.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly.
Also instruct your passengers to fasten their
safety belts properly ¢
page 129.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condi
tion of the vehicle, the driver as well as the
driver's ability to concentrate on the road
without being distracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of the
veh icle and a ll of its occupants . If your ability
to drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody
in the vehicle increase and you also become a
hazard to everyone else on the road ¢ ,&. .
Therefore:
.,. Do not let yourself be distracted by passen
gers or by us ing a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER drive when your driv ing ability is im
paired (by medicat ions, alcohol, drugs, etc.) .
.. Observe all traffic laws, ru les of the road
and speed limits and plain common sense.
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic
and weather conditions.
.. Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not
drive for more than two hours at a stretch .
.. Do NOT drive when you are tired, under
pressure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death when
ever a vehicle is being used.
Driving Safely 119
Proper occupant
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is impor
tant for safe, relaxed driving.
Fig. 134 Correct seat ing pos it ion
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of
injury in the event of an accident, we recom
mend that you adjust the driver's seat to the
follow ing pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easi
ly push the pedals all the way to the floor
wh ile keeping your knee(s) slightly bent
¢ ,&. .
.. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is
in an upr ight position so that your back
comes in full contact with it when you drive .
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that th ere is a
distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) be
tween the steering wheel and yo ur breast
bone ¢
fig. 134. If not possible, see your au
thorized Audi dealer about adaptive equip
ment .
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steer
ing wheel and airbag cover points at your
chest and not at your face .
.,. Grasp the top of the steer ing whee l with
your elbow(s) slightly bent .
.. App lies to veh icles with adjustable head re
straints: Ad just the head restraint so the up
per edge is as even as possible with the top
of your head. If that is not possible, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as
close to this pos it ion as possible .
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 132.
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 informat ion 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 inj ury 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
impai red 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 four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seat
i n g position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety belts or wea ring them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal i njury an d deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in
cl ud ing small ch ild ren, into a ny belt . It is
e speci ally dangerous t o pl ac e a safety
bel t over a child s itting on yo ur la p.
- 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 12 9
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe
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 . 141 Safety belt warning lig ht in the instr ument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, alway s:
~ Fasten your safety be lt and ma ke su re 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 children w ith a child restraint
sys tem app ropriate fo r the size a nd age of
t h e children.
The . warn ing light in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ig nit ion is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safe ty belts. In addi
tion, you will hea r a warning tone for a certa in
per iod of t ime.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure
that your pas sengers also properly put on
th eir safety belt s.
•
•
The front seats are equipped with belt posi
tioners so it is easier to fasten the safety be lts . The belt positioners automatically ex
tend when the door closes and the ignition
switches on ¢
fig. 147.
The belt positioner returns to its starting posi
tion again when
- the tongue in the belt latch engages o r the
belt was not fastened within 60 seconds .
- yo u sw itch the igni tion off.
- you ope n the door.
_& WARNING
- O nly you r autho rized Aud i de ale r shou ld
wor k on the sys tem or remove and instal
ling system components when perform
ing other work .
- T he be lt positioners could cause in jury or
damage if they pinc h peop le or objects
when extending or retracting .
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig . 14 8 Be lt buckle and tongue on t he driver's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
~ Adjust the front seat and head restraint
properly¢
page 61, Seats and storage.
~ Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt¢ ..
&.
~ Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even-
ly across the chest and pelvis¢,&..
Safety belts 133
~ Insert the tongue into the correct buck le o f
your seat unti l you hear it latch securely
¢ fig. 148.
~ Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automat ic safety belt r etractor s
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat
ic be lt ret ractor on the shoulder belt. This fea
ture locks the belt when the be lt is pulled out
fast, during hard brak ing and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep h ill or th rough a sharp cu rve.
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. The function of the pretensione r is
monito red by a warn ing light¢
page 20.
Switchable locking fe ature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a sw itchable lock ing fea
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a ch ild safety seat . Be s ure to
read the important information about this
feature
¢page 168.
_& WARNING
Imp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢ page 134, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer opt imum protection
only when the seatback is upr ight and
be lts are properly posit io ned on the
body.
-
- Never attach the safety be lt to the buck
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious per
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain-
ed can be seriously injured by the safety .,.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all ch ildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways 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 ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child safety seat.
It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply w ith the Requ ire
ments of United States Federa l Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front ai rbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag 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
Q page 160.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel tells you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has bee n
turned off by the electronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light 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
Q page 148, Monitor
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
Airbag system 139
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld
c hild but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the contr ol unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
Q page 160), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the 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 PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting uprig ht with their back against a
non-reclined backrest w ith their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat
~ page 119, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury thro ugh interaction with the
airbag . "Low risk" deployment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
Q page 148, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap
idly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The airbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation. •
•
140 Airbag sys tem
For this reason, and because t he bac k seat is
the safest place for children - when prop erly
restra ined according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
Q page 158, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
t he front a irbag inflates - even wit h an Ad
v a nced Airb ag System.
- T he inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with g reat
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat .
-If you mus t inst all a rearwar d fa cing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circ umstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on , im
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the a irbag system inspected by you r
au thorized Audi dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal
led on the front passenger's seat may in
terfer e wi th the deployment of the air
bag and cause se rious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always m ake su re the forw ard-fa cing
sea t has been des igned and certified by
its manufact urer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward -facing child re
st raint up aga inst or very near the inst ru
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft ad
justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing 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 wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
lig ht w ill be displayed whenever a child re
straint is insta lled on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, per form the checks de
scribed
Q page 148, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- 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 BAG OFF light does not stay on.
-Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate
ly.
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacture rs when in
stalling ch ild restra ints.
A WARNING
-If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward or rearwa rd -facing child
r estra int on t he front passenger's seat :
- Improper installation of ch ild restra ints
can reduce their effectiveness o r even
p revent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improperly installed ch il d restra int
can inter fere with the airbag as it de
p loys and seriously injure o r even kill the
child -even with an Advance d Airbag
System.
- Always caref ully follow the m anu factur
er 's ins truc tio ns p rov ided with the ch ild
safety sea t or carrier .
142 Airbag system
old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that chil
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe cially 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes .
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of the over
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you , if you are sitting up
right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has been certified to meet the "low risk" re
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on
the driver side . The low risk deployment crite
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in
jury through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur, for example , by being too
close to the steering wheel and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements of the Safety Standard
, to turn
off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 160, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 160,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas
senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re
quires the front airbag to be turned
off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned
off by the control
unit and can deploy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old ,
but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
ll-
Fo r exa mple, the airbag may 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 whether the child is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 160),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off , the
PA SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER 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 upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the sea t is on the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk " deployment criteria to help re
duce the risk of inj ury through in teraction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de
celerations as defined in the electronic control unit.
¢ page 148
Alway s remember : Even though 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.
_&. WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly .
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
A irbag system 143
flates - even with an Advanced Ai rbag
¢page 137 .
_&. WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with an Ad
vanced A irbag System .
-Although the Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child restraint has been instal led on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso
lutely guaran tee that dep loymen t is im
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen during the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- 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 rearward -facing chi ld re
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional c ircumstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately insta ll the rear-fa cing ch ild
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
-=
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make s ure 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.
~
•
•
144 Airbag sys tem
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lling
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger sea t in your vehicle h as a
lot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
weight -sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mo nitors the Advanced Air
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on when a ma lfunction in t he system
components is detected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airb ag Sy stem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System abou t the seve rity of the crash.
- An electron ic co ntrol unit, with integ rated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit "dec ides " w het her to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whethe r the safety be lt
pretensioners should be activated . -
An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the d river inside the steer
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag with gas ge nerator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
pad ding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion registered is sent continu
ously to the electronic contro l unit to regu
late deployment of the front Advanced Air bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitor ing system and i ndicator
light in the i nstr ument cluster ~
page 148 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r i ns trument panel. The i n
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he ele ctr onic cont ro l uni t to regula te de
p loyment o f the front Advance d Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and st ays on in the cen ter o f the instr u
ment panel
~ page 148, fig . 155 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
~ pag e 138, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv
er and fo r the front sea t passenger tha t
senses w het he r th at safety bel t is latched or
not and transmi ts this information to the
electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-