2016 AUDI A7 light

Child safety
airbag system inspected by your authorized
Audi dealer.
- 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 .
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats con help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80
lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who ore less than 4
ft. 9
in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall .
Fig. 171 Rear seat: ch ild prope rly restrained in a booster
seat
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i i
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in . (57 in­
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these children up so
that the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety belt
can help protect them in a crash.
• Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain
a child on a booster seat.
• The shoulder be lt must lie as close to the cen­
ter 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 the
belt lies flat and snug . Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary.
• If you must transport an older child in a boos­
ter seat on the front passenger seat, you can
use the safety belt height adjustment to help
adjust the shoulder portion properly .
176
• Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r=;, page 172 .
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs or
18 kg) are best protected in child safety seats de­
signed for their age and weight . Experts say that
the skeletal structure, particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
suitable child restraint .
It is usually best to put these children in appro­
priate booster seats . Be sure the booster seat
meets all applicable safety standards.
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder parts of the safety belt so that they pass across
the child 's body in the right places. The routing of
the belt over the child 's body is very important
for the child's protection, whether or not a boos ­
ter seat is used. Children age 12 and under must
always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/
1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle's
three point lap and shoulder belts . Never use the
lap belt portion of the vehicle's safety belt alone
to restrain any child, regardless of how big the
child is. Always remember that childr en do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap belt portion of the ve­
hicle 's three point lap and shoulder belts. The
child's safety absolutely requires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snugly and
as low as possible around the pelvis . Never let
the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over
the child's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink of
an eye and with considerable force . In order to do
its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
will be there to protect the occupant as the occu­
pant moves forward into the airbag .
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and too
close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating
airbag . When an occupant is too close, he or she
will be struck violently and will receive serious or
possibly even fatal injury. .,..

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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

Intelligent Technology
shared, p le a se see yo ur contract with the
wireless telecomm unications provider and the
"About Aud i connect" tab in your vehicle's
MMI:
! MENUI button> Audi connect > About
Audi connect .
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of sk id­
d ing and loss of veh icle control.
It works only
when the engine is runn ing. ESC detects certa in
d ifficult d riving situations, including when the ve­
h icle is beginn ing to sp in (yaw) o ut of control and
he lps you to ge t the veh icle back u nder cont ro l b y
selec tively braking the whee ls, and/or reduc ing
engine power and providing steering assistance
to help hold the vehicle on the driver's i ntended
course. The indicator light
DJ in the instrument
cluster blinks when ESC is taking action to help
you control t he veh icle.
ESC has lim itations. It is important to remember
that ESC cannot overcome the laws of physics. It
will not a lways be ab le to he lp out under all con­
d itions you may come up against. For example,
ESC may not always be able to help you master
situations where there is a sudden change in the
coefficient of friction of the road surface. Whe n
there is a section of d ry road tha t is s udden ly cov ­
ere d wi th wa ter, s lush or snow, ESC ca nnot per­
form the same way it wou ld on the d ry s urface . If
the vehicle hydroplanes ( rides on a cushion of wa ­
ter instead of t he road surface), ESC wi ll not be
ab le to he lp you steer the veh icle because contact
with the pavement has been i nterrupted and the
ve hicle cannot be b raked or steered. Dur ing fast
cor ne ring, particula rly o n w inding roads, ESC
cannot a lways deal as eff ect ively wi th d iff icu lt
d riving situat ions than at lowe r speeds.
Always ad just your speed and dr iv ing style to
road, traffic and weather conditions. ESC ca nnot
over ride the vehicle's physical limi ts, increase t he
ava ilab le tract io n, or keep a vehi cle on t he road if
roa d de pa rture is a res ult o f driver in att enti on.
I nstead, ESC improves the poss ibility of keeping
188
the veh icle unde r control and on the road dur ing
extreme maneuve rs by using the dr iver's stee ring
i nputs to help keep the vehicle going in the in ­
tended direction. If yo u are traveling at a speed
that causes you to run off the road before ESC
can p rov ide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.
ESC is switc hed on all the time. In certain s itua­
tions when you need less tracti on, you can switch
off ASR by press ing the button
[ru c:> page 189,
fig . 178. Be sure to sw itch ASR on aga in when
you no longer need l ess traction.
The following systems are integrated in the ESC:
Anti -lock braking system (ABS )
ABS prevents the whee ls from locki ng when brak ­
i ng . T he veh icle can st ill be stee red even during
hard braking. App ly steady pressure to the brake
pedal. Do not pump the pedal. A puls ing in the
brake pedal indicates that the system is acting to
stab ilize the veh icle.
Brake assist sy stem
The bra ke ass ist system can decrease braking dis­
tance. It increases bra king power when the driver
presses the brake peda l quickly in emergency sit­
uat ions. You must press and hold the b rake peda l
u nt il the dange rous situat io n is over . In vehicles
with adaptive cruise co ntro l*, the brake ass ist
system is more sensitive if t he d ista nce detected
to t he veh icle a head is too sma ll.
Anti-slip regulation (ASR)
ASR red uces eng ine power when the drive wheels
begin spin ning and adapts the force to the road
cond it ions . Th is makes it eas ier to sta rt, acce ler­
ate a nd dr ive up incl ines.
Electronic differential lock (EDL)
EDL applies t he brakes to a whee l that starts
sp inning a nd tra nsfe rs the d rive power to the
othe r drivi ng whee ls. This function is not ava ila­
ble at hig he r speeds.
In extreme cases, EDL automatically sw itches off
to keep the brake o n the braked whee l from over­
hea ting. The vehicle is st ill work ing cor rect ly. EDL ..,.

Intelligent Technology
ESC lev els
Sport mode on Sport mode off
Beha vior
The ESC and ASR stabilization f unctions are The full stabilization function of t he ESC
limited
c> ,& . and ASR is avai lab le again .
Operation Press the 1.$ OFF I button. Press the 1.$ OFF I button agai n.
In dicato r II turns on. II turns off.
light s
Driv er m es- S ta bi liz at ion contr ol (ESC ): sport. Warn -Stabiliz ati on c ontr ol (ESC ): on
s age s ing! Res tricted stabilit y
A WARNING
Only switch sport mode on when yo ur driving
abilities and the traffic situation permit, be­
cause there is a risk of sliding.
- The stabilization function is limited when
sport mode is switched on. The dr iv ing
wheels could spin and the vehicle could
swerve, especially on slick or slippery road
s u rfaces .
(D Tips
-Sport mode cannot be switched on if the
cruise control system* or adaptive cruise
control* is switched on.
- If the rear spoiler system malfunctions,
sport mode may not switch on or it may
switch off again automat ically.
Braking
What affects braking efficiency?
New brake pads
During the f irst 250 miles (400 km), new brake
pads do not possess the ir full braking effect, they
have to be "broken in" first
c> ,& . You can com­
pensate for this sl ightly reduced brak ing power
by pushing ha rder on the brake pedal. Avoid
heavy brak ing loads dur ing the b reak-in per iod.
Operat ing condit ions and d riving hab its
The brakes on today's automobi les are st ill sub­
ject to wear, depending largely on operating con ­
d itions and dr iving habits
c> ,& . On veh icles that
are either driven mostly in stop-and-go c ity t raf­
fic or are dr iven hard, the b rake pads should be
checked by your author ized Audi dea ler mo re of -
190
ten than specified in the Warrant y & Mainte­
nan ce b ookl et.
F ail ure to have your brake pads
inspected can resu lt in reduced brake perform ­
ance.
On steep slopes, you sho uld use the braking ef­
f ect of the engine. This way, you prevent unnec ­
essary wear on the brake system. If yo u must use
you r brakes, do not hold the brakes down contin ­
u ously. Pump the brakes at intervals .
Operating noise
Noises may occur when braking depend ing on the
speed, braking force and ou tside cond itions su ch
as temperature and hum idity .
Effect of wat er and road salt
In certa in situations, for examp le after driv ing
t hr ough water, in heavy rain, after overnight con­
densa tion or after washing yo ur ca r, the bra king
effect can be reduced by moisture or ice on the
brake rotors and brake pads . The brakes must be
dried fi rst with a few careful brake applications .
At higher speeds and with the winds hield wipers
turned on, the brake pads press against the brake rotors for a short amount of time . This occurs at
r egular intervals without the driver noticing and
provides for better brake response time under
wet cond itions .
The effect iveness of the brakes can be reduced
when the vehicle is d riven on a salt-covered road
and the brakes are not used. Likewise, you clean
off accumulated salt coating from brake discs
and pads wi th a few caut ious applications of the
brake
c> ,& . IJI>