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.. Fasten your safety be lt and wea r it properly. Al
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe
ty belts properly ¢
page 121.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili
ty to concentrate on the road without being dis
tracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of the ve
h icle and all of its occupants . If your ability to
drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody in the
veh icle increase and you also become a hazard to
eve ryone else on the road ¢,&. .Therefore :
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers
or by using a cellular te lephone .
.. NEVER drive when your driv ing ability is im
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc .).
.. Observe a ll traffic laws, ru les of the road and
speed limits and plain common sense.
.. ALWAYS adjust you r speed to road, traffic and
weather cond itions.
.. Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not drive
for more than two hours at a stretch .
.. Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pres
sure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired dr iv ing safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
Dr iving safety
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
F ig. 118 Co rrect seating pos it ion
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver 's seat to the following
pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the floor while
keep ing your knee(s) slightly bent¢,&. .
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
full contac t wi th it when you dr ive.
.. Adj ust the steer ing wheel so that there is a d is
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
steering whee l and your breast bone¢
fig. 118.
If not poss ible, see your author ized A udi dealer
about adaptive equipment .
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag cover points at your chest and
not at your face .
.,. Grasp the top of the steering wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent .
.. App lies to veh icles w ith adjustable head re
s tra ints : Adjus t the head rest raint so the upper
edge is as even as possible with the top of your
head . If that is not possible, try to adjust the
head restraint so that it is as close to this posi
tion as possible .
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 124.
.,. Always keep both feet in the footwell so that
you are in control of the veh icle at a ll times .
113
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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.
.,, N
"' 0 ..:, ., m
"' 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
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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.
125
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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 .
Airbag syste m
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equippe d with a fr ont Adva nce d
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited States
F edera l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at th e tim e your vehi
cle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driv er's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in
flate only in front al impacts when the veh icle de
celerat ion is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts . Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitt ing upr ight, wear ing your safe
ty belt and wear ing it prope rly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re
s trai ned, not just because the law req uires yo u to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire
men ts for 3 and 6 yea r-old children on the pas
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . T he low risk dep loyment criteria are intend
ed to he lp reduce the risk of injury through i nter
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and ins trument pane l when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn
off the front a irbag
for i nfants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re
stra ints that are listed in the Standa rd
¢ page 153, Child restraints and Advanced Air
bags.
"Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned
off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the fro nt passenger seat in one of the rear
facing or forward -facing infant restraints listed
134
in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
veh icle was certified . For a list ing of the child
restraints that were used to cert ify your vehi
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 153,
-weight less than a threshold leve l stored in the
control un it is detected on the front passenger
seat .
When a person is detected on the front passen ger seat , weighing more than the total weight of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward -fac ing infant re
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 w ith w hich the Adva nced Ai rbag
System i n your veh icle was certified), the front
a irbag on the passenge r side may or may not de
ploy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the elect roni c control unit detects a tota l
weight on the front passe nger seat th at req uires
the front airbag to be turned
off . If the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not been
turned
off by the control unit and can dep loy i f
the control unit senses an impact that meets the
cond it ions stored in its memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
o n the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
For example , the ai rb ag ma y deploy if :
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed¢
page 153),
-a child who has outgrown c hil d rest raints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned
off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instr ument panel will come on and stay on .
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if : ..,.
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s e nger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting uprigh t w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag dep loys , the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" dep loyment occurs in those crashes
t ha t take place at lower decelera tions as defined
in the electronic control unit.¢
page 139
Alway s rem ember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped w ith Advanced Airbags, the safest place
f or children is properly restrained on the back
seat . Please be sure to read the important infor
mat ion in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARN INGS.
.&, WARNING
To reduce the r isk of inj ury when an a irbag in
flates, a lways wear safety belts p roperly.
- 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 much h igher .
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag¢
page 129.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld safety seat
installed on the front passenge r seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced A irbag
System .
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re
straint has been installed on the front pas senger seat, nobody can absolu tely g uaran
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con
c eivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier wi th great force and
Airb ag sys tem
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing child re
stra ints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rea r-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the a irbag system
inspected by your au thorized Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances , you must in
stall a forward-facing child res traint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fa cing seat
has bee n des igned and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and side airbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instr ument pan ·
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as possible, before install ing the for
ward-facing ch ild restraint. The backrest
m ust be adjusted to an upr ight position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR B AG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot
of ve ry important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System i n it. These parts incl ude the weight
sensing mat, senso rs, wir ing , b racke ts, and
more . The f unction o f the system in the front
passenger seat is checked by the electronic con
tro l unit when the ign ition is on . The control unit
monitors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the a irbag ind icator light on when a malfunction
in the system components i s detected. The func-
tion of the a irbag ind icator light is described in .,.
135
Airbag syste m
greater detail below. Because the front passen
ger seat contains important parts of the Ad
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to pre
vent it from being damaged. Damage to the seat m ay prevent the Advanced Airbag for the front
passenger seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airba g Sy stem con sists
of the follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the seve rity of the crash .
- An electronic control un it, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts . The
contro l unit "decides " whethe r to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit a lso "de
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steering
whee l hub .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A weight -sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures th e total weight on the seat . T he
information registered is sent continuously to
the e lec tronic control unit to regu la te dep loy
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the pas
senger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indica tor
l ight in the instrument cluster
r=> page 139.
-A sensor in each front sea t registers the dis
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor mation reg istered is sent continuous ly to the
electronic control u nit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced A irbags.
- T he
PASSEN GE R AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the inst rument
pane l
c> page 139, fig . 134 and tells you when
the front Advan ced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety belt la tch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure the tension on
136
the safety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight reg istered by the weight-sens
ing mat help the contro l unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not c> page 130, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know .
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the e lectronic
cont rol u nit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenge r seat can pre
vent the front airbag from work ing properly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
proper ly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat mus t be
performed by qualified and proper ly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble or remove pa rts from the
seat o r disconnect wi res from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pocke ts or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens
ing mat in the passenger seat is p unctured
it cannot work proper ly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob jects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight reg istered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in
formation to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys
tem from working properly .
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up
holstery that have not been specifically ap
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir
bag System from recognizing child