2015 AUDI A8 warning

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positio ned correctly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjus t the front seat and head restraint
properly
c::> page 58, General recommenda­
tions .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis
c::> &,. .
... Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch securely
c::> fig. 161.
... Pull on the belt to make su re that it is se-
c u rely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractor s
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is fea ­
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing 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 .
D uring normal driving the belt le ts you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensione rs
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to t igh ten the safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensione r is ac­
tivated
c::> page 149. The function of the pre ­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c::> page 18 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a switchab le locking fea­
ture that
mu st 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.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
c::> page 147, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
-
Safety belts 14 7
-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
be lt itself when it moves from the stron­
ge r parts of the body into critical ar eas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tracto r when you are secu ring a child
se at in the veh icle
c::>page 186.
@ Tips
For informat ion on safety belt pretension­
e rs, refer to
c::> page 149 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 1 62 Safety belt pos it ion
Use the heig ht adjus tment to change the posi­
tion o f the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts.
A WARNING '-
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious persona l injury in an acc i­
dent.
-
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
be lt above the latch tongue and pull it
eve nly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelv is and there is
no pressure on the ab domen. The belt .,_

148 Safety belts
should always fit snugly¢ fig. 162. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous 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
¢ page 146 .
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fig . 163 Safe ty be lt pos it io n durin g pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body ¢
page 147.
• Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 58, General recommenda­
tions.
• Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest and pelvis
¢ fig. 163,
¢ Li). .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 146, fig. 161.
•Pullon the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle .
A WARNING ,-
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acc i­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢
& in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 147.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 164 Releas ing the ton gue from the buck le
• Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 164. The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
¢ _& .
0
" N 0 ±
~
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is moving . Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
You can adjust the height of the driver's and
front passenger's safety belts.
The safety belt height adjusters for the front
seats can be used to adjust the height of the
shoulder portion of the safety belt so that it is
positioned correctly .
1J>-

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The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le an d
should fit well on the body¢
A in Saf ety belt
position on page 147.
Power safety belt h eight adjustment*
You can ad just the height of the safety belts
using the mu lti function b utton on the driver
or fro nt passenge r seat ¢
page 60.
&_ WARNING
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion¢
page 146.
You can also a djust the height of the front
seats to change the position of the safety
be lts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries.
Wear ing sa fe ty be lts imprope rly can cause se ­
rio us in jury or death. Safety be lts can only
wo rk when they are correct ly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effect iveness of safety belts and w ill eve n
increase the r isk of injury and death by mov­
in g the safety belt to cr itical a reas of the
body. Imprope r seat ing pos itions also in­
crease the risk of serio us in jury and death
when an air bag deploys and strikes an occu ­
p a nt who is not in the cor re ct seating posi­
tion. A driver is responsib le for the sa fe ty of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chi l­
dren . Therefore:
""N ever permit anyone to ass ume an inco rrec t
s itting position in the veh icle w hile traveling
¢.&, .
&_ WARNING
Imprope rly worn safety belts increase the
r isk of se rious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used .
Safety belts 149
- Always ma ke s ure that all ve hicle occu­
pants are co rrectly restrained and stay in
a co rrect seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS and
o ther impo rtant inf ormation
¢page 146.
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
T he s afety belts o n the fro nt seats ar e eq uip­
ped with powe r reversi ble tensioners. The fo l­
l ow ing functions a re ava ila bl e when the driv­
er 's/fro nt passenge r's safety belts are fas­
tened :
- Au tomatic tens ioners : at the star t of a drive,
the safety be lts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger afte r a certain time period or ve­
hicle speed. To switch the automatic ten ­
sioners off, select the following in t he M MI:
!CARI fu nction button > Car systems > Vehi­
cle settings > Seats > Driver's seat or Pas­
senger's seat > Automatic belt tensioner
>
Off .
-In ce rtain dr iv ing s ituations , the safety b elts
may tight en with a reve rs ible tens ion ing
fu nction
¢ page 194.
- The safety be lts m ay a lso tighten with th is
reve rsible te nsion ing functio n in m inor co ll i­
s ion s.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with safety be lt
pre tensioners . The system is act ivated by se n­
so rs in front, s id e and r ear-end co llisions of
great seve rity and in a rollover. T his tig hte ns
t he be lt and t akes up belt slack ¢.&.
in Service
and disposal of s afe ty belt pretensioner on
page 150.
Tak in g up the s lack helps to reduce .,. •
•

150 Safety belts
forward occupant movement during a co lli­
sion.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to de­
ploy incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one co llision. If the pyro­
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten­
sioning system must be replaced.
(D Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
can only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not de­
ploy in minor frontal and side collisions,
in rear-end collisions, in rollovers and in
collisions invo lving very litt le impact
force .
- A fine dust is released when the pyro­
techn ic safety belt pretens ioners deploy.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire i n the veh icle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be obse rved when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified dea le rship is familiar with
these regulations and w ill be pleased to
pass on the informat ion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or indiv id ual parts of the system, par ­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your a uthorized Audi dea ler perform this
serv ice for you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretension er
The safety belt pretensione rs are parts of the
safety bel ts on your Audi . Installing, remov­
ing, servicing or repa iring of belt pretens ion ­
e rs can damage the safety be lt system and
prevent it from working correct ly in a colli­
sion.
There are some important th ings you have to
know to make sure that the effect iveness of the system wi
ll not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
l ute the environment .
A WARNING ,.__
Improper care, servic ing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly :
- The belt pretensioner system can be act i­
vated only once. If belt pretensioners have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretens ioners 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 that you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re ­
pair manua l, training and special equip­
ment necessary.
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Materia l -special handling may app ly, see
www .dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/per­
ch lorate. When the veh icle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modu les
safety belts with pretensioners are scrap­ ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed . Your author ized Audi
dealer is familia r with these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dealer perform this service for you .

152 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the airbags.
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 also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed ; for example , when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
te r the first co llision .
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. There fore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 143.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 146, 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 severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad ­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 134.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your 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
help prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle .

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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 174.
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 size. The airbag
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 176.
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 there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
A irbag sys tem 153
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat ¢
page 161, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the contro l unit detects a tota l weight
on the front passenger seat that req uires the
front a irbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old
c h il d but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on t he passeng er side has not
been turned off by the elect roni c con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond it ions stored i n its
memory .
For exampl e, th e airb ag may deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats l isted ¢
page 176), or
- a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is
on the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instr ument cluster and stays on .
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small ad ult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitti ng uprig ht w ith their back against a
non -recli ned back rest w it h thei r feet on t he
vehicle floor i n front of the sea t is on t he front
passenger seat
~ page 134, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the fron t passenger ai rbag dep loy s, the
Federa l Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the ris k of injury t hrough interact ion w ith the
airbag. "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions ..,_ •
•

154 Airbag sys te m
as def ined in the electronic control unit
Q page 162, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carr i­
e r i nsta 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 chi ld restraint and even se­
riously injure the child during inflat ion.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest p lace for chi ldren -when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and si ze -we
strongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat
Q page 174, 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.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith 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 f ront passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately i nstall the rear-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and c ause se rious pe rsonal injury to the
c hild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int 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 put 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 a nd
aft adjustment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forwa rd-fa cing ch ild restra int. The
b ackrest mus t be ad justed to an up right
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n all the
time wheneve r the ignition is switched
on.
A WARNING -ra----
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
Q page 161, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
-Take t he chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately .
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacture rs when in­
stall ing c hild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward o r rearwa rd-fa cing child
r estra int on the front p assenger's se at:
- I mp roper installation of ch ild restra ints
c a n reduce their effectiveness or even
p revent them from providing any protec -
tion. .,..

-An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de ­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 165 Loca tion of driver a irbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig. 166 Location of front passenger's a irbag: in the in­
s trument pan el
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System " in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. he safety belts for
the seats have "pretensioners" that he lp to
take slack out of the belt system. The preten-
Airbag system 155
sioners are also activated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
i=;, fig . 165 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
i=;,fig . 166 . The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and ch ild safety in th is and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for your safe ty and
the safety of your passengers, especially in ­
fants and small children.
_& WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplementa l protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained.
_& WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat , es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil-
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
-
the useful life of your vehicle . 11>-