig . 161.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se-
cu rely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat­
i c belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is fea ­
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and in an accident.
The belt may also lo ck when you drive up or
down a steep hill or throug h a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a be lt p re­
tensione r that helps to t ighten the safety bel t
and remove s lack when the pretensio ner is ac­
tivated ¢
page 150. The function of the pre ­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c:;, page 18 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safe ty belt excep t the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a swit chab le locking fea ­
ture that
mus t be used when the safety bel t is
used to attach a child seat . Be s ure to read the
important information abo ut this feat ure
¢ page 186.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause-se rious injury in an accident
¢ page 148, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum pr otection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are prope rly positioned on the
body.
-
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serio us per­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it moves from the stron­
ge r parts of the body into cr itica l ar eas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the conve rtible locking re­
t ra cto r when you are se cu ring a c hild
s eat in t he veh icle
¢page 188.
(D Tips
For informa tion on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to¢
page 150.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
F ig . 16 2 Safety bel t pos it ion
U se the heig ht adjus tme nt to ch ange the posi­
tio n of the shoulder belt of the front sa fety
belts.
A WARNING
'-
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious personal inju ry in an acc i­
dent.
-
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on t he body. Hold the
be lt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as low as possib le on the pelv is an d th ere is
no pressure o n the abdomen. The belt ..,.

154 Airbag sys te m
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
• Be sure to read the impo rtant in formation
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
i=> page 176.
Even though your 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-facing chi ld seat.
It can be a
ve ry dangerous 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 certified to comply 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 Standa rd requires the fron t air bag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one yea r of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward-facing infant restraints 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 were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
c> page 178.
The PASS ENGE R AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel tells you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the 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
l ight will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied ,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat, -
will go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat
c::> page 163, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control 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
child b ut less than the weight 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 PAS SENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the elect ronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit se nses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For exampl e, th e airbag ma y deplo y if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whether the child is in one of
the child seats listed
c> page 178), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on t he front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the P A SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult 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 rest w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the sea t is on the front
passenge r seat
c::> page 135, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger a irbag dep loys, the
F ede ra l St andard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hro ugh interaction 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 163, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a chi ld seat or inf ant 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 176, 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 15 5
-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 mus t 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 163, 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 instructions from
child restraint manufacture rs when in­
stalling ch ild restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in except iona 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. •
•

158 Airb ag sys te m
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory .
I f the total 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 B AG OFF light does not
come on).
For exa mple , the airbag ma y depl oy if :
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 178),
- a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the cente r
of the instrument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on 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 passenger 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 inju ry through interaction
with the airbag. " Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
¢ page 163.
Alw ays re memb er: Even tho ugh you r vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all 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 152.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger se at will be
se riously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­
lutely guarantee 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 install rearward-facing ch ild re­
s traints on the rear seat.
- I f you must ins tall a rearward fac ing
child seat on the fron t passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
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 exceptional circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
-

160 Airbag sys te m
_& WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat wi ll pre­
vent the Advanced A irbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by q ualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
dr iver seat from the veh icle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat . If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-se nsing mat and send the
wrong info rmation to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­ senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Ai r­
bag System under the passenge r seat
c ou ld be damaged, prevent ing them and
the a irbag sys tem from working proper ­
ly .
- N ever place sea t covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by A udi on the fron t seats.
- Seat covers can preven t th e Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re ­
st raints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploy ing prop­
er ly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger seat. The add itiona l padd ing will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accu rately reg iste ring the c hild restra int
-
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing p roperly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
qu ire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something e lse to prope rly pos ition the
child restraint, make certain t hat the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes
on and stays on whenever the ch ild re­
straint is installed on the front passen ­
ge r seat .
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi ­
ately insta ll child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the ai rbag system
inspected by your Audi dea ler.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
T he front Advanced Airbag System and the
s ide a irbags supp lem ent the p rotection of­
fered by the front three-po int safety belts
with pre tensione rs and load lim iters and the
adjustable head res train ts to help redu ce the
risk of in jury in a wide ra nge of accident and
crash situations . Be s ure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in th is chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and t he activation of the safety belt preten ­
s ioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electron ic co ntrol unit. The amount of infla­
t ion of t he front airbags can a lso be adapted
to the front seat pos ition, depending on the
distance between the respective front seat
and t he steer ing w heel or instrument panel as
regis tered by sensors in the seats. C rash se ­
verity depends on speed and dece leration as
well as the mass and st iffness of t he vehicle
or object involved in the crash .
On t he passenger side, rega rdless of sa fe ty
belt use, the airbag w ill be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the ..,.

162 Airbag sys tem
electronic contro l uni t (the PAS SENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi ­
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
~page 154.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child sea t in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
-The inflating ai rbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
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 must install a rearward facing child seat on the front passenger seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately i nstall the rea r-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Au di dealer.
A WARNING
Objects be tween you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of in jury in a c rash by in ­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by being pushed into yo u as the a irbag
inf lates. -
Never hold things in you r hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on or in t he a rea
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air­
bags during braking or other sudden ma­
neuvers and become dangero us projec ­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the a irbags inf late .
- Never p lace or attach accesso ries o r oth ­
er objects (such as cup hold ers, te le­
phone b ra ck ets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, ove r o r ne ar the are a
marked "AIRBAG" on the s teer ing whee l,
instr ument panel, sea t bac krests o r be ­
tween those areas and yourself. T hese
objects could ca use in jury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag during braki ng or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y, partic ularly when the seat is re­
clined.
A WARNING
The fine dus t create d when air bags deploy
c a n cause breathing p rob lems fo r people
wi th a history of as thma or other breath ­
i ng cond itions.
- T o reduce the risk of breath ing pro blems,
those with asthma or othe r respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors .
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, wash your hands and face with
mild soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your
eyes, or into any c uts or scratches.
- If the res id ue should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith water.