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-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. 147 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 148 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en
ergy."
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 energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 147, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, until something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 148.
Safety belts 13 7
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision.
Even at city 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 forces are even
higher.
People who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli
sion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the crash . Of course, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col
lisions.
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!
Fig. 149 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
thrown forward
Fig. 150 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt
w ill fly forward and strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
tremendous forces of impact by holding tight
or bracing themselves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unrestrained .,..
and diagnostic equipment to properly re
place any airbag in your vehicle and
assure system effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air
bags to be installed in your vehicle.
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 ildren and Advanced Airbags
¢page 171.
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make ce rtain that
all chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat p roperly
restrained for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a
potentially dangerous place for a chi ld to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child seat. It can be a
very dange rous 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
pressed") if a c hild up to about one yea r of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing or fo r
ward-facing infan t restra ints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced Ai rbag System in you r vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 173.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad -
M vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been N
o turned off by the electronic control unit. <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) 1.1"1 ,...., 1.1"1 ,....,
A irbag system 147
Each time you switch on the ignition , the PAS·
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and :
- w ill stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occ upied,
- w il l stay on i f th e e lec trica l capacitan ce
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-facing ch ild
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the chi ld restraints
t ha t were used to certify you r veh icle's com
pliance w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
¢ page 173.
-w il l stay on i f the re is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- w il l go off if the front passenger sea t is oc
c upied by an adult as registered by the c a
pacitive passenger detection system
c:> page 157 , Monitoring the Advanced Air,
bag System.
The PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec trical capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equa l to or less than
the comb ined capacitance of a typical 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 e lectr ical capacitance registered
o n 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
t h e passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t does no t 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 uni t and ca n deploy if the con
trol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n-
ditions s to red in its memory .
111>
•
•
152 Airbag sys te m
of a typ ica l 1 year -old, but less than the
weight of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For exa mple , the air bag m ay depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front p assenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
c':> page 173),
-a ch ild who has o utgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the cente r
of the instrument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to help re
duce 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 e lectronic control
un it
c':>page 157.
Alway s remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor
tant information i n the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious in juries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in
fla tes -even with an Advanced Airbag
c':> page 145.
A 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 w
ith an Ad
vanced Airbag 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 installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im
possible in all con ceivable s ituations that
may h appen dur ing the usefu l life of y our
veh icle .
- T he inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier wi th grea t force and will
smash the child seat an d child against
the backrest, center armrest, doo r, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld 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
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l 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 ce rtified by
its manufacture r fo r u se on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child re
straint up agains t or ve ry near the instru
ment panel.
- Always move the p assenge 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.
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-and if the e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is equal to or l ess than the combined capacitance of a typ
ical 1 year-old infant and one of the rear
ward-facing or forward-facing child re
stra ints listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safe
ty Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced
Airbag System in your vehicle was certified.
If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
PA S
SENGER AIR B AG OFF
light w ill stay on . Nev
er insta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at one
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 147, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 171, Child Safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light com es
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on when one of the conditions listed above is met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on cont inuously whenever the
i gnit io n is on . If the
PASSENGER AIR B AG
OFF
light does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- react ivate the system by turning the ignition
off for more than 4 seconds and then turn
i ng it on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint .
Make su re that the child rest raint is prope rly
installed and that the safety be lt fo r the
fron t passenger seat has been corre ct ly
ro uted through the child restraint as descri
bed in the chi ld restraint man ufacturer's in
structions;
- make sure that the convertible locking re
tractor on the safety belt for the front pas
senger seat has been act ivated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight.
- make sure that no electrica l device (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inver ter or seat heater for child seats)
is p laced or used on the front passenger
A irbag system 159
seat if the device is connected to the 1 2-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been ret
rofitted o r otherwise added to the front pas
senger seat;
- make s ure that nothing can interfere with
the safety belt buck les and that they are not
obstructed ;
- make sure that there are no wet objects
(s uch as a wet towe l) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still
doe s not c ome on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on and does not stay on con
tinuously (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child rest raint off the front passen -
ger seat and install it proper ly at o ne of the
rear seat positions. Have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make sure that the child is properly restra in
ed in a ch ild restra int that is appropriate for
its size and age.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG light should
NOT come on ...
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should
NOT come on when the ignit io n is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenge r seat . If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on o r
flashes fo r about S seconds wh ile d riving, un
der these circumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
prope rly seated on the cente r of the seat
cushion with his o r her back up aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is no t recli ned,
- the adult i s not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the fron t passenger door or s upport
ing their weight on the armrest,
- the sa fe ty belt is bei ng properly wo rn and
tha t the re is not a lot o f slack in the safety
be lt webbing,
- there are no aftermar ket seat covers or
cushions or other things (s uch as blankets)
IJI>
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How side curtain airbags work
Side curtain airbags can work together with
side airbags to help reduce the risk of head
and upper torso injuries for occupants who
are properly restrained.
Fig. 166 Illustrat ion of p rinc iple: Infla ted side cur ta in
airbags on the left side
The side curtain airbags inflate between the
occupant and the windows on the side of the
vehicle that is struck in a side collision
¢fig. 166.
When the system is triggered, the side curtain
airbag is filled with propellant gas and breaks
through a seam above the front and rear side windows identified by the AIRBAG label. In or
der to help provide this additional protection,
the side curtain airbag must inflate within the
blink of an eye at very high speed and with
great force. The side curtain airbag could in
jure you if your seating position is not proper
or upright or if items are located in the area
where the supplementa l side curtain airbag
inf lates . This applies especially to children
¢page 171.
Although they are not a soft pillow, side cur
tain airbags can ''cushion" the impact and in
this way they can help to reduce the risk of in
jury to the head and the upper part of the
body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de
ploys. This is quite normal and does not mean
there is a fire in the vehicle .
Airbag system 169
Important safety instructions on the
side curtain airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al
ways properly wear safety belts and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and do to help the safety belts and
airbags do their job to provide supplemental
protection.
A WARNING
Improperly wearing safety belts and im
proper seating positions increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death when
ever a vehicle is being used.
- Never let occupants place any parts of
their bodies in the area from which the side curtain airbag inflate.
- Always make sure that the side curtain
airbags can inflate without interfere nce.
- Use the built-in coat hooks only for light
weight clothing. Never leave any heavy or sharp-edged objects in the pockets that
may interfere with airbag deployment
and can cause personal injury in a colli
sion.
- Never use hangers to hang clothes on the hooks .
- Only use factory-installed sun shades or,
if shades installed after the vehicle
leaves the factory, use only genuine Audi
sun shades .
- Never swing the sun visors over to the
side windows if things such as pens, ga rage door openers, hands-free speakers,
etc. are attached to the sun visors. They
could come loose and cause serious in
jury if the side curtain airbag inflates.
-A deploying airbag inflates in a fraction
of a second and with great force.
- Never attach objects to the cover or in
the deployment zone of a side curtain airbag.
- The airbag deployment zones must be
kept clear at all times. Make sure there
are no objects, pets, or other persons in
-
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Child Safety
Important things to know
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your ve hicle is in a crash app ly also to chi ldren
~ page 13 7, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?.
But unlike adu lts and
teenagers, the ir muscles and bones are not
fu lly developed . In many respects children are
at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than
ad ults.
Because children's bod ies a re not f ully deve l
oped, they require restraint systems especial l y designed for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many co untries and all states of the
United States and provinces of Canada have
laws requ iring the use of approved ch ild re
straint systems for infants and small chi ldren .
In a fronta l crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-po und
(6 kg) infa nt w ill be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child . T his means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more than
260 pounds ( 120 kg). Under these conditions,
on ly an appropr ia t e chi ld restraint properly
used can reduce the risk of ser ious injury.
Ch ild restra ints, like adult safety belts, must
be used properly to be effective. Used improp
erly, they can increase the risk of ser ious in
jury in an accident.
Consult the ch ild safety seat manufacture r's
instr uctions in order to be sure the seat is
right fo r you r ch ild's size ~
page 175, Impor
tant safety instructions for using child safety
seats.
Please be sure to read and heed all of
the impo rtant informat ion and WARNINGS
about ch ild safety, Advanced A irbags, and the
i nstallation of child rest raints in this chapter .
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad
vanced A irbags in your vehicle and how t hey
wo rk when infants and children in child re-
Child Sa fet y 1 71
stra ints are on the front passenge r seat . Be
ca use of the large amount of impo rtant infor
mation, we cannot repeat it a ll here . We urge
you to read the detailed information in t his
owner 's man ua l about a irbags and the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very important information about transport
ing children on the front passenge r seat .
Please be sure to heed the WARN INGS -they
are ex tremely importa nt for yo ur safety and
the safety o f you r passengers, especially in
f ants and small chi ldren .
.A, WARNING
-Accident statistics have shown that c hil
dren a re generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un der in the rea r.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil
dren must be restrai ned p roperly when
eve r riding in a vehicle . An unr est rained
or improperly restrained chi ld could be
in ju red by str iking the interio r or by be
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuve r or impac t. An un re
straine d or improper ly restrai ned ch ild is
also at greater risk of injury o r death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable ch ild restraint properly insta l
led and used at one of the rear seat ing
positions p rov ides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A WARNING
Ch ildren on the front seat of any car even
with Advanced Airbags ca n be ser iously in
ju red or even kil led when an a irbag in
fla tes. A child in a rearwar d-fac ing ch ild
safety seat installed on t he front passen
ge r seat will be ser iously injure d and ca n
be killed i f the front airbag inflates .
- T he infla ting air bag will h it the ch ild
safety sea t or i nfan t carrie r wi th great
force an d will smash the child safe ty seat
an d child against the bac krest , center
armrest, or door .
•
•
174 Child Saf ety
WARNINGS. Make certain that the ch ild and
child restraint are correct ly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detect ion system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
a irbag is turned off, and that the airbag status
is always correct ly signa led by the
PAS SEN
GER AIR BA G OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restra ints
have been ava ilable over the years, new mod
els are introduced regular ly incorporating new
and improved designs a nd older models are
taken out of production . Child rest raints are
not standardi zed. Ch ild restra ints of the same
type typi cally have differen t weights and s izes
and d ifferent "footprints", the size and shape
of the bottom of the child restraint that sits
on the seat, when they are installed on a vehi
cle seat. These differences make it virtually imposs ible to certify compliance w ith the re
qu irements for advanced a irbags w ith each
and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of you r vehicle .
For this reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin istration has
published a list of specific type, makes a nd
models of child rest raints that must be used
to certify compliance of the Advanced Airbag
System in yo ur vehicle with the suppress ion
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are:
Subpart A -Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Ange l Guard Ange l September 2S, 200 7
Ride AA2403 FOF
Subpart B -Rear -facing child re straint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 2S, 2007
22-0 13PAW and base
22-999WHO
Model Manufactured on or
after
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
E venflo First Choice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snugride September 25 , 2007
Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
Subpart C - Forw ard-facing and
convertible child restraint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundabout September 25, 2007
E9L02xx
Cosco Touriva 02S19 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit De luxe September 2S, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco H igh Back September 2S , 2007
Booste r 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion December 1, 1999
254
E venflo Generations September 25 , 2007
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on whenever a
chi ld restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on. ...
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Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat
Fig . 167 Schematic overview: keep unused safety belts
away from chi ldren in child safety seats. @-outer rear
safety belt,
@-center rear safety belt*
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal lower ancho rages, the unused safety belts
must be se
cured so that the child in the child restraint
cannot reach them
Q ,&. .
- Guide the safety belt webbings@and @*
behind the head restraint of the seat where
the child restraint is installed
Q fig . 167.
When doing so, do not engage the converti ble lock ing retractor! You should not hear a
"clicking" sound when winding up the safety
belt.
- Let the belt retractor wind up the safety belt
webbing.
A WARNING
A child in a child safety seat installed with
the LATCH lower anchorages or with the
standard safety belt or a child in a booster
seat on the rear seat could play with un
used rear seat safety belts and become en
tangled. This could cause the child serious
personal injury and even death.
-Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of children in child
seats such as by properly routing them
around the head restraint of the seat
where the child restraint is installed.
- Never activate the convertible locking re
tractor when routing the safety belts
around the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear
seating position if the center rear safety
Child Safety 177
belt has been routed around a rear head
restraint.
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and 20 lbs. or
9 kg need special rearward-fac
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash .
Fig. 168 Schematic overview: rearward -facing infant
seat, properly installed on the rear seat
~ When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
Qpage 182 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments.
~ Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
~ Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
Qpage 177.
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best protected in special infant car riers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small children should ride only in special re
straints in which the child faces the back of
the vehicle. These infant seats support the ba by's back, neck and head in a crash ¢
fig. 168.
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 . ..,_