Driving sa fe ty
Driving safety
Basics
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instruct ions and warn ings that you need to
read and observe for your own safety, the safety
of your passengers and others. We have summar ized here what you need to know about safety
be lts, a irbags, child restra ints as well as child
safety. Your safety is for us
priority number 1 . Al
ways observe the i nfo rmation and wa rn ings in
this section - for your own safety as well as that
of your passengers.
The information i n this section applies to all
model versions of yo ur vehicle . Some of the fea
tures descr ibed in t his sections may be s tanda rd
equipment on some models, or may be optional
equipment on others . If you are not sure, ask
your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in
structions and heed the WARNINGS in th is
Manual.
It is in your interest and in the in
te rest of your passengers.
- Always keep the comp lete Owner's Litera
ture in your A udi when you lend or sell your
vehicle so that this important information
will always be available to the d river and
passenge rs.
- Always keep the Owner 's literature handy so
that you can find it easily if you have ques
t ions.
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant re
straint system and work together to help reduce
the risk of injury in a wide variety of occident si t
uations.
Your safety and the safety of your passenge rs
should not be left to chance. Advan ces i n tech
nology have made a var iety of features avai lab le
to help reduce t he risk of injury in an accident .
118
The following is a list of just a few of the sa fety
features in your Audi :
- sophis tica ted safety be lts fo r dr ive r and all pas-
senge r seat ing pos itions,
- safety belt p retensioners,
- safety belt force lim ite rs fo r th e front seats,
- safety belt he ight adjustment systems for the
front seats,
- front airbags,
- knee airbags for the front seats*
- side airbags in the front seats and outer rear
seats*,
- side curtain airbags with ejection mitigation
features,
- special LATCH anchorages for child restraints,
- head rest raints fo r ea ch seating position,
- adj ustab le steering col umn.
These ind iv idual safety features, can work to
ge ther as a system to help protect you and your
passengers in a wide range of acc idents. These
features canno t wo rk as a sys tem if they are not
alw ays cor rec tly adj usted and cor rect ly used.
Safety is everybody' s re sponsibility!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occupant
safety always depends on the informed and care
ful driver .
For your safety and the safety of your passen
gers,
before driving alway s:
.. Make sure that a ll lights and signals are operat
ing correctly.
.. Make sure that the tire pressure is correct.
.,. Make sure that all windows are clean and afford
good visibility to the outs ide .
.. Sec ure all luggage and othe r items carefully
~page 62, ~ page 60.
.. Ma ke sure that noth ing ca n interfere wi th the
peda ls .
.. Adjust front seat, head restraint and mirrors
correctly for yo ur height .
.. Instruct passengers to adjust the head re
straints according to their he ight.
-Passengers who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the airbag can be seri
ously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front pas
senger's breastbone and the instrument
panel.
- Always make sure that there are at least
4 inches (10 cm) between the front passen ger's knees and the lower part of the instru
ment panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the safety belt belonging to that seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front pas
senger seat properly.
- For adjustable head restraints: before driv
ing, always also adjust the head restraints
properly.
-Always keep your feet on the floor in front
of the seat. Never rest them on the seat, in
strument panel, out of the window, etc. The
airbag system and safety belt will not be
able to protect you properly and can even in
crease the risk of injury in a crash .
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due
to incorrect positioning of the safety belt and improper seating position.
- Children must always ride in child seats
c> page 159. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat
c> page 135.
Proper seating positions for passengers in
rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with both
feet on the floor consistent with their physical
size and be properly restrained whenever the ve
hicle is in use.
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incorrect
seating position in the event of a sudden braking
maneuver or an accident, your passengers on the
rear bench seat must always observe the follow
ing:
Driving safety
.,. For adjustable head restraints: adjust the head
restraint so the upper edge is as even as possi
ble with the top of your head. If that is not pos
sible, try to adjust the head restraint so that it
is as close to this position as possible
c>page 121 .
.,. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front of
the rear seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts properly
c> page 130.
.,. Make sure that children are always properly re
strained in a child restraint that is appropriate
for their size and ager:!;>
page 159.
A WARNING
-
Passengers who are improperly seated on the
rear seat can be seriously injured in a crash.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat.
- Safety belts only offer maximum protection
when the safety belts are properly posi
tioned on the body and securely latched. By not sitting upright, a rear seat passenger in
creases the risk of personal injury from im
properly positioned safety belts!
- For adjustable head restraints: always ad
just the head restraint properly so that it
can give maximum protection.
Proper adjustment of head restraints
App lies to: vehicles with adjusta ble head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an impor
tant part of your vehicle's occupant restraint sys
tem and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in
accident situations.
Fig. 142 Head restraint: viewed from the front
121
~ Push the loop-around fittings up qfig. 153 @,
or
~ squeeze together the(!) button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
~ 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
qpage 129.
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 pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive
n ess of safety be lts and will
even i ncrease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the correct seat ing posi
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
Q A .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occupants
are correctly restra ined and stay in a co rrect
seating pos it io n whenever the ve hicle is be
ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important in format ion
q page 129.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
Rever sible safety belt tensioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The following
funct ions are available when the dr iver's/front
passenger's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the MMI :
!CARI function
button
> (Car )* system s > Vehicle setting s >
Seats > Driver's seat or Passeng er' s s eat > Au
tom atic belt ten sioner
> Off .
- In certain driving situations, the safety bel ts
may tighten w it h a reve rsib le tensioning func
tion
q page 177.
-The safety be lts may also tigh ten with this re-
versible tension ing function in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners
The safety belts are equipped w it h safety belt
prete nsioners. The system is activated by sensors
in front, side and rear -end collisions of great se
verity and in a ro llover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
q .& in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 134.
Taking up
the slack he lps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
--
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the pyrotech
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
133
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
gers , before driving off, always :
.,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
9 page 119,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
9 page 53,
.,. Wear safety belts properly 9 page 129 ,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
9 page 159.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supplemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driv er or th e front s eat passenger is not seat ed
properly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger to si t properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental pro tection
in certain frontal collisions
o page 119, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
o page 53.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
9page 159.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of th e Ad
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im
mediately after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward mov e
ment . Togethe r they help to prevent the drive r
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another, it is not possi
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will
II>
135
Airbag syste m
Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The air
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
child restraint and even seriously injure the child
during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for children -when properly restrain
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
¢ page 159, Child safety.
.8, WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i
ously injured and can be killed if the front air
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the chi ld seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing chi ld
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN
GER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing ch ild seats insta lled on the
front passenger's seat may interfe re with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se
rious persona l injury to the child.
.8, WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing se at
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and side airbag .
138
-
-Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible before installing the for
ward-facing child restraint . The backrest
must be adjusted to an upr ight position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on a ll the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is swi tched on.
.8, WARNING
To reduce the ris k of serious injury, ma ke sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t will
be d isp layed whenever a ch ild rest raint is in
stalled on the front passenger seat and the ignition is switched on.
-If the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 146 , Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag 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.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dea ler immediately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal
ling child restra ints.
.8, WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kil l the child -even
w ith an Advan ced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat or
earner.
Airbag syste m
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat instal
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
you r vehicle is designed to tu rn off the front
airbag when a rea rward-facing child re
straint has been insta lled on the fron t pas
senger seat, nobody can absolutely g uaran
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con
ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating airbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN
G ER A IR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear
facing child seat in a rea r seating pos ition
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, i n ex cept ional circumstances, you must i n
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing se at
has been designed and ce rtified by its man
ufacturer for use on a f ront seat with a pas
senger front and side a irbag .
- Never put the forward -facing child restraint
u p 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 backrest
must be adjusted to an upright posit ion.
142
- Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenge r seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to s ignal that it is occupied by some
one who is heavier than the person act ually
si tti ng o n the sea t. T he prese nce of addi
tional obje cts could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off , or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is d ifferent from the way it wou ld
have wo rked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OF F light 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 A irbag
System i n it. These parts incl ude t he capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, b rackets,
and more. The control uni t monitors the system
o n the front passenge r seat when t he ignit ion is
swi tched on and turns the airbag indica tor ligh t
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected
~ page 147 . Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged.
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
do ing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the following:
- Crash sensors i n the front of the veh icle that
measu re vehicle acce le ration/dece le ration to
prov ide informa tion to the Advanced A irbag
System abo ut the sever ity of the cr as h .
- An elect roni c contro l unit, w ith integ rated
cr ash sensors for front an d side impacts. The
c ont rol u nit "de cides" whether to fi re the fron t
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The cont ro l unit also "de
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated. ..,_
Child safety
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 immediately by your Audi dealer .
A WARNING
-Forward-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag and cause serious
personal injury to the child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety
and well-being require the following special
precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-facing seat has been designed and certified by its
manufacturer for use on a front passenger
seat with a front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat
or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions require the top tether strap to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child re
straint up against or very near the instru
ment panel.
-Always set the safety belt upper anchor
age to the adjustment position that per
mits proper installation in accordance
with the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing the
child restraint. The backrest must be ad
justed to an upright position .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range .
160
-Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games de
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats) . These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measured by the capaci
tive passenger detection system and can
also fly around in an accident and cause
serious personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heat
er 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
otherwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restraint sys
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Always 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, immediate ly install the forward-facing child seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your authorized Audi
dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it. A
loose child seat can fly around during a
sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in a vehi
cle
¢ page 12 7, Safety belts, ¢ page 135,
Airbag system
and ¢ page 159, Impor
tant information.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were in
stalled in a vehicle during a crash. Damage to
a child restraint that is not visible could cause
it to fail in another collision situation.
Child safety
-Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu
facturer for use on a front seat w ith a
passenger front and side airbag .
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer 's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat o r carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position of the passenger
seat's fore a nd aft adjustment range, and
as far away from the airbag as possible be
fore insta lling the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenge r's seat from be ing
moved to the rearmost posit ion in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the back rest is in
the upr ight position .
- Never place or use any e lectr ica l device
(such as a laptop , CD player , e lectron ic
g ames device, power inve rter or sea t heat
er for ch ild 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
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any chi ld restraint sys
tem on th is seat .
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth
er liqu ids on the front passenger seat
cushion .
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a laptop, CD p layer, electron ic games de
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats). These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measured by the capaci tive passenge r detection system and can
a lso fly around in an accident and cause
serio us personal in jury.
- Always bu ckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not s itting in it. A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collisio n.
- Always re ad a nd heed all WARN INGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢ page 12 7, Safety belts,
164
c::> page 135 , Airbag system and
c::> page 159 , Child safety .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on whenever a ch ild re
stra int is installed on the front passenger seat
and the ign ition is switched on .
- Take the child restra int off the front passen
ge r seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
~ - --,..---.-- --,,. N
Fig. 16 4 Schem ati c overv iew: keep unused safety belts
away from child re n in c hild safety seats. @· ou te r rear
s afety belt
"' ~
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal lower anchorag
es, the unused safety belts
must be sec ured so
that the c hild in the child rest raint cannot reach
them
c::> _&. .
- Guide the safety belt webbing @ behind the
head rest raint of the seat where the child re
st raint is installed
c::> fig . 164. When doing so,
do not engage the convert ib le loc king re trac·
to r! Yo u should not he ar a "cl icking " so und
when winding up the safety bel t.
- Let the belt retracto r wind up the safety belt
webbing.