2014 AUDI A6 warning light

128 Driving Safely
Driving Safely
General notes
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instructions and warnings that you need
to read and observe for your own safety, the
safety of your passengers and others . We have
summarized here what you need to know
about safety belts, airbags, child restraints as
well as child safety. Your safety is for us
priori­
ty number 1.
Always observe the information
and warnings in this section - for your own
safety as well as that of your passengers.
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the
features described in this sections may be
standard equipment on some models, or may
be optional equipment on others. If you are
not sure, ask your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in­
structions and heed the WARNINGS in
this Manual. It is in your interest and in
the interest of your passengers.
- Always keep the complete Owner's Liter­
ature in your Audi when you lend or sell
your vehicle so that this important infor­
mation will always be available to the
driver and passengers.
- Always keep the Owner's literature handy
so that you can find it easily if you have
questions.
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant
restraint system and work together to help
reduce the risk of injury in a wide variety of
accident situations.
Your safety and the safety of your passengers
should not be left to chance. Advances in
technology have made a variety of features
available to help reduce the risk of injury in an accident.
The following is a list of just a few of
the safety features in your Audi:
- sophisticated safety belts for driver and all
passenger seating positions,
- safety belt pretensioners ,
- safety belt force limiters for the front seats,
- safety belt height adjustment systems for
the front seats,
- front airbags,
- knee airbags for the front seats*
- side airbags in the front seats and outer rear
seats*,
- side curtain airbags ,
- special LATCH anchorages for child re-
straints,
- head restraints for each seating position,
- adjustable steering column.
These individual safety features, can work to­ gether as a system to help protect you and
your passengers in a wide range of accidents .
These features cannot work as a system if
they are not always correctly adjusted and cor­
rectly used.
Safety is everybody's responsibility!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody 's job! Vehicle and occu ­
pant safety always depends on the informed and careful driver .
For your safety and the safety of your passen ­
gers,
before driving always:
.. Make sure that all lights and signals are op­
erating correctly.
.. Make sure that the tire pressure is correct .
.. Make sure that all windows are clean and af­
ford good visibility to the outside .
.. Secure all luggage and other items carefully
q page 63, q page 60 .
.. Make sure that nothing can interfere with
the pedals.
.. Adjust front seat, head restraint and mirrors
correctly for your height.
.. Instruct passengers to adjust the head re-
straints according to their height . .,..

.. Make sure to use the right child rest raint
correct ly to protect children
Q page 173,
Child Safety .
.. Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same¢
page 52,
General recommendations .
.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly.
Also instruct your passengers to fasten their
safety belts properly ¢
page 138.
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 respons ible for the safety of the
veh icle and all of its occupants.
If your ability
to drive is impai red, safety r isks for everybody
in the vehicle increase and you also become a
hazard to everyone else on the road ¢
A.
Therefore:
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passen­
gers or by using a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im­
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc .).
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road
and speed limits and plain common sense .
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traff ic
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 t ired, 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 129
Proper occupant
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is impor­
tant for safe, relaxed driving .
Fig. 144 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
Q fig. 144. If not possible, see your au ­
thorized Audi dealership about adaptive
equipment .
.. 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 steering wheel with
your elbow(s) slightly bent.
.. App lies to veh icles with adjustable head re­
s tra ints: 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. Move the
head restra int so that it is as close to the
back of the head as poss ible. .,.

138 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safe ty bel ts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se­
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci­
dents . For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns m ust also use safety
belts . Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases the risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in­
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe ­
ty belt or child restra int.
t Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod­
els only) to remind you abou t the impor tance
of buckling-up .
Fi g. 146 Safety bel t warni ng lig ht in the inst rum ent
cl uster -en lar ged
Before driv ing off, alway s:
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make su re you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make s ure th at your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect childre n w ith a child restraint sys-
tem app ropriate for the s ize and age .
The warn ing light . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ignit ion is on as a rem inder
to fasten the safety belts . In addit ion, you will
hear a wa rning tone for a ce rtain per iod of
t ime .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your pass eng ers also properly put on the ir
s afety belt s.
A WARNING .....=-
-Safety b elts are the s ingle most eff ect ive
means availa ble to reduce t he ri sk of se­
rio us inju ry and de ath in au tomobile acci­
dents. Fo r yo ur protection and that of
your passengers , a lways cor rectly wear
safety belts when t he vehicle is moving .

-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 14 7 Unbe lted occupants in a ve hicle head ing for a
wall
Fig. 1 48 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
veh icle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
SO km/h), the ene rgy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of th is vehicle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 147, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just befo re the crash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 148.
Safety belts 139
The same principles apply to people s itting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal coll ision .
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these fo rces are even
highe r.
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 veh icle was travel ling just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all k inds of a cc ident s and col­
li s ions.
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 14 9 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th row n forwa rd
F ig. 150 A rear passenger not wearing a sa fety belt
w ill fly forward a nd strike the d river
Unbelted oc cupants a re not able to resist the
tremendous forces o f impact by hold ing tight
o r bracing themse lves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unrestra ined .,..

142 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restr aint
properly ¢
page 52, General recommenda­
t ions .
.,. 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 be lt by the tongue and pull it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis ¢ .&, .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
yo ur seat until you hea r it latc h securely
¢fig. 152.
.,. Pull on the 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. This fea­
ture locks the be lt whe n the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and i n an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv ing the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt preten sione rs
The safety belts are equipped with a be lt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated ¢
page 145 . The function of the pre­
tensioner is moni tored by a warning light
¢ page 19.
Sw itchabl e lo cking fe atur e
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a switchable locking fea ­
ture that
m ust be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
¢ page 184 .
.,& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢ page 142, Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly posit ioned on the
body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is securely latched
wheneve r the rea r center safety belt is
being used.
If the backrest is not secu re­
ly latched, the passenger will move for­
ward with the back rest dur ing sudden
brak ing, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash.
- Never at tach the safety bel t to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety belt 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 seat in the vehicle ¢
page 186.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to¢
page 145.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
F ig. 153 Safety bel t pos it ion
"' .... 0
~ CD

Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important informat ion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tai ls about chi ldren and Advanced Airbags
~ page 173.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and si ze. The airb ag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
h as been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turne d off ("sup­
p ressed") if a chi ld up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed o n the front
passenger seat . For a listing of the child re­
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard ~
page 175.
The PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied ,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 149
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd-facing o r forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~ page 175.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 159, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec tric al capacitan ce registe red on the
fron t passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
f orward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen ­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic cont ro l unit and ca n deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is o n the fron t passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed~
page 175), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat. .,,. •
•

150 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 160, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 173, Child Safety.
_& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up against or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing 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 whenever the ignition is switched on .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<> page 159, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.

154 Airbag sys te m
If the tota l electrical capacitance registe red
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front a irbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSE N­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For e xample , the airbag m ay deploy 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 seats listed
¢ page 175),
-a chi ld 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 in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
¢ page 159.
Alw ays rem ember : Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place 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 a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 147.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
van ced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh 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 passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
a tely insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING ,..___
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before install ing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
-