2016 AUDI A3 Owner´s Manual

Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga­
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J8Z OAl
For additional road safety infor­
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at:
http:/ /www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu .htm
Driving safety
175

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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Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 152 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig . 153 The vehicle crashes into the wall
CD
~ ± The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var ­
ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi­
neers call this energy "kinetic energy."
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.
Veh icle speed is the most significant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us ­
ing safety belts¢
fig. 152, they will keep mov ing
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall
¢fig. 153.
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
Safety belts
(2,000 lbs, o r 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 collision
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 apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and co llisions.
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. 154 A driver not wearing a safety belt is v iolently
thrown forward
Fig. 155 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forwa rd and strike the
driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by hold ing tig ht or
bracing themselves . Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam viol ently into the steering wheel, in­
strument panel, windshield, or whatever e lse is
i n the way
¢fi g. 154. This impact w ith the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be-
fore the crash.
Ill>-
177

Safe ty belts
Never rely o n airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. A irbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor ­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are a lways there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in wh ic h
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready dep loyed. Unbel ted occupants can
a lso be thrown o ut of the veh icle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injur ies can occur .
It is also important for the rear pass enge rs to
wear safety belts co rrectly. Unbelted passengers
i n t he rea r seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
~ fig . 155. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
F ig . 1 56 Driver is correctly restrai ned in a sudde n braking
m aneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, and he lp prevent
the uncont rolled moveme nt that can cause seri­
ous injur ies. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the veh icle .
178
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car an d give
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longer per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tole rab le" and less likely to cause inj ury.
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re ­
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes.
So, whethe r yo u're on a long trip or just going to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t stat ist ics show that veh i­
cl e o ccupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of being injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l­
li sions, in roll overs or in cases where the re is not
eno ugh deceleration throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de ­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd are not damaged .

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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>