160 Child Safety
belts, ¢page 131, Airbag system and
c:> page 152, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forwa rd-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safe
ty and well-being require that the follow ing special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu
facturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
-Always follow the manufacturer's in
structions provided with the child safety
seat or infant carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat in
to the rearmost position of the passen
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi
ble before installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks¢
page 141, Monitoring the Ad·
vanced Airbag System.
- Take the child 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
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs . (18 kg and 36 kg) who are
less than 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.
Fig. 161 Rear seat : chil d p roperly rest rai ned in a boos
ter seat
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these chil
dren up so that the safety belt will pass prop
erly over the stronger parts of their bodies
and the safety belt can help protect them in a
crash.
.. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re strain a child on a booster seat.
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the ch ild's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body.
It must never lie across the throat or
neck . The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
c:>page 157.
Children up to about 40 lbs. (18 kg) are best
protected in child safety seats designed for
their age and weight. Experts say that the
skeletal structure, particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
must not use the vehicle safety belts without
a suitable child restraint.
...
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It is usually best to put these children in appropriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards.
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child 's body in the right places. The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
important for the child's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's three point lap and shoulder belts .
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's
safety belt alone to restrain any child, regard less of how big the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder belts. The child's safety ab
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety belt pass over the
child's stomach or abdomen.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with considerable force. In order
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
inflating airbag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in
jury.
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especial
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible. By keeping room between
the child's body and the front of the passen
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com-
Child Safety 161
pletely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions.
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a
booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situation. To help re
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possi ble and must lie flat and snug on the up
per body. It must never lie across the
throat or neck. The lap belt must lie
across the pelvis and never across the
stomach or abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary .
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause severe inju
ries in an accident or other emergency
situation
~page 123.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be positioned as close as possible
to the backrest on the vehicle seat .
- Children on the front seat of any car, even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri
ously injured or even killed when an air
bag inflates .
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any
seat .
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
- Always remember that a child leaning
forward, sitting sideways or out of posi
tion in any way during an accident can be
struck by a deploying airbag. This will re
sult in serious personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch
ed on. •
•
-
162 Child Saf ety
- If the PASS ENGER AIR BAG O FF li ght
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
c:> page 141, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System .
-Take the child 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
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child rest rained in ave
hicle is being used
c:> page 123, Safety
belts,
c:> page 131, Airbag sy st em and
c:> page 15 2, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
pas senger 's seat can be locked with the con
vertible locking retractor to properly secure
child safety seats.
The safe ty belts eme rgency lock ing re tractors
fo r the re ar seats safe ty belts and for the
fro nt passenger's seat safety belt have a con
vertible locking retracto r fo r child restraints.
The safety belt must be locked so that belt
webbing cannot unree l. The retractor can be
activated to lock the safety be lt and prevent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
during normal driving . A child safety seat can
only be properly installed when the safety belt
i s locked so that the child and child safety
seat will stay in place.
A lways remember: Even thoug h your veh icle is
eq uipped w it h an Advanced A irbag system, all
ch ildren , espec ia lly those 12 yea rs and yo ung
e r, should always ride in the ba ck seat proper
l y res traine d for thei r age and weig ht.
_& WARNING
Imprope rly insta lled child sa fe ty seats in
crease the risk of ser ious personal inju ry
and death in a collision. -
Always make sure that the safety belt re
tractor is locked when insta lling a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt re
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat in place dur ing no rma l dr iving o r in a
crash .
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly in place even if a ch ild is not sitt ing in it .
A loose child safety seat can fly aroun d
du ring a s udden sto p or in a colli sion.
- I f the backrest is not securely la tched,
the child and the child restraint will be
throw n forward toge ther with t he ba ck
rest and will strike par ts of the vehicle
interior. The child can be se riously in
jured or killed.
- Never inst all rearward-facing child safety
seats or infant ca rr iers on the front pas
senger seat . A child will be serious ly in
jured and can be killed when the passen
ger airbag i nflates.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child aga inst the back rest , center
armrest, doo r or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild safe
ty seats or infa nt carriers on the rea r
seat .
- Forwa rd-facing child safety seats or in
fant car riers installed on the front pas
senger's seat may interfere with t he de
p loyment of t he a irbag and cause serious
i njur y to the child .
-It is safer to ins tall a forward-facing
child safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WAR NIN GS
whe neve r using a child restrai ned in ave
h icle i s being u sed
c:> page 152. Special
p reca utions apply when ins tal ling a child
safety seat on the fron t passenger seat
c:> page 132, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
_& WARNING
--
Always take specia l precautions if you
must install a forwa rd or rearward-facing
164 Child Safety
Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to se
cure a child restraint.
Always heed the child safety seat manufactur
er's instructions when installing a child re
straint in your vehicle. To activate the conver
tible locking retractor:
• Place the child restraint on a seat, prefera
bly on the rear seat.
• Slowly pull the belt
all the way out.
• Route it around or through the child re
straint belt path¢.&_ .
• Push the child safety seat down w ith your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight.
• Insert the belt tongue into the buckle for
that seating position.
• Guide the safety belt back into the retractor
until the belt lies flat and snug on the child
safety seat .
• You should hear a "clicking " noise as the
belt winds back into the inertia reel. Test the
convertible locking retractor by pulling on
the belt. You should no longer be able to
pull the belt out of the retractor. The con
vertible locking retractor is now activated.
• Make sure that the red release button is fac
ing away from the child restraint so that it
can be unbuckled quickly .
•Pullon the belt to make sure the safety belt
is properly tight and fastened so that the
seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2.5 cm).
.&_ WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an im
properly installed child restraint can cause
serious personal injury or death in a crash.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re-
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt re
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat in place during normal driving or in a
crash .
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
-
A loose child safety seat can fly around
during a sudden stop or in a crash.
- Always make sure the seat backrest to
which the child restraint is installed is in
an upright position and securely latched
into place and cannot fold forward. Oth
erwise, the seatback with the child safety
seat attached to it could fly forward in
the event of an accident or other emer
gency situation.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
¢page 152. Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 132, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
'
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
T he convertible locking retractor for child re
strain ts will be deactiva ted automatically
when the bel t is wound all the way back in to
the retractor .
• Press the red button on the safety belt buck
le . The belt tongue will pop out of the buck
le .
• Guide the safety belt all the way back into
its stowed position .
Always let the safety bel t retract completely
into its stowed position . The safety belt can
now be used as an ordinary safety belt with
out the convertible locking retractor for child
restraints.
If the convertible locking retractor should be
activated inadvertently, the safety belt must be unfastened and guided completely back in
to its stowed position to deactivate this fea
ture. If the convertible locking retractor is not
deactivated , the safety belt will gradually be-
come tighter and uncomfortable to wear.
11>-
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A WARNING ,~
Improperly installed child safety seats in
crease the risk of ser ious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deacti
vate the convert ible lock ing ret ractor for
child restraints w hile the veh icle is mov
ing. You would not be rest rained and
c ou ld be ser iously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave
hicle is being used
~page 152. Speci al
precautions apply when installing a ch ild
sa fety seat on the front passenge r seat
~ page 132, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
Child Sa fet y 165
• .
•
Location
Fig. 162 Sche matic overview: LATCH ancho rage point
loca tion s
The i llustration shows the seating locat ions in
your veh icle which are eq uipped w ith the low
er anchorages system.
Description
The Lower anchorage positions are marked
for quick Locating.
F ig . 163 Rear sea tb acks : loca tor butto ns fo r lower an
c horages
Fig. 16 4 Rear sea ts: lower a nch o rage b rac ket locat io ns
Attachment locator markers for lower
anchorages
~ C ircular locator buttons on the rear seatback
a: ~ indi cate the lower anchorage locations on the
:;, rear seat ing pos itions
¢ fig . 163.
"' ,....,
"' ,....,
Child S afety 16 7
Lo w er anchorag es
The lower anchorage attachmen t points are
located between the rear seatback and rear
seat cushion
c:;, fig . 164 .
Lower anchorages secure the chi ld restraint in
the seat withou t using the vehicle's safety
belts. Anchorages provide a secure and easy
to-use attachment and minimize the possibili
ty of improper child restraint installation .
All child restraints manufactured after Sep
tember 1, 2002, must have lower anchorage attachments for the
LATCH system .
Remember that the lower a nchorage po ints
are on ly intended for insta llation and a ttach
ment of chi ld restraints specifically certified
for use with
LATCH lower anchorages. Chi ld
restraints that are not equ ipp ed with th e low
er anchorage attachments can still be insta l
led in compliance with the child restraint
manufacturer 's instructions on using veh icle
safety belts .
A WARNING
Imp roper use of LATCH lower anchorages
can cause serious persona l injury in an ac
cident.
- Always carefully follow the child re
straints manufacturer's instructions for prope r insta llation of the child res traint
and p roper use of the lower anchorages
or safety belts in yo ur vehicle.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or
other items to the
LATCH lowe r ancho
rages.
- Always read and heed the important in
formation about child restraints in this
chapter and WARNINGS
c:;, page 152,
Child Safety.
168 Child Saf ety
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always
follow the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions.
Fig . 165 Lower a nch orages: p roper moun ting
Mounting
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in the upright position and sec urely
l atched in place.
.. Attach both hook-on connectors w ith the
spring catch release on the child safety seat onto the LATC H lower anchorage so that the
connectors lock into p lace
r:::;, fig. 165 .
.. Pull on the connecto r attachments to make
s u re they a re properly attached to the LA TCH
l ower anchorage.
.. Pull st raps tight following the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions .
Releasing
.. Loosen the te nsion on the straps following
the chi ld restraint ma nufactu re r's instr uc
t ions.
.. Depress the sp ring catc hes to re lease the
anchorage hooks from the lower anc horag
es.
Remember: Use tether st raps to help keep the
chi ld restraint firmly in p lace .
A WARNING
Improper use of the LATC H system can in
crease the risk of ser ious personal inj ury
and death in an acc ident. -
These anchors were deve loped only for
child safety seats using the "LATCH" sys
tem.
- Never attach other ch ild safety seats,
be lts or other objects to these a nchors.
- Always make sure that you hear a click
when latch ing the seat in p lace. If you do
not hear a cl ick t he seat is not sec ure and
could fly forward and hit the inter ior of
the vehicle, or be ejected from the vehi
cle .
A WARNING
=
Imp roper installat io n of child restra ints
will i ncrease the r isk of injury i n an acci
d ent.
- Always follow the chi ld restraint system
manufac turer's inst ru ct ions for p roper
installa tion of the c hild restr aint system
a nd pro per use of te t her s traps as well as
the lower anchorages or safety belts in
your ve hicle.
- A lways read and heed the important in
formation and WA RNI NGS about ch ild
safety and the insta llation of ch ild re
straint systems
c:> page 152, Child Safe
ty .
Using tether straps on rearward-facing
, child restraints
-
C ur rently, few rea rward-facing chi ld restraint
systems come w it h a tet her. P lease read and
heed the ch ild restra int system m anufactu r
er's instr uctions carefully to determine how to
properly install the tether.
A WARNING
= -
A child in a rearward-fac ing c hild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad
vanced A irbag System .
- The inflating airbag will h it the c hild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safe ty seat _..
M N
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co ,...., \!) 1.1"1 ,...., 1.1"1 ,....,
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door .
- A tight tether or other strap on a rear
ward-fac ing c hild restra int attached to
the front passenger seat can put too much pressure on the weight-mat in the
seat and register a heavier weight in the
Advanced Airbag System . T he heav ie r
we ight registe red ca n make th e system
wor k as thoug h an adu lt were on t he seat
and dep loy the A dvanced Airbag when i t
must be suppressed ca using serious or
even fatal injury to the child.
- If you mus t inst all a rearw ard facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circ umstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
med iate ly install the rearward-facing
child safety seat in a rear seat ing pos i
t io n and have the airbag system inspect
ed by you r a uthorized Audi dea le r.
Additional Information
Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
There are a number of sources of additional
information about ch ild restrai nt select ion, in
stallat ion and use:
NHTSA advises that t he best child safety seat
is the one that fits y our child and fits i n your
ve hicle, and that you w ill use correctly and
consis tently.
Try before you buy !
U.S National Highway T raffic Safety Admin
istration
T e l. : 1-888-327-4236 (T TY : 1-800-424-9153)
www.nhtsa.gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Te l.: (202) 662 -0600
www.safekids.o rg
Child Sa fet y 169
Safety BeltSafe U.S.A
Tel.: (800) 7 45 -SAFE (English)
T el.: (800) 747-SANO (Span ish)
www.carseat.org
Transport Canada Information Centre
Tel.: 1 -800-333-0371 or ca ll
1 -6 13-998-86 16 if yo u are in the Ottawa a rea
http://www .tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/
menu.htm
Audi Customer Relation s
Tel.: (800) 822-2834
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