2016 AUDI A3 belt

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.
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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
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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.
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Airbag syste m
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop ­
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 167,
"'Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 58,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 178 ,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 209.
In a coll is io n, airbags mus t inflate within the
blink of an eye and wi th considerab le force . The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driv er or th e front s eat passeng er is not s eated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all t imes.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collisions
¢ page 167, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment con trols
¢ page 58.
It's especially important that children are proper ­
ly restra ined ¢
page 209 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
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reaching the peda ls, or if yo u have concerns w ith
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your a u­
thori zed Audi dea ler or qua lified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ib le modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and infla te between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
t h e front passenger . The airbags w il l deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see t hrou gh the windsh ie ld again
without i nterruption.
All of th is takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even rea lize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags a lso infla te
with a g re at deal of force and nothing should be
i n the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant 's forward move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting pa rts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the fo rces
acting on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and uppe r body i n the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower pa rts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system de­
pends on the veh icle decelerat ion rate caused by
t h e coll is io n and regis tered by the ele ctroni c con ­
tro l unit . If this ra te is be low the refe rence value
programmed in to the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even tho ugh the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision. Vehi­
cle damage, rep air costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary cons iderab ly
between one co llision and another, it is not possi ­
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always t rigger t he a irbags . Important
factors i nclude, for examp le, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
i mp act , vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will .,.

,....,
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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

Airbag syste m
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is occupied by some­
one who is heav ier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The p resence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would
have worked without the ob ject on the seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig. 163 Location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fi g. 16 4 Locatio n of front passenger 's airbag: in the in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air ­
bag System" in comp liance with United States
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
188
the time your vehicle was manufactured. T he
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that he lp to take s lack out of the belt system .
The pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the stee ring wheel
hub
~ fig. 163 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument pane l
~fig. 164 . The
general locat ion of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know abo ut the airbags
i n your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
information about airbags , safety belts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the ow ner's literature . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
fo r your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially i nfants and small children .
.&, WARNING
-
Never rely on a irbags alone for prote ct io n.
- Even when they deploy, airbags p rovide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effec tively when used
wit h properly worn safety be lts .
- Therefo re, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel w ith both
hands on the outside o f the steer ing whee l
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po­
si tions to help reduce the risk of personal i n­
jury if the driver's a irbag inflates.
- Never hold the stee ring wheel at the 12
o 'clock posi tion or with your hands any ­
where inside the steering wheel o r on the
steer ing whee l hub. Holding the steeri ng
wheel the wrong way increases the r isk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys. .,,.

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air -
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates .
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
-
-Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle .
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­ den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury , particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­ cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
Airbag system
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in accordance with the .,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 , as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger 's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly .,..
189