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Seat belts
Physical principles of a frontal colli-
s ion Fig. 76
A driver not wearing a seat belt is
thr o
wn f
orward violently Fig. 77
The unbelted passenger in the rear
se at
i
s thrown forward violently, hitting the
driver wearing a seat belt It is easy to explain how the laws of physics
w
ork
in the c
ase of a head-on collision: when
a vehicle starts moving, a type of energy called “kinetic energy” is created both in the
pas
sengers and inside the vehicle.
The amount of “kinetic energy” depends on
the speed of the vehicle and the weight of
the vehicle and its passengers. The higher
the speed and the greater the weight, the
more energy there is to be “absorbed” in an
accident.
The most significant factor, however, is the
speed of the vehicle. If the speed doubles
from 25 km/h (15 mph) to 50 km/h
(30 mph), for example, the corresponding ki-
netic energy is multiplied by four.
Because the vehicle occupants in our exam-
ple are not restrained by seat belts, in the
event of crashing against a wall, all of the oc-
cupants' kinetic energy will be absorbed
solely by said impact.
Even at speeds of 30 km/h (19 mph) to
50 km/h (30 mph), the forces acting on bod-
ies in a collision can easily exceed one tonne
(1000 kg). At greater speed these forces are
even higher.
Vehicle occupants not wearing seat belts are
not “attached” to the vehicle. In a head-on
collision, they will move forward at the same
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the impact. This example applies not only to
head-on collisions, but to all accidents and
collisions. Even at low speeds the forces acting on the
body in a co
llision are so great that it is not
possible to brace oneself with one's hands.
In a frontal collision, unbelted passengers
are thrown forward and will make violent con-
tact with the steering wheel, dash panel,
windscreen or whatever else is in the way
››› Fig. 76.
It is also important for rear passengers to
wear seat belts properly, as they could other-
wise be thrown forward violently through the
vehicle interior in an accident. Passengers in
the rear seats who do not use seat belts en-
danger not only themselves but also the front
occupants ››› Fig. 77.
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Safety
How to properly adjust your
se at
belt
F
astening and unfastening the seat
belt Fig. 78
Positioning and removing the seat
belt b
uc
kle. Fig. 79
Placing the seat belt in the shoulder
and pelv i
s
area for pregnant women. Fasten your seat belt
The se
at
belt
cannot offer its full protection if
the seat belt is not positioned correctly.
● Adjust the seat and head restraint correctly.
● To fasten the belt, take hold of the latch
plat
e and pull it slowly across your chest and
lap.
● Insert the latch plate into the buckle for the
appropri
ate seat and push it down until it is
securely locked with an audible click
››› Fig. 78 A.
● Pull the belt to ensure that the latch plate is
securely
engaged in the buckle.
The seat belts are equipped with an automat-
ic retractor on the shoulder strap. Full free-
dom of movement is permitted when the
shoulder belt is pulled slowly. However, dur- ing sudden braking, during travel in steep
area
s or bends and during acceleration, the
automatic retractor on the shoulder belt is
locked.
The automatic belt retractors on the front
seats are fitted with seat belt tensioners
››› page 65.
Seat belt release ● Press the red button on the belt buckle
›››
Fig. 78 B. The latch plate is released and
springs out ››› .
● Guide the belt back by hand so that it rolls
up e a
s
ily and the trim is not damaged.
Positioning seat belts
Seat belts offer their maximum protection on-
ly when they are properly positioned.
The following features are available to adjust
the seat belt in the shoulder region:
● belt height adjustment for the front seats.
● front seat height adjustment*. WARNING
● The seat belt
s offer best protection only
when the backrests are in an upright position
and the seat belts have been fastened prop-
erly.
● Never put the latch plate in the buckle of
another seat. If
you do this, the seat belt will64
Page 67 of 248

Seat belts
not protect you properly and the risk of injury
is
inc
reased.
● Never unbuckle a seat belt while the vehi-
cle i
s in motion. If you do, you increase the
risk of sustaining severe or fatal injuries.
● An incorrectly worn seat belt can cause se-
vere injurie
s in the event of an accident.
● The shoulder part of the seat belt must lie
on the centre of
the shoulder, never across
the neck. The seat belt must lie flat and fit
comfortably on the torso
● The lap part of the seat belt must lie across
the pelvis, nev
er across the stomach. The
seat belt must lie flat and fit comfortably on
the pelvis Pull the belt tight if necessary to
take up any slack.
● For pregnant women, the lap part of the
seat belt
must lie as low as possible over the
pelvis, never across the stomach, and always
lie flat so that no pressure is exerted on the
abdomen ››› Fig. 79.
● Always engage the retractor lock when you
are securin
g a child seat in group 0, 0+ or 1
››› page 72.
● Read and observe the warnings ›››
page 62. Belt height adjustment
Fig. 80
Location of the belt height adjuster. The seat belt adjuster for the front seats can
be u
sed t
o a
djust the proper belt position at
the shoulder.
– Press the upper part of the shoulder belt
guide and hold it
in this position ››› Fig. 80.
– Move the shoulder belt guide up or down
until
you have adjusted the seat belt
››› page 64.
– After adjusting, pull the shoulder belt
sharply
to check that the catch on the
shoulder belt guide is engaged securely. Seat belt tensioners
How the seat
belt tensioner works Read the additional information carefully
›› ›
page 13.
The seat belts for the occupants in the front
seats are equipped with belt tensioners. Sen-
sors will trigger the belt tensioners only dur-
ing severe head-on, lateral and rear-end colli-
sions and only if the seat belt is worn. This
retracts and tightens the seat belts, reducing
the forward motion of the occupants.
The belt tensioners will not be triggered in
the event of minor collisions, if the vehicle
overturns, or in accidents where no major
forces act on the vehicle. Note
● If the se at
belt tensioners are triggered, a
fine dust is produced. This is normal and it is
not an indication of fire in the vehicle.
● The relevant safety requirements must be
obser
ved when the vehicle or components of
the system are scrapped. Specialised work-
shops are familiar with these regulations,
which are also available to you. 65
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Operation
Emergencies
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Safety
Service and disposal of belt tension-
er s The belt tensioners are components of the
seat
belts
that are installed in the seats of
your vehicle. If you work on the belt tension-
ers or remove and install parts of the system
when performing other repair work, the seat
belt may be damaged. The consequence may
be that, in the event of an accident, the belt
tensioners function incorrectly or may not
function at all.
So that the effectiveness of the seat belt ten-
sioner is not reduced and that removed parts
do not cause any injuries or environmental
pollution, regulations, which are known to
the specialised workshops, must be ob-
served. WARNING
● Improper u se or r
epairs not carried out by
qualified mechanics increase the risk of se-
vere or fatal injuries. The belt tensioners may
fail to trigger or may trigger in the wrong cir-
cumstances.
● Never attempt to repair, adjust, remove or
inst
all parts of the belt tensioners or seat
belts.
● The seat belt tensioner, seat belt and auto-
matic r
etractor cannot be repaired.
● Any work on the belt tensioners and seat
belts, includin
g the removal and refitting of
system parts in conjunction with other repair work, must be performed by a specialised
work
shop on
ly.
● The belt tensioners will only provide pro-
tection for one ac
cident and must be changed
if they have been activated. Airbag system
Brief intr
oduction
Wh
y is it so important to wear a seat
belt and to sit correctly? For the inflating airbags to achieve the best
prot
ection, the se
at belt must always be worn
properly and the correct sitting position must
be assumed.
The airbag system is not a substitute for seat
belts, but it is an integral part of the vehicle's
overall passive safety system. Please bear in
mind that the airbag system can only work ef-
fectively when the vehicle occupants are
wearing their seat belts correctly and have
adjusted the head restraints properly. There-
fore, it is most important to wear the seat
belts at all times, not only because this is re-
quired by law in most countries, but also for
your safety ›››
page 61, The whys and where-
fores of seat belts .
The airbag inflates in a matter of seconds, so
if you are not properly seated when the air-
bag is triggered, you may sustain fatal inju-
ries. Therefore, it is essential that all vehicle
occupants assume a correct sitting position
while travelling.
Sharp braking before an accident may cause
a passenger not wearing a seat belt to be
thrown forward into the area of the deploying
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Airbag system
airbag. In this case, the inflating airbag may
inflict c
ritic
al or fatal injuries on the occu-
pant. This also applies to children.
Always maintain the greatest possible dis-
tance between yourself and the front airbag.
This way, the front airbags can completely
deploy when triggered, providing their maxi-
mum protection.
The most important factors that will trigger
an airbag are: the type of accident, the angle
of collision and the speed of the vehicle.
Whether or not the airbags are triggered de-
pends primarily on the vehicle deceleration
rate resulting from the collision and detected
by the control unit. If the vehicle deceleration
occurring during the collision and measured
by the control unit remains below the speci-
fied reference values, the front, side and/or
curtain airbags will not be triggered. Take in-
to account that the visible damage in a vehi-
cle involved in an accident, no matter how
serious, is not a determining factor for the
airbags to have been triggered. WARNING
● We arin
g the seat belt incorrectly or assum-
ing an incorrect sitting position can lead to
critical or fatal injuries.
● All vehicle occupants, including children,
who are not pr
operly belted can sustain criti-
cal or fatal injuries if the airbag is triggered.
Children up to 12 years old should always travel on the rear seat. Never transport chil-
dren in the
v
ehicle if they are not restrained
or the restraint system is not appropriate for
their age, size or weight.
● If you are not wearing a seat belt, or if you
lean f
orward or to the side while travelling or
assume an incorrect sitting position, there is
a substantially increased risk of injury. This
increased risk of injury will be further in-
creased if you are struck by an inflating air-
bag.
● To reduce the risk of injury from an inflating
airbag, alw
ays wear the seat belt properly
››› page 61.
● Always adjust the front seats properly. Description of airbag system
The airbag system mainly comprises (as per
v
ehic
l
e equipment):
● an electronic control and monitoring sys-
tem (contr
ol unit)
● frontal airbags for driver and passenger,
● side airbags,
● curtain airbags,
● a control lamp on the dash p
anel
››› page 68.
● key-operated switch for front passenger air-
bag,
● a contr
ol lamp for disabling/enabling the
front p
assenger airbag. The airbag system operation is monitored
electronic
ally. The airbag control lamp will il-
luminate for a few seconds every time the ig-
nition is switched on (self-diagnosis).
There is a fault in the system if the control
lamp :
● does not light up when the ignition is
switc
hed on ››› page 68,
● turns off after 4 seconds after the ignition
is sw
itched on
● turns off and then lights up again after the
ignition is sw
itched on
● illuminates or flashes while the vehicle is
movin
g.
The airbag system is not triggered if:
● the ignition is switched off
● there is a minor frontal collision
● there is a minor side collision
● there is a rear-end collision
● the vehicle turns over. WARNING
● The seat belt
s and airbags can only provide
maximum protection if the occupants are
seated correctly ››› page 56, Correct position
for passengers.
● If a fault has occurred in the airbag system,
have the sy
stem checked immediately by a
specialised workshop. Otherwise, during a » 67
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Safety
frontal collision the system might not trigger
corr
ectly
or may fail to trigger at all. Airbag activation
The airbags deploy extremely rapidly, within
thous
andths
of a second, to provide addi-
tional protection in the event of an accident.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de-
ploys. This is normal and it is not an indica-
tion of fire in the vehicle.
The airbag system is only ready to function
when the ignition is on.
In special accidents instances, several air-
bags may activate at the same time.
In the event of minor head-on and side colli-
sions, rear-end collisions, overturning or roll-
over of the vehicle, airbags do not activate.
Activation factors
The conditions that lead to the airbag system
activating in each situation cannot be gener-
alised. Some factors play an important role,
such as the properties of the object the vehi-
cle hits (hard/soft), angle of impact, vehicle
speed, etc.
Deceleration trajectory is key for airbag acti-
vation. The control unit analyses the collision trajec-
tor
y
and activates the respective restraint
system.
If the deceleration rate is below the prede-
fined reference value in the control unit the
airbags will not be triggered, even though
the accident may cause extensive damage to
the car.
The following airbags are triggered in seri-
ous head-on collisions
● Driver airbag.
● Front passenger front airbag
The fol
lowing airbags are triggered in seri-
ous side-on collisions
● Front side airbag on the side of the acci-
dent.
● Re
ar side airbag on the side of the acci-
dent.
● Cur
tain (head) airbag on the side of the ac-
cident.
In an ac
cident with airbag activation:
● the interior lights switch on (if the interior
light swit
ch is in the courtesy light position);
● the hazard warning lights switch on;
● all doors are unlocked;
● the fuel supply to the engine is cut. Airbag and seat belt tensioner control
lamp The control lamp monitors all airbags and
seat
belt
tensioners in the vehicle, including
control units and wiring connections.
Monitoring of airbag and belt tensioner sys-
tem
Both the airbag and belt tensioner systems
operation is constantly monitored electroni-
cally. Each time the ignition is switched on,
the control lamp illuminates for several
seconds (self-diagnosis) and the instrument
panel display* shows AIRBAG/TENSIONER.
The system must be checked when the con-
trol lamp :
● does not light up when the ignition is
swit c
hed on,
● turns off after 4 seconds after the ignition
is sw
itched on
● turns off and then lights up again after the
ignition is sw
itched on
● illuminates or flashes while the vehicle is
movin
g.
In the event of a malfunction, the warning
lamp stays on continuously. In addition, de-
pending on the malfunction, a fault message
appears on the instrument panel display for
approximately 10 seconds and a short audi-
ble warning is given. In this event, you
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Airbag system
should have a specialised workshop check
the sy s
t
em immediately.
If any of the airbags are disabled by a Techni-
cal Service, the warning lamp flashes for sev-
eral more seconds after verification and will
turn off if there is no fault. WARNING
● If ther e i
s a malfunction, the airbag and
belt tensioner system cannot properly per-
form its protective function.
● If a malfunction occurs, have the system
check
ed immediately by a specialised work-
shop. Otherwise, in the event of an accident,
the airbag system and belt tensioners may
not be triggered, or may not be triggered cor-
rectly. Airbag safety instructions
Fr ont
airb
agsRead the additional information carefully
› ›
›
page 13. WARNING
● The deplo yment
space between the front
passengers and the airbags must not in any
case be occupied by other passenger, pets
and objects. ●
The airbag s
provide protection for just one
accident; replace them once they have de-
ployed.
● It is also important not to attach any ob-
jects
such as cup holders or telephone
mountings to the surfaces covering the air-
bag units.
● Do not attempt to modify components of
the airbag sys
tem in any way.
● When driving, always hold the steering
wheel with both h
ands on the outside part at
the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. Never
hold the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock po-
sition, or in any other manner (e.g. in the cen-
tre of the steering wheel). In such cases, if
the airbag is triggered, you may sustain inju-
ries to the arms, hands and head. Side airbags*
Read the additional information carefully
› ›
›
page 15. WARNING
● If y
ou do not wear a seat belt, if you lean
forward, or are not seated correctly while the
vehicle is in motion, you are at a greater risk
of injury if the side airbag system is triggered
in an accident.
● In order for the side airbags to provide their
maximum pr
otection, the prescribed sitting position must always be maintained with
seat
belt
s fastened while travelling.
● Occupants of the outer seats must never
carry
any objects or pets in the deployment
space between them and the airbags, or al-
low children or other passengers to travel in
this position. It is also important not to at-
tach any accessories (such as cup holders) to
the doors. This would impair the protection
offered by the side airbags.
● The built-in coat hooks should be used only
for lightweight
clothing. Do not leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the pockets.
● Great forces, such as hard blows or kicks,
must
not be exerted upon the backrest bol-
ster because the system may be damaged. In
this case, the side airbags would not be trig-
gered.
● Under no circumstances should protective
cov
ers be fitted over seats with side airbags
unless the covers have been approved for use
in your vehicle. Because the airbag deploys
from the side of the backrest, the use of con-
ventional seat covers would obstruct the side
airbag, seriously reducing the airbag's effec-
tiveness.
● Any damage to the original seat upholstery
or around the se
ams of the side airbag units
must be repaired immediately by a special-
ised workshop.
● The airbags provide protection for just one
accident; r
eplace them once they have de-
ployed. » 69
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Safety
●
Any w
ork on the side airbag system or re-
moval and installation of the airbag compo-
nents for other repairs (such as removal of
the front seat) should only be performed by a
specialised workshop. Otherwise, faults may
occur during the airbag system operation.
● Do not attempt to modify components of
the airbag sys
tem in any way.
● The side and head airbags are managed
through sensor
s located in the interior of the
front doors. To ensure the correct operation of
the side and curtain (head) airbags neither
the doors nor the door panels should be
modified in any way (e.g. fitting loudspeak-
ers). If the front door is damaged, the airbag
system may not work correctly. All work car-
ried out on the front door must be done in a
specialised workshop.
● In a side-on collision the side airbags will
not work
if the sensors do not correctly meas-
ure the pressure increase on the interior of
the doors, due to air escaping through the
areas with holes or openings in the door pan-
el.
● Never drive the vehicle if the interior panels
have been r
emoved.
● Never drive if the interior door panels have
been remov
ed or if the panels have not been
correctly fitted.
● Never drive the vehicle if the loudspeakers
in the door panels
have been removed, un-
less the holes left by the loudspeakers have
been closed properly. ●
Alw a
ys check that the openings are closed
or covered if loudspeakers or other equip-
ment are fitted inside the door panels.
● Any work carried out to the doors should be
made in an authori
sed specialised workshop. Curtain airbags*
Read the additional information carefully
›› ›
page 15. WARNING
● In order f or the he
ad-protection airbags to
provide their maximum protection, the pre-
scribed sitting position must always be main-
tained with seat belts fastened while travel-
ling.
● For safety reasons, the curtain airbag must
be disab
led in those vehicles fitted with a
screen dividing the interior of the vehicle.
See your technical service to make this ad-
justment.
● There must be no other persons, animals or
obj
ects between the occupants of the rear
seats and the deployment space of the head-
protection airbags so that the head-protec-
tion airbag can deploy without restriction and
provide the greatest possible protection.
Therefore, sun blinds which have not been
expressly approved for use in your vehicle
may not be attached to the side windows ●
The bui lt
-in coat hooks should be used only
for lightweight clothing. Do not leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the pockets.
Please, do not hang the clothes on coat hang-
ers.
● The airbags provide protection for just one
accident; r
eplace them once they have de-
ployed.
● Any work on the head-protection airbag
syst
em or removal and installation of the air-
bag components for other repairs (such as re-
moval of the roof lining) should only be per-
formed by a specialised workshop. Other-
wise, faults may occur during the airbag sys-
tem operation.
● Do not attempt to modify components of
the airbag sys
tem in any way.
● The side and head airbags are managed
through sensor
s located in the interior of the
front doors. To ensure the correct operation of
the side and curtain airbags neither the
doors nor the door panels should be modified
in any way (e.g. fitting loudspeakers). If the
front door is damaged, the airbag system
may not work correctly. All work carried out
on the front door must be done in a special-
ised workshop. 70