
184 Child Safet y
to the backrest on the veh icle seat. Ad
just the rear seat head restraint if it is difficult to install the child seat w ith the
head restraint in place <=>
page 138. Driv
ing with head restraints that are not
properly ad justed increases the risk of
serious o r fa tal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being use d
¢page 144, Safety
belts,
¢ page 152, Airbag system and
¢ page 176, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
If except ional circumstances requ ire the
use of a forward-facing child restraint 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-facing seat has
been designed and certif ied by its manu
facturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side a irbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in
struct ions provided with the child safety
seat or infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat in
to the rearmost posit ion of the passen
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi ble before installing the child restraint .
- Always make su re that noth ing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upr ight position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switc hed
on.
- If the light does no t stay on, pe rform the
chec ks
¢ page 163, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- T ake 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 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 can 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 in ches/1.45 meters) tall.
:e N 0 ±
i'il
F ig. 179 Rea r seat: c hild p roperly rest rai ned in a boos
ter se at
T he vehicle 's safety belts a lone will not fit
most children until they are at least 4 ft. 9 in.
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs. (36 kg). Booster seats raise these chil
dren up so that the safety belt will pass prop
erly over the stronger parts of the ir bodies
and the safety be lt can he lp protect them in a
c rash .
.,. Do not use the convertible lock ing retractor
when us ing the vehicle's safety belt to re
strain a ch ild on a booster seat .
.,. The shou lde r 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 be lt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older child in a
booster seat on the front passenger seat,
you can use the safety be lt height adjust
ment to help adj ust the shou lder portion
properly .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢page 181. ..,_

Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs
or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats designed for their age and weight. Experts say that the skeletal structure, particu
larly the pelvis, of these children is no t fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts without a suitable child restraint .
It is usually best to put these children in ap
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder par ts o f 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 child's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft . 9 in. (57 in
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's three point lap and shoulder belts.
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's
safety belt alone to restrain any child, regard
less of how big the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel
vic structure required for the proper function of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder bel ts. The child's safety ab
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety belt pass over the
child's stomach or abdomen.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with considerable 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
inflating airbag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in
jury.
Child Safety 185
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants , especial
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly 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 provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions.
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situation. To help re
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possi
ble and must lie flat and snug on the up
per 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 sure that the
belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary.
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause severe inju
ries in an accident or other emergency
situation
c:> page 144.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be positioned as close as possible
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad
just the rear seat head restraint if it is difficult to install the child seat with the
head restraint in place
c:>page 138. Driv
ing with head restraints that are not
properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- 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.
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any
seat, for example the front seat. •
•

186 Child Saf ety
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle .
- Always remember that a chi ld leaning
forward, sitt ing s ideways 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 serious 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 sw itch
ed on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and s tay on, perform
the chec ks described
¢ page 163, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- T ake the child rest raint off the front p as
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rea r seat positions if the
PASS EN·
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 rest rained in ave
hicle is being used
¢ page 144, Safety
belts,¢ page 152 , Airbag system
and
¢ page 176, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
passenger can be locked with the convertible
locking re tractor to properly secure child
safety seats.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
fro nt passenger's seat safety belt have a con
vertible locking retracto r for child restra ints .
The safety belt must be locke d so that belt
webbing can not unreel. The ret ractor ca n be
activ ated to lock the safety be lt and p revent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
d ur ing normal driv ing . A child sa fe ty seat can
on ly be proper ly installed whe n the safety belt is loc
ked so that the chi ld and child sa fety
seat wi ll stay in place.
Alw ays remember: Even tho ugh yo ur vehicle is
equipped wi th an A dvan ced Airbag system, all
c hi ldren, especially those 1 2 years and young
er, sho uld always ride in the back seat prope r
l y restra ined fo r the ir age and size.
A WARNING
Improperly installed ch ild safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a co llision.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re
tractor is locked when insta lling a child
safety seat. A n un locked safety belt re
trac to r cannot hold the child safety seat
in place dur ing norma l driving o r in a
crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a ch ild is not si tt ing in it.
A loose child sa fe ty se at can fly aroun d
du ring a s udden stop or in a collision .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backres t to wh ich the center rear safety
belt is attached is securely latched when
eve r the rea r center safety belt is being
used to secure a ch il d restra int .
- If the backrest is not securely la tc h ed,
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-facing child safety
seats or infant ca rr ie rs o n the front pas
senger seat . A child will be serious ly in
jured and can be killed when the passen
ge r airbag inflates.
- The infla ting airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrie r w ith gr eat
for ce and will smas h the child safe ty seat
a nd child ag ai nst t he back res t, cen ter
a rmrest, doo r or roof.
- Always inst all rear-fa cing ch ild safety
se ats or in fa nt c arrie rs on the re ar se at.

-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 176 . Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
c:::;, page 154, 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
c> page 163, 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-
Child Safety 187
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 .
- A tight tether strap on a rearward-facing
child restraint attached to the front pas
senger seat can put too much pressure
on the weight-mat in the seat and regis
ter a heavier weight in the Advanced Air
bag System. The heavier weight regis
tered can make the system work as •
•

now be used as an ordinary safety belt with
out the convertible locking retractor for child
restra ints.
I f the convertible locking retractor shou ld be
activated inadvertently, the safety belt must
be unfastened and guided completely back in
to its stowed position to deactivate this fea
ture.
If the convertib le locking retractor is not
deactivated, the safety belt will gradually be
come tighter and uncomfortable to wear .
A WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in
crease the risk of ser ious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deacti
vate the convert ible lock ing ret ractor for
c hild restraints while the veh icle is mov
ing. You would not be restrained and
cou ld be ser iously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave
hicle is being used¢
page 176. Special
precautions apply when installing a chi ld
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 154, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
LATCH Lower
anchorages and tethers
for children
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
To provide a s imp le r and more pract icable way
to attach the ch ild res traint on the veh icle
seat, Federa l regu lations require specia l lower
anchorages in vehicles and devices on new
chi ld restraints to attach to the vehicle ancho
rages.
The combination of the tether anchorages and
the lower anchorages is now generally called
the
LA TCH system for "Lower Anchorages and
T ethers for Children."
F orward- facing child restraints manufactured
after September 1, 1999, are required by U.S.
Child Sa fet y 189
federa l reg ulations to comply with new child
head movement performance requirements.
These new performance requirements make a
tether necessary on most new child seats.
Installing a ch ild restra int that requires a top
tethe r without one can seriously impair the
performance of the c hild restra int and its abil
ity to protect the child in a collis ion. Insta lling
a child restraint that requires a top tether
without the top tether may be a violat ion of
state law.
Child restraint manufacturers offer LATCH
lower anchorages on their child seats with
hook-on or push-on connectors attached to
adjustable straps.
In add ition to the LATCH lower anchorages,
these child restraint systems usually require
the use of tether straps to help keep the ch ild
restraint firmly in place.
A WARNING
Imp roper installat ion of child restra ints
will increase the r isk of injury a nd death in
a cr ash.
- Always follow the instr uctions provided
by the manufa cture r of the child re
s traint yo u intend to install in your vehi
cle.
- Never inst all a child restraint withou t a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instruc
tions require the top tether strap to be
used.
- Improper use of child rest raint LATCH
lowe r ancho rage points can lead to injury
in a collision. The LATCH lower anchorage
points are designed to withstand on ly
those loads imposed by correctly fitted
child restraints.
- Never mount two child restra int systems
on one LATCH lower anchorage point.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or
other item to the LATCH lower anchorag-
-
es. Ill-
•
•

190 Child Safe ty
@ Tips
- In Canada, the terms "top tether" with
"lower universa l anchorages" (or "lower
universal anchorage bars") are used to
describe the system.
- In other countries, the term "ISO FIX" is used to describe the lower anchorages .
Location
Fig. 180 Sch ematic overv ie w: LA TCH ancho rage point
l oca tion s
The illustration shows the seating locations in
your veh icle which are equipped w ith the low
e r anchorages system.
Description
The lower anchorage positions are marked
for quick locating .
Fig. 181 Re ar seatbacks : loca tor b utto ns fo r low er an
chor ages
Fig. 182 Rea r seats: lowe r an cho rage b racket loc ations
Atta chment l oca to r marker s fo r lowe r
anchor ages
Circular locator buttons on the rear seatback
indica te t he lower an chorage locations on the
rear seating posi tions
¢ fig. 181.
L o w er anch orages
The lower anchorage attachment points are
located between the rear seatback and rear
seat cushion
¢ fig . 182.
Lower anchorages secure the child res train t in
the seat without using the vehicle's safety belts . Anchorages provide a secure and easy
to-use attachment and minimize the possibili
ty of improper ch ild restra int installation.
All child restraints manufactured after Sep
tember 1, 2002 , must have lower anchorage
attachments for the
LATCH system.
Remember that the lower anchorage po ints
are o nly intended for installation and attach
ment of child restraints specifically certified
for use with
LATCH lower anchorages. Chi ld
rest raints that are not equipped with the low
er anchorage attachments can still be insta l
led in compliance with the child restraint
manufacturer 's instructions on us ing vehicle
safety belts .
Ln._ WARNING
-Improper use of LATCH lower anchorages
can cause serious personal injury in an ac
cident.
- Always carefu lly follow the child re
straints manufacturer's instructions for
proper installation of the child restraint

and proper use of the lower anchorages
or safety belts in your vehicle.
- Never secure or attach any l uggage or
other items to the
LATCH lower ancho
rages .
- Always read and heed the important in
formation about child restra ints in this
chapter and WARNINGS
¢ page 176,
Child Safety.
Guidance fixtures for lower anchorages
Special guidance fixtures increase the conven
ience of the lower anchorages and are availa
ble from your au thori zed Audi dealer .
Fig. 183 Outer rear seat s: in stallin g th e guid ance fix
tu res
F ig . 184 Clo se -up : fittin g the guidance fixt ur e ov er th e
l ower a nch o rage b rack et
The lower anchorage attachment points are
located on the rear seats between the seat
back and the seat cushion . Specia l guidance
fix tures increase the convenience of the lower
ancho rages and help protect the seat mater ial
from possib le damage when installing child
restraints.
Install ing th e guidance fixtures
.,. Push down on the seat cushion so that the
lower anchorages are visib le.
Child S afety 191
.,. Hold the guidance fixture with the part
number facing downward and push it in the
direction of the arrow onto the anchorage
¢ fig. 184.
.,. Make sure that each of the two guidance fix
tures per seat snaps into place .
Removing th e guid ance fixtures
.,. Remove the ch ild restraint according the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions .
.,. Push down on the seat cushion so that the
lower anchorages are v isible .
.,. Pull off the gu idance fixtures from the low
er anchorages .
.,. Always remove the guidance fixtures and
keep them in a safe p lace when not in use.
You may find it easier to install ch ild re
stra ints equipped with hooks attached to
straps without the guidance fixtures in place .
If this is the case, remove the guidance fix
tures by pulling them off the anchorages. However , the guidance fixtures can help you
to locate the
LATCH anchorages.
A WARNING
Improper use of tether anchorages or low
er anchorages can cause serious personal injury in a crash .
- Always carefully follow the child re straint manufacturer's instructions for proper insta llation and use of child re
straint systems.
- Never use the
LATCH or tether anchorag
es to attach safety belts or other k inds of
occupant restra ints .
- Ch ild restraint tether attachments and
lower attachments are only designed to
secure a ch ild restraint that has been
equ ipped to use these a ncho rages.
- Tethe r anchorages and lower anchorages
are designed to withstand only those loads imposed by correc tly fitted child
restraints. Under no ci rcumstance s can
they be used safely for adult or child
safety belts or harnesses .

192 Child Safe ty
- Never mount more than one chi ld re
straint to a single tether or to a lower an
chorage point. Attaching two child re
straints to a single anchorage point can cause the anchorage to fail and cause se
rious personal inju ry in a crash.
(D Note
- Remove the guidance fixtures before
fold ing the rear seatback to prevent
damaging the seat cushion.
- To attach the child restraint secure ly, the
seat must be moved to the farthest rear pos ition, the seat height set to the low
est posit ion and the head restra int must
be adjusted to the verti cal position
¢page 60.
-If you leave the guidance fixtures instal
l ed for several days, they could leave a
mark on the upho lstery o n the sea t cush
i on and backrest in the a rea that the
guidance fixtures were insta lled . The up
ho lstery would also be permanently
stretched around the guidance fixtures.
This applies especially to leather seats.
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always
follow the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions.
F ig. 1 85 Lower a nchorages: proper mounting
Mounting
"" Make sure the sea tba ck of the rear sea t
bench is in the upright position and sec urely
l atched in place. ""
Attach both hook -on connectors with the
spring catch release on the child safety seat
onto the LATCH lower anchorage so that the
connectors lock into place¢
fig. 185.
"" Pull on the connector attachments to make
sure they are p roper ly attached to the LATCH
lower anchorage .
"" Pull straps tight fo llow ing the child re
straint manufacture r's instructions.
Releasing
"" Loosen the tension on the straps following
the ch ild restra int manufacturer's instruc
tions .
"" Depress the spring catches to release the
anchorage hooks from the lowe r anchorag
es.
Remember: Use tether straps to help keep the
ch ild restra int fi rm ly in pla ce.
.&_ WARNING
Improper use of the LATCH system ca n in
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a n accident.
- These ancho rs were deve loped on ly for
child safety seats using the "LA TCH" sys
tem .
- Never at ta ch other ch ild safety sea ts,
be lts or other objects to these anchors.
- Always make sure that you hear a click
when latch ing the seat in place . If you do
not hear a click the seat is not secure and
could fly forward and hit the interior of
the vehicle, or be e jected from the vehi
cle .
.&_ WARNING
-
Improper installat ion of child restra ints
will increase the r isk of injury i n an acci
dent.
- Always follow the child restraint system
manufacturer's instruct ions for proper
i n stallation of the ch ild restra int system
and p roper use of teth er straps as well as
the lower anchorages or safety bel ts in
-
your veh icle. Ii-