M N <( I.J "". rl I.O
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_& WARNING
A child in a child safety seat installed with the LATCH lower anchorages or with the standard
safety belt or a child in a booster seat on the
rear seat could play with unused rear seat
safety belts and become entangled. This
could cause the child serious personal injury
and even death.
- Always secure unused rear seat safety belts
out of reach of children in child seats such
as by properly routing them around the
head restraint of the seat where the child re
straint is installed.
- Never activate the convertible locking re
tractor when routing the safety belts around
the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear seat
ing position if the center rear safety belt has
been routed around a rear head restraint.
Child seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old and
20 lbs. or
9 kg need special rearward-facing
child restraints that support the back, neck and
head in a crash .
Fig. 168 Schematic overview: rearward-facing infa nt seat,
prope rly instal led on t he rear seat
"When using the vehicle safety belt to install a
child safety seat, you must first activate the convertible locking retractor on the safety belt
to prevent the child safety seat from moving
r::;,page 177 or install the seat using the LATCH
attachments.
"Push the child safety seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt really tight so that
Child safety
the seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2.5 cm).
... Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r::;, page 172.
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg) are
best protected in special infant carriers and child
safety seats designed for their age group. Many
experts believe that infants and small children
should ride only in special restraints in which the
child faces the back of the vehicle . These infant
seats support the baby's back, neck and head in a
crash
¢ fig. 168.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to
ride. The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child seat. It is a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child in
a rearward-facing seat.
_& WARNING
-
Not using a child safety seat, using the wrong
child safety seat or improperly installing a
child restraint increases the risk of serious personal injury and death in a crash.
- Never install rear-facing child safety seats or
infant carriers on the front passenger seat -
even with an Advanced Airbag System. A
child will be seriously injured and can be kil led when the inflating airbag hits the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great force
and smashes the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof
r::;, page 144, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
-Always install rear-facing child safety seats
or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing child restraint in
the forward-facing direction. Such restraints
are designed for the special needs of infants
and very small children and cannot protect
them properly if the seat is forward-facing.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
173
Child safety
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer .
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system on
this seat .
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats). These may influence the electrical
capacitance measured by the capacitive pas
senger detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious per
sonal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
r::!;> poge 135, Safety belts,
r::!;> page 143, Airbag system and
~ page 167, Important information .
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety sea ts con
help protect toddlers and children over age one
who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9 and 18 kg)
in a crash.
Fig. 169 Schema tic ov ervi ew: installatio n of th e atta ch
m ents app lica ble to a LATCH seat
174
Fig. 170 Schem ati c ove rview : instal la ti on of the sea t using
t he vehicle' s sa fet y bel t system
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install a
child safety seat, you must first activate the
convertible locking retractor on the safety belt
to prevent the child safety seat from moving
¢
page 177 or install the seat using the LATCH
attachments .
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt really tight so that
the seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2 .5 cm)
r::!;> page 177.
.,. If the child safety seat is equipped with a tether
strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢ page 183.
.,. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢page 172.
A toddler o r child is usually too large for an in
fant restraint if it is more than one year old and
weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg) .
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about 4 years old and weigh more than
20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must always be
properly restrained in a child safety seat certified
for their size and weight¢
fig. 169 and
¢fig. 170 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to
ride . The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child safety seat . It is a
very dangerous place for an infant or a larger
child in a rearward-facing seat.
& WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the wrong
child safety seat or improperly installing a
child restraint increases the risk of serious
M N <( (.J
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personal injury and death in a collision or oth
er emergency situation.
- Children on the front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously in
jured or even killed when an airbag inflates.
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- 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 arm rest, 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
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer .
- The rear side of the child safety seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat .
- For adjustable head restraints: adjust or re
move the rear seat head restraint if it is dif
ficult to install the child seat with the head
restraint in place
r=;.page 56. Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving without head
restraints or with head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
r=;, page 135, Safety belts,
r=;, page 143, Airbag system and
9 page 167, Important information.
_&. WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the front
passenger's seat, the child's safety and well-
Child safety
being require that the following special pre
cautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has been
designed and certified by its manufacturer
for use on a front seat with a passenger
front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc
tions provided with the child safety seat or
infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position of the passenger
seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as
far away from the airbag as possible before installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents the front passenger's seat from being moved to
the rearmost position in its fore and aft ad
justment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an up
right position.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restraint system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CO player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats). These may influence the electrical
capacitance measured by the capacitive pas
senger detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious per
sonal injury.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in
stall the forward-facing child seat at a seat-
ing position on the rear seat and have the
Ill-
175
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In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children, who must be in the front seat be
cause of exceptional circumstances, be properly
restrained and as far away from the airbag as
possible . By keeping room between the child's
body and the front of the passenger compart
ment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro
vide supplemental protection in certain frontal
collisions .
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the booster
seat improperly, incorrectly installing a boos
ter seat or using the vehicle safety belt im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death in a collision or other emer
gency situation. To help reduce the risk of se
rious personal injury and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body . It must never lie across the throat or
neck. The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen.
Make sure that the belt lies flat and snug.
Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- Failure to properly route safety belts over a
child's body will cause severe injuries in an
accident or other emergency situation
¢ page 135.
-The rear side of the child safety seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat.
- For adjustable head restraints : adjust or re
move the rear seat head restraint if it is dif
ficult to install the child seat with the head restraint in place¢
page 56. Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving without head
restraints or with head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically .
- Children on the front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously in
jured or even killed when an airbag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any seat,
for example the front seat.
-
Child safety
-Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
- Always remember that a child leaning for
ward, sitting sideways or out of position in any way during an accident can be struck by
a deploying airbag. This will result in serious
personal injury or death.
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of exceptional
circumstances the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light must come on and stay on, when
ever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described ¢
page 154, Monitoring
the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restraint off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢ page 135, Safety belts,
¢ page 143, Airbag system and
¢ page 167, Important information.
Securing child seats
Securing a child safety seat using a safety
belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front pas
senger can be locked with the convertible locking
retractor to properly secure child safety seats.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors for
the rear seats safety belts and for the front pas
senger's seat safety belt have a convertible lock
ing retractor for child restraints. The safety belt
must be locked so that belt webbing cannot un
reel. The retractor can be activated to lock the
safety belt and prevent the safety belt webbing
from loosening up during normal driving. A child
safety seat can only be properly installed when
the safety belt is locked so that the child and
child safety seat will stay in place .
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
177
Child safety
children, especially those 12 years and younger,
should always ride in the back seat properly re
strained for their age and size.
A WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in a collision.
-
-Always make sure that the safety belt re
tractor is locked when installing a child safe
ty seat . An unlocked safety belt retractor
cannot hold the child safety seat in place
during normal driving or in a crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it . A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat back
rest to which the center rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used to se
cure a child restraint.
- If the backrest is not securely latched, the
child and the child restraint will be thrown
forward together with the backrest and will
strike parts of the vehicle interior. The child can be seriously injured or killed.
- Never install rear-facing child safety seats or
infant carriers on the front passenger seat.
A child will be seriously injured and can be killed when the passenger airbag inflates.
- 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
or infant carriers on the rear seat .
- Forward-facing child safety seats or infant
carriers installed on the front passenger's
seat may interfere with the deployment of
the airbag and cause serious injury to the child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing child
safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
Qpage 167. Special precautions
178
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat
Q page 144, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
A WARNING
Always take special precautions if you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child re
straint on the front passenger's seat in excep
tional situations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described
Q page 154, Monitoring
the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restraint off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
- Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protection.
- An improperly installed child restraint can interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child .
-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- After checking to make sure that the child
restraint is properly installed, make certain
that the child restraint is correctly recog
nized by the capacitive passenger detection
system in the front passenger seat and that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light signals
the correct front passenger frontal airbag
status.
A WARNING
Forward-facing child restraints:
-
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-Always mak e sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag .
- Never pu t the forward-facing child restraint
up, aga inst or very near the ins trument pan
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air
bag as possib le befo re installing the for
wa rd-fac ing child restra int. The backres t
must be ad justed to an up right posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and s tays on all the t ime
whe never the ignition is switched on.
_& WARNING
Rearw ard-fac ing ch ild restra ints:
- A ch ild in a rearwa rd-facing child safety seat
installed on the fron t passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be k ille d if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflati ng a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great fo rce and
will smash the ch ild safety seat and chi ld
against the backrest, center armrest, door
o r roof.
- Always be especially caref ul if you must in
stall a rearward facing ch ild safety seat on
the front passenger seat in exceptional cir
cumstances .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the t ime
whenever the ignition is switched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immed iately in
stall the rear-fac ing c hild safety seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Au di deale r.
Child sa fety
Act ivating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to secure a
child restraint .
Always heed the ch ild safety seat manufac ture r's
ins truc tions when ins talling a child res train t in
your vehicle . T o activate the convertible locking
re tractor:
.. Place the child restraint on a sea t, preferably on
the rear sea t.
.. Slowly p ull the belt
all the way out .
.. Route it a round or through the child rest ra int
be lt pat h
~ .& .
.. Push the c hild safety sea t down with you r full
we igh t to ge t the sa fe ty belt re ally t igh t.
.. Insert the belt tongue into the buc kle for tha t
seating posit ion .
.. Guide the saf ety belt back into the retractor un
til the belt lies flat and sn ug on the ch ild safety
seat .
.. You should hear a "clicking" noise as the belt
w inds bac k into the ine rtia reel. Test the con
vert ible locking retracto r by pu lli ng on the belt .
Yo u shou ld no lo nger be able to pull the belt
ou t of the re tr actor. The conve rtible locking re
t racto r is now ac tiva ted .
.. Ma ke s ure that the red release button is fac ing
away from the child rest raint so that it can be
unbuckled quickly .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure the safety be lt is
properly tight and fastened so t hat the se at
cannot move forward or sideways more than
one inch (2 .5 cm) .
_& WARNING
Using the wrong child re straint o r an i mprop
e rly insta lled child rest raint can cau se serious
p erson al injury or deat h in a cra sh .
- Always ma ke sure that the safe ty belt re
tr act o r i s lo cked when in sta lling a child safe
ty seat . An unloc ked sa fety belt retrac tor
cannot hold the child safety seat in place
du ring normal d riving or in a c rash.
- Always buckle the child sa fe ty seat firmly in
p lace even if a ch ild is not sitting in it. A
loose child safety seat can fly aro und durin g
a sudden stop or in a c rash. ..,.
179
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Tether anchors and tether straps
Fig. 176 Tether ancho rs: attach ment hook locatio ns be·
h ind t he rear sea tbacks
The tethe r anchors for the two/three* rear seat
ing positions are located on the backside of the
rear seatbacks
~ fig. 176 . Vehicles with two rear
seating positions are equipped with two tether
anchors.
A tether is a straight or V-shaped strap that at
taches the top part of a ch ild restraint to special
anchorage points in the vehicle.
The purpose of the te ther is to reduce the for
ward movement of the child restraint in a c rash,
in order to help reduce the risk of head injury that
could be caused by striking the vehicle interior.
F orward facing child restrain ts manufact ured af
ter Sep tember 1, 1999, are required by U.S . fed
eral reg ulations to comply with new child head
movement performance requirements. These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new chi ld safety seat s.
A WARNING
Improper installation of chi ld restraints will
increase the risk of i njury and death in a crash .
- Always follow the instructions prov ided by
the manufacturer of the child restra int you
intend to install i n your Aud i.
- Improper use of ch ild restra int anchors (in
cluding tether anchors) can lead to injury in
a collision . The anchors are des igned to
withstand only those loa ds i mposed by cor
rect ly fit ted child restra ints .
- N ever mount two chi ld restraint systems on
one LATC H lower anchor point .
.
Child sa fe ty
- Never attach two child restraint systems to
one tether strap or tether anchorage.
- Never attach a tether strap to a tie-down
hook in the luggage compartment.
- Never use child restraint tether anchorages
to secure safety belts or other k inds of occ u
pant restraints.
- Never secure or attac h any luggage or other
items to the LATCH lower anchorages or to
the tether anchors.
- If you must insta ll a rearwa rd facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of except ional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
Installing the upper tether strap on the
anchorage
Fig . 1 77 Tet her st ra p: prop er rou ting a nd m ou nting
Installing the tether st rap
... Release o r deploy the tet her st rap on the ch ild
restraint ac cording to the chi ld restraint manu
facturer's instructions.
... Guide the upper te ther strap
under the rear
head restraint ~
fig. 177 (raise the head re
straint if necessary).
... Attach the tether strap anchorage hook into the
tether anchorage.
... Pull on the tether strap hook so that the spring
catch of the hook engages .
.,. Tighten the tether strap firmly follow ing the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions.
ll>
183
Child safety
Releasing the teth er str ap
.,. Loosen the tension following the c hild restra int
manufacturer's instructions.
.,. Depress the spring catch on the hook and re
lease it from the anchorage.
(D Note
I f you leave the child restraint with the tether
strap firmly insta lled for severa l days, this
co uld leave a mark on the upho lstery on the
seat cush ion and backrest in the area where
the tet he r strap was installed. The upholstery
would also be permanently stretched around the tethe r stra p. This a pplies espec ially to
l e ather seats.
Using tether straps on rearward-facing
child restraints
Cur rently, few rear-facing child rest raint systems
come with a tethe r. P lease read and h eed the
child restra int system manufactu rer's instruc
tions carefully to determ ine how to properly in
stall the tether.
A WARNING
A c hild in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
air bag infl ates -even w ith an Advance d Ai rb ag
System.
- T he inflati ng a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infa nt c arrie r with gre at force and
will smash t he chi ld safety seat and ch ild
against the bac krest, center armrest, or
doo r.
- If you mus t insta ll a rearward facing chi ld
safety seat on the fro nt passenger seat be
ca use of exceptional ci rc u mstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-fac ing c hild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspec ted by your A udi dealer .
184
Additional information
· Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
There are a number o f sources of additiona l infor
mation about child restraint se lection, insta lla
tion and use :
N HT SA advises t hat the bes t chi ld safety seat is
the one tha t fits yo ur child and fits in yo ur vehi
cle, and that you will use correctly and co nsis
tent ly.
Try before yo u buy!
U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Admin ist ra
t ion
Tel.: 1 -888-3 27-4 236 (TIY: 1-8 00-42 4-9153)
www. n htsa .gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (202) 662-0600
www.safe kids.o rg
Safety BeltSaf e U.S.A
Tel.: (800) 7 45-SAFE (English)
T el.: (800) 747-SANO (Spanish)
www. ca rseat.org
T ransport Canada Information Centre
Tel.: 1-800-333-0371 o r call 1-613-998-86 16 if
yo u are in the Ottawa a rea
http://www .t c.gc. ca/e ng/ roadsafety/menu .htm
Audi Customer Relations
Tel.: (800) 822-2834