2015 AUDI A3 warning

134 Safety belts
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
,.. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
,.. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving
off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person , in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder pa rt of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos i­
tion . -
Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If web­
bing, bindings, buck les, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au ­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer . Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inert ia reel
c::> ta­
ble Internal cleaning on page 203.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 117 B elt buck le and to ngue o n th e drive r's se at

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body.
... Adjust the front seat and head restraint
properly
c::> page 53, Front seats.
• Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt
c::> ,&..
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&. .
""Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c::>fig. 117.
.., Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This fea­
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated
c::> poge 137. The function of the pre­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c::> page 21.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
c::> page 177 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
c::> page 135, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 135
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is securely latched
whenever the rear center safety belt is
being used. If the backrest is not secure­
ly latched, the passenger will move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash .
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat . Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child seat in the vehicle
c::> page 179.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to
c::> page 13 7.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 118 Safety belt position
Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
tion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts .
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136 Safet y belt s
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious persona l injury in an acci ­
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt shou ld lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as poss ible
and should fit we ll on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no p ressure on the abdomen. The be lt
sho uld a lways f it snugly
¢ fig . 118. Pull
on the be lt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause seri­
o us in juries by s hifting its position on
yo ur body from the stro ng bones to more
vulnerab le, so ft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Alw ays re ad and heed all WARN INGS and
other impor tant in format io n
¢ page 134.
Pregnant women must al so be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to moke
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fi g. 1 19 Safety be lt pos ition du ring preg nancy
To provide maxim um protection, safety belts
must always be pos it io ned correctly on the
wearer 's body
¢ page 135.
.,. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head
restraint* correctly
c::> page 53, Front seats .
.,. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and pu ll it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis¢
fig. 119,
¢ _&..
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buck le of
your seat unt il you hear it latch securely
¢page 134, fig . 117.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se·
curely latched in th e buckle .
_& WARNING
Imprope rly posit io ned safety be lts ca n
c a use ser ious perso nal in ju ry in an a cci­
den t.
-
- Expe cta nt mo thers m ust alw ays wea r the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below t he
round ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WA RNINGS and
other important information¢.&.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 135.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 120 Releas ing the tong ue fro m the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 120 . The be lt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
¢ _& .
.,. Le t the belt wind up on the retractor as you
gu ide the be lt tongue to its stowe d posi tion .
_& WARNING
Neve r unfa sten sa fety belt whi le the vehi­
cle is moving. Doing so will increase yo ur
risk of being in ju red o r killed.

Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord­
ing to body size .
Fig. 121 Safety belt height ad justmen t for th e front
seats -loop -aro un d fit tings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body ¢,&.
in Safety belt
position on page 136.
.,. Push
the loop -around fittings up c> fig . 121
@ , or
.,. squeeze together the@button, and push
the loop-around fittings down@.
.,. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at ­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c> page 134.
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
ment of the seat can also be used to adjust
the position of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the risk of injury and death by mov-
Safety belts 13 7
ing the safety belt to critical areas of the
body. Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chil­
dren . Therefore:
.,. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
~ .&. -
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu­
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
r:::>page 134 .
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety
belts are tensioned automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped with power reversible tensioners . The fol­
lowing functions are avai lable when the driv­
er's/front passenger's safety belts are fas­
tened:
-Automatic tensioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve­
hicle speed . To switch the automatic ten­
sioners off, select the following in the MMI: .,..

138 Safety belts
ICAR !function button> (Car )* sys tem s> Ve­
hicle setting s > Sea ts > Dri ver 's seat or Pas­
senger 's se at > Autom atic belt ten sioner
>
Off .
-In certain driving situations, the safety be lts
may tighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
c:> page 90.
- The safety belts may also tighten with this
revers ible tensioning f unction in m inor colli­
s ions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt preten sioner s
The sa fety belts are equipped with safety be lt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen­
sors in front, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover. Th is tightens
the belt and takes up be lt slack
c:> &. in Service
and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 138 .
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement during a co lli­
sion.
,& WARNING
- It is possib le for the pretensioners to de­
ploy incorrect ly .
- T he py rotechnic system can only pr ovide
pro te ction for one co llision.
If t he pyro­
technic p retensioners dep loy, the p reten ­
sioning system must be replaced .
@ Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt p retens ioners
can only deploy once .
- The safety belt pretens ione rs do no t de­
ploy in mino r frontal and side col lisions,
i n rear -end collisions, in rollove rs and in
collisions invo lving very litt le impact
force.
- A f ine d ust is released when the pyro ­
technic safety belt pretensioners deploy.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire
i n the veh icle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped. A
qualified dea lership is familiar with
these regulations and w ill be pleased to
pass on the informat io n to you . - Be sure to observe all safety, env
iron ­
menta l and other regu lations if the ve hi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticu larly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this service fo r you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
T he safety belt pretens ioners are parts o f the
safety belts on your Audi . Insta lling, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli­
s ion.
There are some important t hings you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do no t cause injury or pol­
l u te the environment .
A WARNING
-Improper care, serv ic ing and repair p roce-
du res can increase the risk of pe rsonal in­
j u ry and death by prevent ing a safety belt
p retensioner from activ ating w hen neede d
or activa ting it unexpectedly:
- T he belt pretensione r system can be a ct i­
vated only once. If be lt pretensioners
have been activated , the system m ust be
replaced .
- Never repair, adjus t, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems incl uding safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spe ­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposa l of th is system.
- For any wo rk on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend t hat you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualif ied
technician who has an Audi approved re­ pa ir manua l, train ing and special equ ip­
ment necessary.

Since the circumstances will vary considerably
between on e collision and another , it is not
possible to define a range of veh icle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the a irbags .
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed ,
etc. The front airbags will a lso not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offe r pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
already deployed ; for example , when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
ter the first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supp lementary restraint and is not a s ubsti ­
tute for a safety belt. The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
c::;,page 131.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will inc rease
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
ga te whethe r adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- All vehicle occupants and especia lly chil ­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An unrestra ined
or improperly restrained child could be
injured by striking the inter ior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuver or impact . An unre­
strained or improperly rest rained child is
A irbag system 141
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even w ith an Advanced A irbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly
c::;, page 134, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained , they
may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined o r
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad­
just the front sea ts properly.
- Never ride with the backrest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument panel
c::;, page 12 2 .
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of yo ur seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to he lp prevent serious inju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's sea t
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
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142 Airbag sys te m
and dia gnostic equipmen t to pro perly re­
place any a irbag in y our vehicle and
assure system eff ectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycle d air­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
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
ta ils about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
Qpage 166.
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all c hildren, 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 seat. It can be a
ve ry dangerous place for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
ments of United States Federal Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing o r fo r­
ward-facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Q page 168.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the e lectronic control unit. E
ach time you switch on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG O FF
light will come on for a
few seconds and :
- w ill stay on if the front passenge r seat is not
occupied,
- w ill stay on if the e lec trica l ca pa citance
meas ured by the capacitive passenger de ­
tection system for the front passenger seat equa ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified . For a listing of the chi ld restraints
tha t were used to certify you r vehi cle's com­
p lia nce w it h t he U.S. Safety Standard
Q page 168.
-w ill stay on i f there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca ­
pacitive passenger de tection system
c::> page 152, Monitoring the Advanced Air·
bag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less tha n
the comb ined capacitance of a typica l 1 year­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total electr 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 adult , the front airbag on
t h e 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 t he e lec­
t ro ni c cont ro l unit and can deploy if the con­
t ro l uni t se nses an impact tha t mee ts the con-
di tions stored in its memory .
1J1>

Fo r exa mple, the a irbag may depl oy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passe nger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 168), or
- a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
P ASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criter ia to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
r::> page 153, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er insta lled on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly in­
flating passenger's airbag in a frontal colli­
sion. The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the child restraint and even se­
riously injure the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly
restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat
r::> page 166, Child Safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
- T he inflating airbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and wi ll
smash the child 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 passenger seat
-
A irbag system 143
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately install the rear-fac ing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your A udi dealer.
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke 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.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ig nit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the ri sk of ser ious injury, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light 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 OF F light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
¢ page 152, Monitoring the Ad-
vanced Airbag System.
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