2016 AUDI A3 warning

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~page 166.
A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas from
being drawn into the vehicle, always keep the
rear lid closed while driving .
- Never transport objects larger than those
fitting completely into the luggage area be­
cause the rear lid cannot be fully closed .
-If you absolutely must drive with the rear lid
open, observe the following notes to reduce
the risk of poisoning:
- Close all w indows,
- Close the power roof*,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument pan-
el,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed .
A WARNING
-
Always make sure that the doors, all win­
dows, the power roof* and the rear lid are se­
curely closed and locked to reduce the risk of
injury when the vehicle is not being used.
- After closing the rear lid, always make sure
that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended espe­
cially with the rear lid left open. A child
could crawl into the vehicle through the lug­
gage compartment and close the rear lid be­
coming trapped and unable to get out. Be­
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious
personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the vehi­
cle.
- Never let passengers r ide in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must al­
ways be properly restrained in one of the ve­
hicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window fog­
ging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure to
keep these slots free and open.
Driving safety
-The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure label is lo­
cated on the driver's side B-pillar . The tire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
tire inflation pressures for the vehicle at its
maximum capacity weight and the tires that
were on your vehicle at the time it was man­ ufactured. For recommended tire pressures
for normal load conditions, please see chap­
ter
~ page 263.
' Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure luggage and other items.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
~ page 172, Loading the luggage compartment.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause serious in­
jury. Items in the vehicle possess energy which
vary w ith vehicle speed and the weight of the
item. Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed of
30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10-lb
(4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the normal
weight of the item. This means that the weight
of the item would sudden ly be about
200 lbs. (90 kg). You can imagine the injuries
that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying freely through
the passenger compartment could cause in a col­
lision like th is.
A WARNING
-Weak, damaged or improper straps used to
secure items to tie-downs can fail dur ing hard
braking or in a collision and cause serious per­
sona l injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help prevent
items from shifting or flying forward as dan­
gerous missiles .
- When the rear seat backrest is folded down,
always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
173

Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, 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.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death .
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents .
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. 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. Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt .
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
176
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger (on USA models only) to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 151 Safety be lt warning light in the instrument clu s­
ter -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly .
(0
"'
"' 9
"' .. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
.. Protect children with a child restraint system
appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition , you will hear
a warning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
&_ WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.

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_& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correct ly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­ fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are cor rect ly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitt ing
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat wh ile the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride w ith their feet on
the instrument panel or st icking out the
window or on the seat .
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Do ing so will increase your risk of
being injured or k illed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder be lt . However, spe­
cial clips may be requ ired for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt ha rdware can break in an acc i­
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bind ings, buckles, or re tractors are dam-
Safet y bel ts
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i dea ler or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thor ized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, mod ify, d isassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf.
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inert ia reel~
table Internal
cleaning on page 2 76.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 157 Belt buckle and tongue on t he driver 's seat
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly ¢
page 58, Front seats.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright posit ion and securely latched in
p lace before using the belt¢ ,&. .
.. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and p ull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis~,&. .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat unti l you hear it latch securely
r:!)fig. 157 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle. ..,.
179

Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retr actors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automa tic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in a n accident . The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you
move freely .
Safety belt p ret en sion ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
c;, page 182 . The function of the pretensioner is
mon itored by a warn ing light
c;,page 21.
Convertible loc king retracto r
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢ page 219 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly pos it ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident ¢
page 180,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat bac k­
rest to which the center rea r safety belt* is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong b uckle will reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
180
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­ men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
c;, page 221.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
c;, page 182 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 158 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts .
.&_ WARNING
Imp roperly positioned safety belts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an a cc ident.
- The shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos ­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways f it
snug ly
c;, fig. 158. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen . Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c::> fig. 158 . Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
Ii-

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-A loose-fitting safety be lt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its pos ition on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 178.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly -throughout the pregnancy .
Fig . 159 Safety belt positio n dur ing pregnancy
To provide max imum p rotection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
<=> page 180.
.,. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re ­
straint* correctly ¢
page 58, Front seats .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis
<=>fig. 159, <=> .&_ .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 179, fig . 157 .
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious personal injury in an accident .
- E xpectan t mothers mus t al ways wear the
lap po rtion of the safe ty belt as low as pos­
sible ac ross the pelvis and below the ro und ­
ing of the abdomen .
- Always read a nd heed all WARN INGS and
other important information
¢,&. in Fasten ­
ing safety belts on page 180 .
Safety bel ts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped .
J-L
Fig . 1 60 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
.,. Push the red re lease button on the buck le
¢ fig . 160. The belt tongue wi ll spring out of
the buckle¢ .&_ .
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
_& WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt wh ile the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
i ng injured or killed .
Adjusting the safety belt latch tongue
Fig . 161 Safe ty belt: la tch to ngue cl ip (exa mple)
.,. Slide the clip so that you can easily reach the
belt latch when putting the safety belt on .
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181

Safe ty belts
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
F ig . 1 62 Safety belt he ight adjustment for t he fr ont seats
- loop -a ro und f it t ings
The shou lder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the body
c::> &. in Safety belt position on
page 180.
... Push
the loop-around fitt ings up c::> fig . 162 @,
or
... squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
down @.
... Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important informat ion
c::>page 178.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can a lso be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts con cause se­ vere injuries.
Wearing safety bel ts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety be lts can on ly work
when they are correctly positioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety be lts and will even increase the
182
risk of injury and death by moving the safety be lt
to c ritical areas of the body . Improper seating
pos itions also increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especially for children .
Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing pos ition in the vehicle while traveling
c::> ,&. .
A WARNING
Imp roperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of ser ious perso nal inju ry and dea th whenever
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all veh icle o ccupants
are cor rec tly restrained a nd stay in a corre ct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS a nd
other important informat ion
c::> page 178 .
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts
are tensioned automatically.
Reversible safet y belt ten sioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The fo llowing
functions are available when the driver's/front passenger's safety belts are fastened:
-Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety be lts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed.
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten with a reversib le tensioning func­
tion
c::> page 139.
-The safety be lts may also tighten with this re­
vers ible tension ing funct ion in m inor collisions.
II>

,....,
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The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
p re tensioners . The system is activated by sensors
in front, side and rear -end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
q & in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 183.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement dur ing a coll is ion.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensione rs to deploy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only prov ide
protection for one coll ision. If the pyrotech­
nic pretensione rs deploy, the pretens ion ing
system mus t be replaced.
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners can
only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not dep loy
i n minor frontal, side and rea r-end colli­
s io ns.
- A fine d ust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety be lt pretens ioners deploy. This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The re levant safety req uirements must be
obse rved w hen the ve hicle or components
of the system are sc rapped. A qualified
dealersh ip is familiar w ith these regu lations
and will be p leased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
vidual parts of the system, particularly the
safety be lt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have your author ized Audi
dealer perform this serv ice for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safe ty belt pretens ione rs are pa rts of the
safety be lts on yo ur Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
S afet y be lts
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a col lision .
T he re are some important things you have to
k now to make s ure tha t the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that d iscarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
-
Imp roper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in jury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or act i­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be activat­ ed only once. If belt pretens ioners have
been activated, the system must be re­
p la ced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety belt sys tem.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
p retensioners cannot be repai red. Spec ial
p ro cedures are required fo r removal, instal­
lation and di$pO$al of thi$ $y$tem.
- For any wo rk on the safety belt system, we
s trong ly recommen d that you see yo ur au­
thor ized A udi dealer or qualified techn ician
who has an Audi approved repair man ual,
tra ining and special equipment necessa ry.
@ For the sake of the environment
U nd eployed a irbag modules and p retension­
ers might be classif ied as Pe rc hlo ra te Ma teri­
a l - special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­ r ate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modu les safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regu lations must be ob­
se rved. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
fo r yo u.
183

,....,
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ro ll-overs.
A lwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collis ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 176.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by stri king
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle d uring a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
-If you are unrest rained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is mu ch h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up ag ainst the
airbag or too close to it w hen it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear sa fety belts prope rly
c::> page 179, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children r ide unrestrained or im­
p roperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 167.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects , Items can also mo ve in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
b ag d uring braking o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts ne ar the airbags can be come
p roject iles and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
A WARNING ,.___ -
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and installed by a t rained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effect iveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils
185