2016 AUDI Q3 ESP

Safety belt s
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safe ty belts correctly saves lives!
This chapte r explains why safety be lts a re neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correct ly.
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of ser ious personal
injury and dea th .
- Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
mea ns ava ilab le to reduce the risk of serious
injury and dea th in automob ile accidents .
For yo ur protect ion and that of your passe n­
gers, alw ays co rre ctly wea r sa fety be lt s
when the veh icle is moving .
- Pregnant wom en, in ju re d, o r physically i m­
paired persons mus t also use s afety be lts.
L ik e all vehi cle o ccu pants, they are mo re
li kely to be serio usly injure d if th ey do no t
wea r safety be lts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mothe r -th roughout
the ent ire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­
i n g position has a safety belt.
&_ WARNING
N ot wea ring safety bel ts or weari ng them im­
properly increases th e r isk of ser ious personal
inju ry and dea th.
- N ever st rap more tha n one perso n, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into a ny be lt .
It is espe­
ci ally dan gerous to pla ce a sa fety bel t over a
c hild s itting on you r lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in t he vehicle
t h an t he re are saf ety bel ts availab le.
104
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
be lt or ch ild restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig . 11 0 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in th e in st ru ment clu s·
ter · enl arged
Before driving off , always:
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
"' 0 ,;, .. m
.. Ma ke sure that your passengers also b uck le up
and properly wear t heir safety belts.
.. Protect your chi ldren with a ch ild restraint sys ­
tem app ropr iate for the size and age of the chil­
dren .
The wa rning lig ht . in the inst rument cluste r
li ghts up w hen the ig nition is switched on as a re­
minde r to fas ten the safety be lts . In addition,
you w ill hear a wa rn in g tone for a ce rtain per iod
of time .
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passenger s also properly put on their safe­
ty belt s.
&_ WARNING -
- Safety bel ts are the sing le mos t eff ec tive
means available to re du ce the risk of serio us
in jur y and dea th in a utomobile accidents.
F or your protection and t hat of yo ur passen­
ge rs, a lways cor rect ly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is movin g.

Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retr actors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automa tic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in a n accident. The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you
move freely.
Safety belt p ret en sion ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated.
The function of the pretensioner is mon itored by
a warning light
r:::') page 16.
Convertib le loc king retracto r
Every safety be lt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
mus t be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant information about this feature
c:;,page 141.
.&_ WARNING
Imprope rly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
¢page 108,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat back­
rest to which the center rea r safety belt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effec­
tiveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
108
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­ men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
¢page 143.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 117 Safety belt posit ion
-"' .... 9 I ... a,
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
s ize.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- height-adjustab le front seats.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- 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. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across t he chest so that it s its as low as pos­
sib le on the pe lvis and there is no p re ssure
on the a bdomen . The belt sho uld a lways f it
snug ly
c:;, fig. 117. Pull on the belt to tig hten
if necessary .
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never
over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c:;, fig. 117. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can ca use serious
injuries by sh ifting its position on your body ..,_

Safety belts
The shou lder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the body
c::> A in Safety belt position on
page 108.
"' Push
the loop -around fittings up c::> fig. 120 @,
or
"'squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings down@.
"'Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­ er important informat ion
c::> page 106.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
veh icle occupants and especially for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
c>_& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
110
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> page 106.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts ore tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
c::> & in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 111.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward .
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be acti­
vated once.
- Th e safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli­
sions.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are acti­
vated, a fine dust is released. This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle.
- Th e relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop is familiar
with these regulations and will be pleased
to pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
vidual parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have your authorized Aud i
dealer perform this service for you.

Airbag syste m
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop ­
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 96,
"' Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 50,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 106 ,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 132.
In a coll is io n ai rbags must inflate wi thin the b link
of an eye and with cons iderable force . The sup ­
p lemental airbags can ca use injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper·
Ly. T herefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all t imes .
By keeping room between yo ur body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collis ions ¢
page 96, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢ page SO.
It's especially important that children a re proper ­
ly restra ined
¢ page 132 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
112
reaching the peda ls, special modifications to
your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact yo ur autho rized Aud i dea le r, or call A udi
C u stomer Rela tions at 1-800 -82 2-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, b reak open the padded cov­
ers, and inflate betwee n the steeri ng wheel and
the driver and between the inst rument panel and
the front passenger . The a irbags w ill deflate im­
mediate ly after dep loyment so t hat the front oc ­
cupants can see through the windsh ie ld again
without interruption.
A ll of th is takes p lace in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be i n the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it the occupant's forward move­
ment . T ogether they he lp to prevent the driver
a nd front seat passenger from h itti ng pa rts of
t h e inside the veh icle w hile reducing the fo rces
acti ng on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of inju ry to the
head and uppe r body i n 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 trigge ring of the airbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con­
tro l unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . Vehi­
cle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack of vehi­
cl e damage is not necessari ly an indica tion of
whethe r an a irbag should inflate o r not.
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cove r every possible k ind and an­
gle of impa ct that will always tr igger the airbags,
s ince the circumst ances w ill vary cons iderably be ­
tween one collision and another. Important fac­
tors include, for example, the natu re (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angl e of
i mpact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will ..,_

also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
A lwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another after the first collis ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r:::;,page 104.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by stri king
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle d uring a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
-If you are unrest rained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is mu ch h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up ag ainst the
airbag or too close to it w hen it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear sa fety belts prope rly
r:::;, page 107, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children r ide unrestrained or im­
p roperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
r:::;, page 96.
-Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects , Items can also mo ve in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
b ag d uring braking o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts ne ar the airbags can be come
p roject iles and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
A WARNING ,.___ -
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and installed by a t rained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effect iveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
he ad the WARN INGS for impo rtant deta ils
113

Airbag system
about children and Advanced Airbags
c:>page 132.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways ride in the back seat proper ly restrained for
their age and size. 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 can be a very dangerous place for
an infant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to comply with the requirements
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 vehicle was manufactured.
According to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
ployment" 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
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the electronic control unit.
Each time you switch on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
-will stay on if there is a small chi ld or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as registered by the weight­
sensing mat
c:> page 122, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a tota l we ight on
the front passenger seat that requires the front
airbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year-old child but
114
less than the weight of a sma ll adult, the front
airbag on the passenger side can dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on). If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been turned off by the electron ic
control unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor­
ed in its memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regardless of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c:> page 134), o r
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
i nstrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) even if a small adult
or teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up­
right with their back against a non-reclined back­
rest with the ir feet on the vehicle floor in front of
the seat is on the front passenger seat
c:> page 96, Proper seating position for the driver.
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the r isk of in­
jury through interact ion w ith the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place a t lower decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic control unit
c:> page 122, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly inflat­
i ng passenger's airbag in a frontal collision . The
airbag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
ch ild during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for children -when proper ly restrain­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
Ill>

Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants .
Fig. 121 Location of d river airbag : in steer ing w hee l
Fig. 122 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with Un ited States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable 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 be lts also have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub <=>
fig. 121 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
<=>fig. 122. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
116
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
i nformation 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 airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained .
.&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing 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 impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heav ier than the typical 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 seat area than
in the front seating pos ition.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.

greater detail below. Because the front passen­
ger seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to pre ­
vent it from being damaged. Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for the front
passenger seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Ad vanced Airb ag S ystem con sis ts
of the follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/decelerat io n to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, 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 also "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 inside 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 the total weight on the seat . The
information registered is sent continuously to
the e lectron ic control unit to regulate dep loy­
ment of the front Adva need A irbag on the pas ­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light i n the instrument cluster
¢ page 122.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation reg istered is sent cont inuous ly to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the fro nt Adv a need A irbags.
- T he
PASS EN GE R AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
pane l¢
page 122, fig . 124 and tells you when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenge r
side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure the tension on
Airb ag sys tem
the sa fety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight registered 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¢
page 113, 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 t he electronic
cont rol un it.
_& WARNING
Damage to the front passenge r seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Imp roper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
workshop 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 o r remove par ts from the
seat o r disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sh arp objects in your pocke ts or
p lace them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctu red
it cannot work proper ly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenger seat. S uch items can
increase the weight reg istered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the a irbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working p roper ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
p roved by A udi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir­
bag System from recognizing chi ld
119