2015 AUDI A8 warning light

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Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are nec­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly.
~ Read all the information that follows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death .
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents . For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts. Like all vehicle occupants, they are
more likely to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. In some
vehicles, there are four seat ing positions : two
in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small chi ldren, into any belt. It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap.
Safety belts 143
-Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe­
ty belt or child restraint.
~-Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger to remind you
about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig. 155 Safety bel t warning light in the instrument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, always:
~ Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
~ Make sure that your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age.
The warning light . in the instrument clus­
ter lights up when the ignition is on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety belts. In addition,
you will hear a warning tone for a certain peri­ od of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving. •
•

144 Safet y belt s
-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.
F ig. 1 56 Unbelted occ upants in a ve hicle h eading for a
wall
Fig. 157 Th e vehicle c rash es into t he 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
e rgy ."
T he higher the speed of the vehicle and the
g reater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most sign ificant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this veh icle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 156, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the c rash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 157 .
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision .
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs , or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these forces are even
highe r.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle. In a frontal colli­
s io n they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was t ravell ing just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all kinds of acc idents 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!
F ig . 1 58 A d river not wea ring a safety b elt is viol en tly
thrown fo rwa rd
F ig . 15 9 A rear passe nge r no t wea ring a safety be lt
w ill fl y forward a nd strike the dr iver
Un belted oc cupants a re not able to resist the
t remendous forces o f impac t by ho lding tight
o r bracing themse lves. Withou t the benefit of
safety restraint systems , the unrestrained
ll-

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 .,_

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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. .,..

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but less than the weight of a small adult, the
fro nt airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light does not
come on).
For example, the a irba g may deplo y if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 176),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the sea t is on the front passenge r seat.
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 inj ury through in terac tion
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de ­
celerations as defined in the electronic control unit
~ page 161.
Always remember : Even though you r 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 in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much highe r.
A irbag system 157
-You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irbag
~page 151 .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously in ju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advan ced Airbag Sys tem 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 conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child aga inst
the backrest, center armrest, doo r, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing child re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger s eat
because of exceptional cir cumstances
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 seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
-Always make sure the forward-facing seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
•
•
-

158 Airbag sys te m
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
electronic control un it when the ign it ion is on .
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on whe n a malfunction in the system
components is de tected. The function of the
ai rbag indicator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag 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 Advanced Airb ag System
con sis ts of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the seve rity of the c rash.
- An electron ic co ntro l unit, w ith integ rated
crash sensors for fron t and side impacts.
T he contro l unit "dec ides " whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information received from the crash sensors . The contro l unit also "decides" whether the sa
fety be lt
pretensioners shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generato r and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger .
- A weight -sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion registered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­ late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster~
page 161 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance betwee n the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r inst rument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuous ly to
t he ele ctron ic contro l uni t to regula te de­
p loyment of the front Adva nced A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and st ays on in the center of the instr u­
ment p anel
~page 162, fig. 168 and t ells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on t he safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or not
~ page 153, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch fo r the driv­
er and fo r the fro nt seat passenger that
senses whether that safety bel t is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
electronic control unit.
A WARNING ~ -
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.

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-Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re-
Airbag system 159
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash .
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child seats
that has been certified under Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been recog­
nized on the seat. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on to tell you
when the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side has been turned off
c:> page 153,
Child restraints on the front seat-some im-
portant things to know. .,,.
•
•