2015 AUDI A5 light

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.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly. Al­
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe ­
ty belts properly
¢ page 121.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili­
ty to concentrate on the road without being dis ­
tracted .
The driver is responsible for the safety of the ve ­
hicle and all of its occupants. If your ability to
drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody in the
veh icle increase and you also become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢.&, .Therefore:
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers
or by using a cellular te lephone .
.. NEVER drive when your driv ing ability is im­
paired (by medicat ions, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and
speed limits and plain common sense .
.. ALWAYS adjust you r speed to road, traff ic and
weather cond itions .
.. 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 pres­
sure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
Driving safety
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
Fig. 119 Correct se ating position
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in­
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver's seat to the following pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the floor while
keeping your knee(s) slightly bent¢.&, .
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
fu ll contact wi th it when you dr ive.
.. Adjust the steer ing wheel so that there is a dis­
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
steering whee l and your breast bone
¢fig. 119 .
If not possible, see your authorized A udi dealer
about adaptive equipment.
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag cover points at your chest and
not at your face .
.,. Grasp the top of the steer ing wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent.
.. App lies to veh icles w ith adjustable head re­
s tra ints: Adjust the head restraint so the upper
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 posi­
tion as possible.
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 124.
.,. Always keep both feet in the footwell so that
you are in control of the vehicle at all times.
113

Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives !
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly .
~ Read all the informat ion that fo llows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the r isk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to reduce the r isk of serious
injury and death in automobile accide nts .
For yo ur protection and tha t of your passen­
gers, always correct ly wear safety belts
when the veh icle is moving.
- Preg nant wome n, injured, or physically im­
paired pe rsons mu st also use safety belts .
Lik e all ve hicle occu pants, t hey are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wea r safety belts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -th rougho ut
the enti re pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
t wo in the fron t and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety belts or wea ring them im­
prope rly i ncreases the r is k of se rious personal
injury and death.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, includ­
ing small children, into any belt. It is espe­
ci ally d angerous t o place a safe ty belt over a
c hild sitting on you r lap.
- Never le t mo re people ride in t he ve hicle
t han there are s afety be lts availab le.
Safety bel ts
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safety
belt or chi ld restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the driver
and (on USA models onl y) front seat passenger
to remind you abou t the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 1 22 Safety bel t warni ng lig ht in the instr um ent clu s­
te r -enlarged
Before driving off, alway s:
.. Fas ten yo ur sa fe ty belt and make sure you are
wearing it pr operly.
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~ Make sure that your passengers also buck le up
and properly wear the ir safety be lts .
~ Protect your children w it h a child rest raint sys­
t em app rop riate for the s ize and age of the chil­
d ren.
The . warn ing light in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minde r to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
yo u w ill hea r a warn ing tone for a ce rtai n period
of time.
Fast en your safety belt now and make sure that
your passenger s also properly put on their safe­
ty belt s.
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Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident . The belt
may also lo ck 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 pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated.
The function of the pretensioner is monitored by
a warning light
r::> page 19.
Convertible locking retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
r::;, page 160 .
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident
r::;, page 125,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effec­
tiveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained
can be seriously injur ed by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
r::> page 162.
Safety belts
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 129 Safety belt position
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
size.
- height-adjustable front seats .
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snugly
r::;, fig . 129 . Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
r::> fig. 129. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
r::;, page 123.
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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 ve hicle has
been certified to comp ly w ith the Req uirements
of United States Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety
Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the fron t airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("supp ressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-fac ing or forward-facing infant re­
straints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced A irbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat . For a listing
of the ch ild restra ints that were used to certify
comp liance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 153.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side has been turned off
by the ele ctron ic cont ro l unit.
E ach t ime you turn on the ignit ion , the
PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll come on for a few
seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will s tay on if there is a small child or c hild re­
stra int on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as registered by the weight ­
sensing mat¢
page 139, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced 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
ai rbag to be turned off .
If the total weigh t on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less than the weight of a small adult, the front
ai rbag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on). If th e
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
Airbag syste m
control unit and can dep loy i f the control unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor­
ed in its memory .
For exampl e, the a irbag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
yea r-old ch ild is on the front passenge r seat ( re­
ga rdless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child sa fe ty se ats liste d ¢
page 153), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
t he fron t passenger se at.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
P A SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on in the
i nst rument cl uste r and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
o r teenager, or a passenge r who is no t sitting up­
rig ht w ith their b ack against a non-re clined back­
rest with the ir feet on the vehi cle floor in front of
t h e seat is on the front passenger seat
¢ page 113, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er.
If the fron t passenger airbag dep loys, the Fede ral
Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the a irbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic control uni t¢
page 139, PASSEN­
GER 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 pos ition by the rapidly inflat ­
i ng passenge r's airbag in a frontal collision . The
airbag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of
t h e chi ld restraint and even ser iously injure the
c hi ld d uring in flat ion.
For t his reason, and because the back seat is the
safest p lace for children -when prope rly rest ra in­
ed a ccord ing to t heir age and size -we strong ly
recommend that children always si t in the back
seat ¢
page 151, Child safety. Ill>-
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Airbag syste m
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the fr ont passenger seat will be
ser iously injure d and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates - ev en w ith an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door or roof .
- Always insta ll rear-facing child sa fety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­ ca use of exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSENGER A IR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and cause serio us pe rsonal injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-facing child rest raint
up against or ve ry nea r the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost posi tion in the sea t's fore and aft
adjus tment range, as far away from the air ­
bag as possib le before installing the for­
ward-facing ch ild restraint . The backrest
must be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the t ime
whenever the ignition is switched on.
132
A WARNING
-
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght will
be d isp layed wheneve r a ch ild restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the ig nit ion is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, pe rform the checks desc ribed
~ page 139, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
- Ta ke the child restraint off the front passen­
ge r seat and inst all it properly at one of the
rea r seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly .
- Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child res traint manufa cturers when instal­
ling child restraints .
A WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must in ­
stall a forwa rd or rearward-facing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of chi ld restraints can
red uce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed chi ld restra int can
interfere w ith the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the child - even
w ith an Advanced A irbag System.
-Always carefully fo llow the man ufacturer's
instructions provided w ith the child safety
seat or ca rrie r.
- Never p lace add itiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight reg istered
by the weight-sensing mat and can cause in­
jury in a crash.

Airbag syste m
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited States
F ederal Motor Vehicle Sa fety Standard 208 asap­
plicab le at the time your vehicle was manu fac­
tured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide add itiona l protect ion
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in fronta l impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re ­
straint system in your veh icle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe ­
ty belt and weari ng it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be p roper ly re­
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the "low risk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-old ch ild ren o n the pas ­
senger side and very small ad ults on the drive r
side . The low risk deployment c riteria a re intend­
ed to he lp red uce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag t hat can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and yo unger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in ch ild re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 153, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restraints listed
i n Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
134 with which the Advanced Airbag System in you
r
vehicle was certified. For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi ­
cle 's compliance with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 153,
- weight less than a thresho ld level stored in the
control unit is detected on the front passenger
seat.
When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat, weighing more than the tota l we ight of
a child that is about
1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
stra ints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System i n your vehicle was certified), the front
a irbag on the passenger s ide may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the elect ron ic cont ro l unit detects a total
weight on the fro nt passenger seat that requires
the front airbag to be tu rned off. If the
PASSEN ­
GER 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 dep loy if
the control unit senses an impact that meets the cond it ions stored in its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
on the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light does not come on).
For ex ample , the air b ag ma y deplo y if:
-a small ch ild that is heavier than a typical 1
year -old chi ld is on the front passenger seat (re ­
gardless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c::, page 153),
- a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the fron t passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the i nstr ument pane l will come on and stay on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) if: .,..

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-a small adu lt or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federa l
Standard requires the airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interact ion with the airbag .
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
in the electron ic control unit.
c:> page 139
Alway s remember: Even though your vehicle is
equ ipped w ith Advanced A irbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­ mat ion in the sections that follow and be sure to
h eed a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&, WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury whe n an airbag in­
flates, always wear sa fety belts proper ly.
- If you are unres trained, lean ing fo rward, sit­
t ing s ideways or out of position in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
c> page 129.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced A irbag
System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­ senger seat, nobody can abso lutely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con­
c eivable s ituations that may happen dur ing
the useful life of you r vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
sea t or infan t carrier wi th grea t fo rce and
Airbag syste m
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of except iona l circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the r ear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seati ng position and have the airbag system
i n spected by yo ur authori zed Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust in­
stall a forwa rd-facing child rest ra in t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward- facing se at
has been des igned and certif ied by its man ­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the inst rument pan ·
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rea rmost position in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r vehicle has a lot
of ve ry impo rtant parts of the Advanced A irbag
System i n it. These parts in cl ude the we igh t­
sensing mat, sensors, w iring, b racke ts, and more.
T he function of the system in the front passenger
seat is checked by the electronic control unit
whe n the ignition is on . The control unit monitors
the Advanced Airbag System and turns the airbag indicator light on when a malfunct ion in the sys­
tem components is detected . The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
II>
1 3 5

Airbag syste m
detail below . Because the front passenger seat
contains important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System, you must 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 Ad vanced Airb ag System con sis ts
of the follow ing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/decelerat ion to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, with integrated crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control un it "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the informa tion rece ived from
the crash sensors. The con trol un it also "de­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag wi th gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control va lve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger.
- A weight -sensing mat under the upholste ry
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat. The information registered is sent continuously to
the electronic control un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
r=> page 139.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respect ive seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent cont inuously to the
electron ic co ntro l unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- T he
PA SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
pane l
c>page 139, fig . 135 and tells you when
the front Advanced A irbag on the passenger
side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt la tch for the
front seat passenge r to measure the tension on
136 the safety belt
. The tension on the safety be lt
and the weight registered by the weight-sens ­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front a irbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not c> page 130, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and transm its this info rmat ion to the elect ro ni c
cont ro l unit .
_&. WARNING
Damage to the fron t passenger seat can pre­
vent the front a irbag from working properly.
- I mproper repa ir or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger o r driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upho lstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble o r remove par ts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sharp obje cts in yo ur pocke ts or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is p unctured
it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on you r lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenger seat. S uch items can
increase the weight registe red by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­ formation to the airbag contro l unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking prope rly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­ bag System from recogniz ing ch ild