2013 AUDI Q5 warning

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 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
dents . 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
impa ired 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 them
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 people ride in t he ve hicle
th an there are s afe ty be lts availab le.
Safety belts 149
- 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 . 155 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 wa rning lig ht . 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 belt s.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the s ingle mo st effec tive
means av ailable to redu ce th e ri sk of se­
rio us in ju ry and death in au tomobile acci ­
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
•
•

150 Safety belts
-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 Th e vehicle c rash es into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy ."
T he 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 energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of this veh icle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 156, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, until something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 157 .
The same principles apply to people sitting 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 forces 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 t ravell ing 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 .
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. 158 A d river not wea ring a safety b elt is viol en tly
thrown fo rwa rd
Fig . 159 A rear passe nge r not wearing a safety belt
w ill fl y forward and strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
tremendous forces of i mpac t by holding tight
or bracing themselves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems , the unrestrained
ll-

152 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, bindings, 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
c:> page 226, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 161 B elt buck le and to ngue o n the drive r's sea t

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
c::> page 61, 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
c::> ,&. .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly ac ross the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&..
... Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch securely
c::>fig. 161.
... Pu ll on t he be lt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith 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, dur ing 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 the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c::> page 15.
Sw itchable locking feature
E very sa fety 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 safety seat. Be sure to read the important information about this
feature
c::> page 188.
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
o::> page 153, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protect ion
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 153
belts are properly 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 . Atta ching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce s afety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly 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
c::> page 190.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 162 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,
- height-adjustable front seats.

154 Safety belts
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
should always fit snugly
¢ fig. 162. 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. 162. 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 152.
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. 163 Safety be lt pos it io n during p regnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
¢ page 153.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 61, 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 . 163, ¢ .&, .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 152, fig. 161.
.. 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 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 153.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety bel t wi th the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 164 Releas ing the ton gu e from the bu ckle
.. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 164 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle ¢
.&,. ..,..

.. 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. 165 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 154 .
.,. Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢fig . 165
@ , 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 152.
@ 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 155
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 152.
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 co llisions of
great seve rity and in a rollover . This tightens
the belt and t akes up belt slack¢.&.
in Service Iii>

156 Safety belts
and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 156.
T aking up the s lack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement during a co lli­
sion.
Note
Never let the be lt remain over a rea r seat­
back that has been folded forward.
@ Tips
The safety be lt pretensioner can only be
activated once .
- In mino r frontal and side collisions, in
rear -end collisions and in accidents in­
vo lving very little impact force, the safe ­
ty belt pretensioner are not activated.
- When the safety be lt pretensioners are
activated, a fine dust is released . This is
norma l and is not caused by a f ire in the
vehicle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped. An au­
thorized Aud i dealer or qua lified work­
shop is fam il iar with these regulations
and will be p leased to pass on the infor­
mation to you.
- Be sure to observe a ll safety, environ­
mental and othe r regulations if the vehi­
cle or indiv id ual pa rts of the system, par­
ticularly the sa fe ty belt or airbag, a re to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your a uthorized Audi dea ler perform this
serv ice for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety be lts on your Audi . Installing, r emov­
ing, servicing or repa iring of belt prete nsion­
e rs can damage the safety be lt system and
prevent it from working correct ly in a colli­
sion.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effect iveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis- ca
rded components do not cause inju ry or pol ­
l u te the environment.
A WARNING
-Improper care, serv ic ing and repair proce-
d ures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by prevent ing a safety belt
p retensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be act i­
vated only once. If belt pretensioners have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Spe­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposa l of th is system.
- For any wo rk on the safety belt system,
we strong ly recommend that you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re­
pair manua l, training and special equip ­
ment necessa ry .
~ For the sake of the env ironment
Undeployed a irbag modules and preten­
s ioners might be classif ied as Perchlorate
Materia l -special handling may app ly, see
www.dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/per­
ch lorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modu les
safety be lts with pretensioners are scrap­
ped, all applicab le laws and regulations
must be observed. Your author ized Audi
dealer is familiar with these requirements
and we recommend t hat you have your
dealer perform th is servi ce fo r you.

158 Airbag sys te m
angle of im pact that will always trig ger the
airbags, since the circumstances wi ll vary con­
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or s oft) of the object which the
car h its, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or re ar collisions, or in roll-overs .
Always remember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offe r 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 yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is st ruck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reaso ns why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety be lt. The airbag system
works most effective ly when used with the
safety be lts. Therefore, always properly wear
you r safety belts ¢
page 149 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instr ument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from t he steer ing wheel, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and incre ase your sea ting dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestr ained, lean ing fo rward,
s itting sideways or out of posi tion in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- Yo u w il l a lso receive serio us in juries and
co uld 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 r is k of i njury when an air ­
bag inf lates, a lways wear safety belts
properly
c::> page 152, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severe ly injured or killed when an
airbag inflates .
- Never let c hildren 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 140.
-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
he lp prevent serious 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 i nto the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag d uring br akin g or in a
sudden maneuve r. Obje cts ne ar the air ­
bags can become projec tiles and cause
inj ury when an airbag inflates.
.&, WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original eq uipment airbags ap ­
proved by Audi 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 i n 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 su re to read t he importa nt information
and head the WAR NINGS for important de­
t ails about children and Advanced A irbags
c::> page 178 . ..,.