A WARNING
1
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in
stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death .
-All vehicle occupants and especially chil dren must always be restrained properly
whenever riding in a vehicle.
- An unrestrained or improperly restrain
ed child can be injured or killed by be
ing thrown against the inside of the ve
hicle or by being ejected from it during
a sudden maneuver or impact.
- An unrestrained or improperly restrain
ed child is at much greater risk of injury
or death by being struck by an inflating
airbag.
- Commercially available child safety seats
are required to comply with U.S. Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
213 (in Canada CMVSS 213).
- When buying a child restraint, select
one that fits your child and the vehicle.
- Only use child restraint systems that
fully contact the flat portion of the
seat cushion. The child restraint must
not tip or lean to either side. Audi does
not recommend using child safety
seats that rest on legs or tube-like
frames . They do not provide adequate
contact with the seat.
-Always heed all legal requirements per
taining to the installation and use of
child safety seats and carefully follow
the instructions provided by the manu
facturer of the seat you are using.
- Never allow children under 57 inches
(1.45 meters) to wear a normal safety
belt. They must always be restrained by a
proper child restraint system. Otherwise,
they could sustain injuries to the abdo
men and neck areas during sudden brak
ing maneuvers or accidents.
- Never let more than one child occupy a
child safety seat .
Child Safety 209
-Never let babies or older children ride in
a vehicle while sitting on the lap of an
other passenger.
- Holding a child in your arms is never a
substitute for a child restraint system .
- The strongest person could not hold
the child with the forces that exist in
an accident. The child will strike the in
terior of the vehicle and can also be
struck by the passenger.
- The child and the passenger can also
injure each another in an accident.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas
senger seat . A child will be seriously in
jured and can be killed when the passen
ger airbag inflates -even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof .
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat .
- Forward-facing child safety seats instal
led on the front passenger's seat can in
terfere with the airbag when it inflates
and cause serious injury to the child.
Al
ways install forward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat .
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child 's
safety and well-being require that the
following special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac
turer's instructions provided with the
child safety seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat
into the rearmost position of the pas
senger seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as far away from the airbag •
•
•
•
210 Child Safety
as possible before installing the child
restra int.
-A lways make sure that nothing pre
vents the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the backrest is
in the upright position.
- Always buck le the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a coll is ion.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
c::> page 175, Safety
belts,
c::> page 184, Airbag system and
c::> page 205, Child Safety.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the child 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 authorized Audi dealer immediate
ly.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat
Fig. 217 Schematic overview: keep unused safety belts
away from ch ildren in child sa fety seats. @· oute r rear
safety belt,@· center rear safety belt
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal lower ancho
rages, the unused safety belts
must be se
cured so that the child in the child restraint
cannot reach them
c::> & .
-Guide the safety belt webbing behind the
head restraint of the adjacent seat
c::>fig. 217. When doing so, do not engage
the switchable locking retractor! You should not hear a "clicking" sound when wind ing up
the safety belt.
- Let the belt retractor wind up the safety belt
webbing.
A WARNING ,-
A child in a chi ld safety seat installed with
the LATCH lower a nchorages or with the
standard safety belt or a child in a booster
seat on the rear seat could play with un
used rear seat safety belts and become en
tang led . This could cause the chi ld ser ious
personal injury and even death.
-Always secure unused rear seat sa fety
be lts out of reach of children in child
seats such as by properly routing them
around the head restraint of the seat
where the ch ild restraint is installed.
- Never activate the switchable locking re
tractor when routing the safety belts
around the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear
seating position if the center rear safety
be lt has been routed around a rear head
restraint.
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and 20 lbs. or 9 kg need special rearward -fac
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash.
Fig . 218 Sche matic overv iew: rearward-fac ing infant
seat, properly installed o n the rear seat
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a ch ild safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retracto r on the
safety be lt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
¢ page 215 or install the seat
using the LA T CH attachments.
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
.,. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢page 210.
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best protected in special infan t carriers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group . Many experts believe that infants and
small children should ride only in spec ial re
straints in which the ch ild faces the back of
the vehicle. These infant seats support the ba
by's back, neck and head in a crash
¢fig . 218.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a po tentially dangerous place for a
child to r ide . The front seat is not the safest
p lace for a child in a forward -facing child seat.
It is a very dangerous p lace for an infant or a
l arger ch ild in a rearward-facing seat.
Child Safety 211
A WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using t he
wrong child safety seat or improperly in
stall ing a ch ild restraint increases the risk
of ser ious personal injury and death in a
crash.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant ca rr ie rs on the front pas
senger seat -even with an Advanced Air
bag Sys tem. A ch ild will be ser iously in
jured and ca n be killed when the inflat
ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in
fant carrier with great force and smashes the child safety seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof ¢
page 186, Child restraints on the
front seat- some important things to
know .
-Always install rear-fac ing ch ild safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat .
- Never install a rear-fac ing ch ild restraint
in the forward-fac ing d irect ion. Such re
straints are designed for the special needs of infants and very small ch ild ren
and cannot prote ct them properly if the
seat is forward- facing.
- If you mus t insta ll a rearward fac ing
child sa fety seat on the fro nt passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan
ces and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately insta ll the rear -fac ing ch ild
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dea ler .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
wheneve r us ing a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used¢
page 175 , Safety
belts,
¢ page 184, Airbag system and
¢ page 205, Important things to know.
212 Child Safety
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between
20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash.
Fig. 219 Schematic overv iew : ins tallat ion of t he at
ta chments applicable to a LATCH seat
Fig. 220 Sche matic overview: insta llation of th e sea t
us ing t he veh icle's safety be lt system
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a chi ld safety seat, you must f irst activate
the convertible locking feature on the safety
belt to prevent the child safety seat from
moving ¢
page 215 or install the seat using
the LATCH attachments .
.. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really t ight
so that the seat cannot move forward or sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
¢page 215.
.. If the child safety seat is equ ipped with a
tether strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢page 222.
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢page 210.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in
fant restra int if it is more than one year o ld
and weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg). T
oddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about 4 years old and weigh more
than 20 lbs. (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must
always be properly restrained in a child safety
seat certified for their size and weight
¢ fig . 219 and ¢ fig. 220 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentia lly dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child safe
ty seat . It is a very dangerous place for an in
fant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
_&. WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improp erly in
stalling a chi ld restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
collision or other emergency situation .
- Children on the front seat of any car,
-
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri
ously injured or even killed when an air bag inflates . A chi ld in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat will be serious ly injured
and can be killed if the front airbag in
f la tes -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately insta ll the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dealer.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be pos itioned as close as possible ..,.
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad
just or remove the rear seat head restraint if it is diff icult to install the
child seat w ith the head restraint in place
¢ page 77. Install the head restraint
again immed iate ly once the child seat is
removed. Driving without head rest raints
o r with he ad restraints that are not prop
erly adjusted increases the risk of serious
or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave
hicle is being used
¢page 175, Safety
belts,¢ page 184, Airbag system
and
¢ page 205, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If except ional circumstances requ ire the
use of a forward-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat, the ch ild's safe
ty and well-being require that the follow
ing special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-fac ing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu
factur er for use on a front seat with a
passenge r fron t and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in
st ruct ions provided with the child sa fety
sea t or infan t carrier.
- Always mov e the front passenge r seat in
to the rearmost posit ion of the passen
ger seat's fore and aft ad justment r ange,
and as far away from the airbag as possi
ble before instal ling the child restraint.
- Always m ake sure that noth ing prevents
the front passenger's seat from bei ng
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range .
- Always make sure the backrest is in an upright position.
- Make su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
- If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks¢
page 195, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
-
Child S afety 213
-Take the 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 BA G OF F
light does not stay on
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats con help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs . (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9 in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall.
In .... N 0 ±
~
Fig . 221 Rear seat: ch ild properly res trained in a boos
ter seat
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 me ters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs . (36 kg) . Booster seats raise these chi l
dren up so tha t the safety belt w ill pass p rop
erly over the stronger parts of the ir bodies
and the safety be lt can he lp protect them in a
crash.
.,. Do not use the conver tible locking ret ra ctor
when using the ve hicl e's s afety be lt to re
s train a ch ild on a booster seat.
... The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the ch ild's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body. It must never lie across the throat or
neck . The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make s ure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on
th e belt to tighten if necessary.
.,. If you must transport an o lder ch ild in a
booster seat on the front passenger sea t,
you can use the safety be lt height adjust
ment to he lp ad just the shou lder portion
properly.
214 Child Saf ety
• Secure unused safety be lts on the rear seat
9 page 210.
Ch ildren up to at least 8 years old (over 40
l bs. or 18 kg) are best protected in chi ld safe
ty seats designed for their age and weight. Ex perts say that the ske leta l structure, particu
larly the pelvis, of these chi ldren is not fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts w ithout a su itable child restraint .
It is us ually best to put these children in ap
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicab le safety standards.
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child's body in the right places. The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
important for the ch ild's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Ch ildren who are at least 4
ft . 9 in. (57 in
ches/1.4S meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's three po int lap and shoulder belts .
Neve r use the lap belt portion of the veh icle's
safety belt a lone to restrain any child, regard
l ess of how b ig the child is. Always remembe r
that c hildren do not have the pronounced pe l
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder be lts. The child's safety ab
solutely requires that a lap be lt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
possible around the pelvis . Never let the lap
be lt portion of the safety belt pass over the
chi ld's stomach or abdomen.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with cons iderable force . In order
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
i n flat ing airb ag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she wi ll be struck violen tly and will
receive serious or possib ly even fatal in
jury .
In orde r fo r the ai rbag to offer protect ion, i t is
i mportant that a ll vehicle occupants, espe cial
ly any children, who m ust be in the front seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances , be
proper ly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
the child's body and the front of the passen
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com
pletely and prov ide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions .
.&, WARNING
Not using a booste r seat, using the boos
ter seat improperly, inco rrectly installing a
booster seat or using the vehicle sa fety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous persona l injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situat ion. To he lp re
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
- The shou lder belt must lie as close to the
center of the ch ild's collar bone as possi
b le and must lie flat and snug on the up
per body . It must neve r lie across the
throat or neck. The lap belt must lie
across the pe lvis and neve r ac ross t he
stomach o r abdomen. Make sure the belt
liesflat andsnug.Pullon thebelt to
tighten if necessary.
- Failure to p roperly ro ute s afe ty belts
over a child's body wi ll ca use seve re inj u
ries in an accident o r other emergency
situation
¢ page 175 .
- The rear side o f the child sa fety seat
should be pos itioned as close as possib le
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad
just or remove the rear seat head re straint if it is difficu lt to install the ch ild
seat with the head restraint in p lace
c::> page 77 . Install the head restraint
aga in immediately once the ch ild seat is
removed. D riving without head restraints
or w ith head restra ints that a re not prop
erly ad justed increases the risk of serious
.
or fatal neck in jury dramatically . ""
-Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced A irbags, can be seri
ous ly injured or even killed when an a ir
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any
seat, for examp le the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle .
- Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forward, sitt ing sideways or out of posi
t ion in any way during an acc ident can be
struck by a deploying airbag . This will re
sult in se rious personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep
t ional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch
ed on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described¢
page 195, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the child restrain t 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
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used¢
page 175, Safety
belts,¢ page 184, Airbag system
and
c:> page 205, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear sea ts and the fron t
passenger can be locked wi th the convertible
locking retractor to properly secure child
safety seats .
The safety belts emergency lock ing retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety belt have a con
ve rtible locking retractor for child restraints.
Child Sa fet y 215
The safety belt must be locked so that be lt
webbing cannot unree l. The retractor can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
during normal dr iving . A child safety seat can
only be properly installed when the safety belt
i s locked so that the chi ld and child safety
seat w ill stay in place .
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
ch ildren, especially those 12 years and young
er, shou ld always r ide in the back seat proper
ly restrai ned fo r the ir age and size.
A WARNING
Improperly installed chi ld safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Always ma ke sure that the safety belt re
tracto r is loc ked when installing a child
safety seat . An unlocked safety belt re
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat
in place during normal dr iving or in a
crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a ch ild is not sitt ing in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around during a sudden stop or in a collision .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when
eve r the rea r center safety belt is being
used to secure a ch ild restra int.
- If the backrest is not securely latched,
the child and the child restraint will be
thrown forward together with the back rest and will strike parts of the vehicle
interior. The child can be seriously in
jured or killed.
- Never install rear-fa cing child safety
seats or infant carrie rs on the front pas
senger seat . A child will be serio usly in
jured and can be killed when the passen ger airbag inflates.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
~
•
•
216 Child Safety
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats or in
fant carriers installed on the front pas
senger's seat may interfere with the de
ployment of the airbag and cause serious
injury to the child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing
child safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
c::> page 205 . Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
c::> page 186, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
A WARNING
Always take special precautions if you
must install a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint on the front passenger's
seat in exceptional situations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
<=:> page 195, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child 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
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child. -
Always carefully follow the manufactur
er's instructions provided with the child
safety seat or carrier.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash .
A WARNING
-Forward-facing child restraints:
- 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 side airbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child re straint up, against or very near the in
strument panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on .
A WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger
seat will be seriously injured and can be killed if the front airbag inflates -even
with an Advanced Airbag System .
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always be especially careful if you must
install a rearward facing child safety seat
on the front passenger seat in exception-
al circumstances.
~