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.. Make sure to use the right child rest raint
correct ly to protect children
Q page 165,
Child Safety .
.. Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same¢
page 53,
General recommendations .
.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly.
Also instruct your passengers to fasten their
safety belts properly ¢
page 130 .
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condi
tion of the vehicle, the driver as well as the
driver 's ability to concentrate on the road
without being distracted.
The driver is respons ible for the safety of the
veh icle and all of its occupants.
If your ability
to drive is impai red, safety r isks for everybody
in the vehicle increase and you also become a
hazard to everyone else on the road ¢
A.
Therefore:
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passen
gers or by using a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road
and speed limits and plain common sense .
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traff ic
and weather conditions .
.,. Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not
drive for more than two hours at a stretch.
.. Do NOT drive when you are t ired, under
pressure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death when
ever a vehicle is being used.
Driving Safely 121
Proper occupant
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is impor
tant for safe, relaxed driving .
Fig. 146 Correct seat ing pos it ion
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of
injury in the event of an accident, we recom
mend that you adjust the driver's seat to the
follow ing position:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easi
ly push the pedals all the way to the floor
wh ile keeping your knee(s) slightly bent
¢.&_ .
.. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is
in an upr ight position so that your back
comes in full contact w ith it when you drive.
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that th ere is a
distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) be
tween the steering wheel and yo ur breast
bone
Q fig. 146. If not possible, see your au
thorized Audi dealership about adaptive
equipment .
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steer
ing wheel and airbag cover points at your
chest and not at your face.
.,. Grasp the top of the steer ing whee l with
your elbow(s) slightly bent.
.. For adjustable head restra ints: Adjust the
head restraint so the upper edge is as even
as possible with the top of your head. If that
is not possible, try to adjust the head re
straint so that it is as close to this position
as poss ible. Move the head restraint so that
it is as close to the back of the head as pos-
sible . .,.

130 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are nec
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci
dents. For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns m ust also use safety
belts. Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r 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 four seating positions: two in the front and two in the rear. Each seat
ing position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases th e risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe
ty belt or child restra int.
t Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod
els only) to remind you about the importance
of buckling-up .
Fi g. 14 8 Safety belt warni ng light in the instrument
cluster -en larged
Before driv ing off, alway s:
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make su re you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make s ure that your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect childre n w ith a child restraint sys-
tem app ropriate for the s ize and age.
The warn ing light . in the instrument clus
ter lights up when the ign ition is on as a re
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a ce rtai n pe ri
od of t ime.
Fasten you r safety belt and make sure that
your pass eng ers also properly put on the ir
s afety belt s.
A WARNING .....=-
-Safety b elts are the s ingle most eff ect ive
means avai lable to reduce t he ri sk of se
rio us inju ry and de ath in au tomobile a cci
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways cor rectly wear
safety belts when t he vehicle is moving .

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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. 149 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 150 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
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 149, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, until something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 150.
Safety belts 131
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. 151 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th rown forward
Fig. 152 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 .,..

134 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restr aint
properly
c::, page 53, General recommenda
t ions .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt
c::, .&, .
.,. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even
ly across the chest and pelv is
c::, .&, .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckl e of
yo ur sea t until you hea r it latc h securely
c::>fig. 154.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in t he buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat
i c belt retracto r on the shoulder be lt. This fea
ture locks the be lt whe n the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and i n an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or throug h a sharp curve.
During normal driv ing the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The sa fety belts are equipped with a be lt pre
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac
tivated ¢
page 136. The function of the pre
tensioner is mon it ored by a warning light
¢ page 18.
Convertible locking retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a convertib le loc king re
tractor that
must be used when the safety
be lt is used to attach a child seat. Be su re to
read the important information about this
featu re
c::> page 176.
.,& WARNING
Imprope rly posit ioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
c::> page 13 4, Safety bel t posi tion.
- Safety belts offer opt imum protection
only when the seatback is upr ight and
be lts are properly posit ioned o n the
body .
- If the rear seat backrest is not securely
latched, the passenger w ill move for
ward with the bac krest dur ing sudden
b ra ki ng, in a sudden maneuver and espe
cially in a cra sh.
- N ever attach t he safety belt to t he buck
le for another seat . Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce s afety be lt
effec tiveness and can cause seri ous per
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not prope rly restrain
e d ca n be seriously injured by the safe ty
be lt itse lf w hen it moves from the st ron
ge r parts of the body into cr itical areas
like the abdomen.
- A lways loc k the conve rtible locking re
tractor when you are secu ring a child
seat in t he veh icle
c::, page 178.
(D Tips
F o r i nforma tion on safe ty belt pre tension
e rs, refer to
c::, page 136.
Safety belt position
Correc t belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 155 Sa fety belt pos it ion
U se the height adjustment to change the posi
tion of t he shoulder belt of the front safety
belts.
~

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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 165.
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 si ze. 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 Sta ndard
~ page 167.
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 the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 141
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd-facing o r forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~ page 167.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 151, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec tric al capacitan ce registe red on the
fron t passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
f orward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve
hicle was certified .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on 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
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not 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 unit and ca n deploy if the con
t rol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed
~ page 167), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat.
IIJ,
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•

142 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 152, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 165, Child Safety.
_& 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 with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with 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 front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forwa rd- facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional 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 designe d and certified 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
s tra int up against or very near the instru
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into it s
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.
-Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de
scribed
c::> page 151, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f 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.

146 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 b ag m ay depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
c':> page 167),
-a ch ild who has outgrown 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 151.
Alwa ys rememb er: 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 139.
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 and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, 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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-Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually s itting on the
seat . The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat .
- 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
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
Ai rbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capacitive passenger detect ion system, wir
i n g, brackets, and more . The control unit
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on when a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo
nents is detected ¢ page
152 . Because the
fro nt passenger seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
t ake care to p reven t it from being damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle that
measure vehicle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The contro l unit "decides" whether to fire
A irbag system 147
the front a irbags based on the in format ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
unit also "decides" whether the safety be lt
pretens ioners sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer
ing wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system un
derneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measures the electrical capac i
tance of the person in the seat. The informa
tion registered is se nt cont inuously to the
el ectr onic contro l un it to regu late deploy
ment of the front Advan ced A irbag on the
passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢page
151 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance be twee n the respec tive seat a nd the
s teer ing whee l or inst rument p anel. The i n
forma tion regis tered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electronic cont ro l unit to regulate de
p loyment of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u
ment panel ¢ pag e
152, fig. 162 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safe ty belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic control un it .
.&_ WARNING
D amage to the front passe nger seat can
p revent the front air bag from wor king
properly.
- I mp roper repa ir or d isassembly of the
fro nt pa ssenge r and dr iver seat will pre
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repair s to t he front passenge r seat m ust
be pe rformed by qualified and p roperly
-
trained workshop person ne l. 111>
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