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General information
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.
A 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, o r 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 four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating position has a safety belt.
A 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.
Safety belts
-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 (on USA models only) front seat passenger
to remind you about the importance of buckling
up .
Fig. 121 Safety belt warning light in the instrument clus
te r -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
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"' Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
"' Protect your children with a ch ild restraint sys
tem appropr iate for the size and age of the chil
dren .
The. warning light in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their safe
ty belts.
121
Safety belts
_& 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 correctly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be fore driving off and make sure all passen
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be positioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never
remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed .
- 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 belt. However, spe
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci
dent . Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam-
124
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer .
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be necessary
even if damage cannot be clearly
seen . Anchorages that were loaded must al
so be inspected.
- Never
remove, modify , disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourself .
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly and can impair the func
tion of the inertia reel¢
page 184.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 127 Be lt buckle and tongu e on t he drive r's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must alw ays be positioned correctly on the wear
er 's body.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper
ly¢
page 54, Seats and storage.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt¢,&. .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis¢,&. .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig. 127.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle. .,,_
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Automatic safety belt r etractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped wi th an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is p ulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv
ing the belt lets you move freely .
Safety be lt pret en sioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated.
The funct ion of the pretensioner is monitored by
a warning light
r::> page 19 .
Convertibl e loc king retract or
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 safety seat. Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
r::;, page 160.
& WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accide nt
r::;, page 125,
Safe ty belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upr ight and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
- Never a ttac h the safety belt to the buckle
for ano ther sea t. Attaching the bel t to the
wrong buckle w ill red uce safety bel t effec
tiveness and can cause serious persona l in
jury .
- A passenger who is no t properly restrained
can be se riously injured by the safety be lt it
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
of the body into cr itical areas like the abdo
men .
- Always lock the convertible lock ing retractor
when you are secur ing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
r::> page 162.
Safet y bel ts
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 128 Safet y belt po sit ion
Standard features on yo ur vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
size.
- he ight-adj ustable fro nt seats.
& WARNING
Imp roper ly positioned safety belts can ca use
serious personal injury in an accident.
- 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 . Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways fit
snug ly
r::;, fig. 128 . Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt must
be posi tioned as low as poss ible across pel
vis and neve r ove r the ab domen . Make s ure
the bel t lies fla t and sn ug
r::;,fig. 128. Pull on
the bel t to tig hte n if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can ca use serious
in jur ies by s hift ing its posi tion on your body
from the stro ng bones to more vulnerab le,
soft tissue and cause se rious i njury.
- Always read and hee d all WAR NINGS an d
other impor tant in format ion
r::;, page 123.
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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
gers, before driving off, always :
""Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly 9page
113,
""Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
9page 55,
.,. Wear safety belts properly 9 page 123,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
9 page 151.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper
ly . Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all times .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental pro tection
in certain frontal collisions
o page 113, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
o page 55.
It 's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
9page 151.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, special modifications to
your vehicle may be n ecessary.
Contact your authorized Audi dealer, or call Audi
Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags , break open the padded cov
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im
mediately after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their 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 help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The triggering of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that will cover every possible kind and an
gle of impact that will always trigger the airbags ,
since the circumstances will vary considerably be
tween one collision and another. Important fac
tors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will
IIJJ,
129
Airbag syste m
also not infl ate in s ide or rear collisions, o r in
ro ll-overs.
Al wa ys rememb er: Airbag s will depl oy on ly once ,
a nd on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another 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 a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
There fore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 121.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in
st rument panel will decrease the effective
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal 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
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forwa rd, s it
ting sideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
your risk of in jury is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly
c> page 124, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that chi ldren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im prope rly restrained in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly.
130
-
- 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 113.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the ins trument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air
bag du ring brak ing or in a sudden maneu
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
proje cti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap
proved by A udi and inst alled by a trained
technician who has the ne cessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to prope rly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness 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 sure to read the important i nformat ion and
head the WARNINGS fo r important details
about c hildren and Advanced A irbags
r=;, page 151 .
Even thoug h your veh icle is equipped w it h an Ad
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil
dre n, espec ia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res trained fo r
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potentially dange rous
p lace for a child to r ide . The front seat is not the
safest place for a chi ld i n a forward-fac ing chi ld ...,.
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an infant or a child in a rearward -facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System i n your ve hicle has
been ce rtified to comply with the requi rements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applica
b le at the time your veh icle was manufactured.
Accord ing to requ irements, the front Advanced
Airbag System o n the passenger s ide has been
cert ified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and fo r "low risk de
p loyment " for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
A irbag on the passe nger side has been t urned off
by the ele ctronic con trol unit.
E ach t ime you tur n on the ignit ion, the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
l ight will come on fo r a few
seconds and:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied,
- will stay on if there is a small c hild or child re
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight
sensing mat¢
page 139, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a total we ight on
the fro nt passenge r seat that requires the front
a ir bag to be tur ned off.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
l ess t han the weight of a small adult, the front
a ir bag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on).
If t he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airb ag on the passenge r
side has not been turned o ff by the e lectronic
control unit and can dep loy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the condit ions stor
ed in its memory.
For example , the ai rbag may deploy if:
Airb ag sys tem
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
¢ page 153), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If t he front passenge r airbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
inst rument cluste r and stays on.
T he front airbag on the p assenger s ide may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
o r teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up
rig ht w ith their back against a non-recl ined back
rest with the ir feet on the vehicle floor in front of
t h e seat is on the fron t passenger seat
¢ page 113, Proper seating position for the driv
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder
al Standard requ ires the a irbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the r isk of in
jury through interaction w ith the airbag . "Low
risk" deployment occurs in th ose crashes that
t ak e place at lowe r decele rations as defined in
t h e e lectron ic co ntr ol unit¢
page 139, PASSEN
G ER A IR BAG O FF light.
Always re m embe r, a ch ild safety sea t or infant
ca rr ie r ins talled on the fro nt seat may be s truck
and knocked ou t of posit io n by the rapidly i nflat
ing passenge r's airbag in a fron tal coll is ion . The
airbag could great ly red uce the effectiveness of
t h e child restraint and even seriously in ju re the
child du ring inflation.
F or t his reason, an d beca use the back seat is the
safest p lace for children -when p roper ly restrain
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat ¢
page 151, Child safety .
A WARNING
-A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
i nsta lled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously in jured and can be k illed if the front
a ir bag inflates -even with an A dva nced Airbag
S ys tem.
~
131
Airbag syste m
-The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be cause of exceptional circumstances and the
P ASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and side a irbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat 's fore and aft
adjustment range, as fa r away from the air
bag as possib le before insta lling the for
ward-facing child restra int. The bac krest
mus t be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- Make s ure that the
PASSENGER AI R BAG
OFF
light comes on and s tays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of serio us in jury, make s ure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll
be displayed whenever a child restraint is in
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ign ition is switched on.
132
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 139, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any pro tect ion.
- An improperly installed child res tra int can
inter fere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kil l the child -eve n
w ith an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safe ty
seat o r carrier.
- Never p lace add ition al items on the seat
that can increase the tota l weight registered
by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in
jury in a crash .
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Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants .
Fig. 131 Loca tion of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 132 Loca tion of fron t passenger's airbag: i n the in
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as app licab le at
the time your vehicle was manufactured . The
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack 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 fo r the driver is in the steering whee l
hub ¢
fig. 131 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 132. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG".
Airb ag sys tem
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in 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 owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children .
_&. WARNING
Never rely on a irbags alone fo r protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protection.
-Airbag work most effectively when used with proper ly worn safety be lts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
_&. WARNING
--A pe rson on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small ch ild ren, w ill receive
se rious inj ur ies and can even be k illed by be
i ng too close to the airbag when it inf lates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front 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 impossib le in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the "low risk" opt ion under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a ch ild that is
heavier than the typ ical one-year old ch ild is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear sea t area than
in the front sea ting pos ition.
- For their own safety, all c hildren, especially
12 yea rs and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size .
133