2016 MERCEDES-BENZ SLK-Class Accident

When fastening the seat belt, always make
sure that:
Rthe seat belt tongue is only inserted to thebelt buckle belonging to that seat.
Rthe seat belt is tight across your body.
Avoid wearing bulky clothing, e.g. a winter
coat.
Rthe seat belt is not twisted.
Only then can the forces which occur be
distributed over the area of the belt.
Rthe shoulder section of the belt is always
routed across the center of your shoulder.
The shoulder section of the belt must not
come into contact with your neck or be
routed under your arm.
Rthe lap belt passes tightly and as low down
as possible across your lap.
The lap belt must always be routed across
your hip joints and not across your abdo-
men. This applies particularly to pregnant
women. If necessary, push the lap belt
down to your hip joint and pull it tight using
the shoulder section of the belt.
Rthe seat belt is not routed across sharp,
pointed or fragile objects.
If you have such items located on or in your
clothing, e.g. pens, keys or eyeglasses,
store these in a suitable place.
Ronly one person is using a seat belt at a
time.
Infants and children must never travel sit-
ting on the lap of a vehicle occupant. In the
event of an accident, they could be crushed
between the vehicle occupant and seat
belt.
Robjects are never secured with a seat belt ifthe seat belt is also being used by one of the
vehicle's occupants.
Also ensure that there are never objects
between a person and the seat, e.g. cush-
ions.
Seat belts are only intended to secure and
restrain vehicle occupants. Always observe
the notes in the "Stowage options/compart- ments" section for securing objects, luggage
or loads (
Ypage 254).
Fastening seat belts
Observe the safety notes on the seat belt
(
Ypage 42) and the notes on correct use of
seat belts (
Ypage 43).
Basic illustration
XAdjust the seat (Ypage 96).
The seat backrest must be in an almost
vertical position.
XPull the seat belt smoothly out of belt loop
= and engage belt tongue ;into belt
buckle :.
The seat belt on the driver’s seat and the
front-passenger seat may be tightened
automatically, see "Belt adjustment"
(
Ypage 45).
XIf necessary, pull upwards on the shoulder
section of the seat belt to tighten the belt
across your body.
In order to attach the child restraint system
securely in the vehicle, the seat belt on the
front-passenger seat is equipped with a spe-
cial seat belt retractor. Further information on
the "Special seat belt retractor"
(
Ypage 58).
44Occupant safety
Safety

Air bags
Introd uction
The installation poin tof an air bag can be rec -
ognized by th eAI R BA Gsymbol.
An air bag complements th ecorrectl yfas -
tene dseat belt .It is no substitut efor th eseat
belt .The air bag provide sadditional protec-
tion in applicable acciden tsituations.
Not all air bags are deployed in an accident.
The differen tair bag systems function inde-
pendentl yfrom on eanother (
Ypage 54) .
However, no system available today can com-
pletely eliminate injurie sand fatalities.
It is also no tpossible to rule out aris kof injury
caused by an air bag due to th ehigh spee dat
whic hth eair bag mus tbe deployed.
Import ant safety notes
GWARNIN G
If you do no tsit in th ecorrec tseat position ,
th eair bag canno tprotect as intended and
could eve ncaus eadditional injury when
deployed. This poses an increased ris kof
injury or eve nfatal injury.
To avoi dhazardous situations, always mak e
sur ethat all of th evehicle's occupants:
Rhav efastene dtheir seat belt scorrectly,
includin gpregnant women
Rare sitting correctl yand maintai nth egreat-
est possibl edistanc eto th eair bags
Rfollow th efollowin ginstruction s
Always mak esur ethat there are no objects
between th eair bag and th evehicle's occu-
pants .
RAdjus tth eseat sproperly before beginning
your journey. Always mak esur ethat th e
seat is in an almost upright position .The
center of th ehead restrain tmus tsupport
th ehead at about eye level.
RMov eth edriver' sand front-passenger
seat sas far bac kas possible .The driver' s
seat position mus tallow th evehicl eto be
driven safely.
ROnly hold th esteering whee lon th eout -
side .This allows th eair bag to be fully
deployed.
RAlways lean again stthebackrest while driv -
ing .Do no tlean forwards or lean against
th edoor or side window. You may other -
wise be in th edeploymen tarea of th eair
bags .
RAlways keep your fee tin th efootwell in
fron tof th eseat .Do no tput your fee ton th e
dashboard, for example. Your fee tmay oth-
erwi sebe in th edeploymen tarea of th eair
bag.
RFo rthis reason ,always secure person sless
than 5ft (1.5 0m) tall in suitable restraint
systems. Up to this height, the seat belt
cannot be worn correctly.
If a child is traveling in your vehicle, also
observe the following notes:
RAlways secure children under twelve years
of age and less than 5 ft (1.50 m)tall in
suitable child restraint systems.
ROnly secure a child in a rearward-facing
child restraint system on the front-
passenger seat when the front-passenger
front air bag is deactivated. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator lamp is permanently lit, the front-passenger front
air bag is deactivated (
Ypage 41).
RAlways observe the instructions and safetynotes on the "Occupant Classification Sys-
tem (OCS)" (
Ypage 49) and on "Children
in the vehicle" (
Ypage 57) in addition to
the child restraint system manufacturer's
installation instructions.
Objects in the vehicle interior may pre-
vent an air bag from functioning correctly.
Before starting yo ur jo
urney and to avoid risks
resulting from the speed of the air bag as it
deploys, make sure that:
Rthere are no people, animals or objects
between the vehicle occupants and an air
bag.
Rthere are no objects between the seat, door
and B-pillar.
46Occupant safety
Safety

Rno accessories, such as cup holders, are
attached to the vehicle within the deploy-
ment area of an air bag, e.g. to doors or side
windows.
Rno heavy, sharp-edged or fragile objects
are in the pockets of your clothing. Store
such objects in a suitable place.
GWARNING
If you modify the air bag cover or affix objects
such as stickers to it, the air bag can no longer
function correctly. There is an increased risk
of injury.
Never modify an air bag cover or affix objects
to it.
GWARNING
Sensors to control the air bags are located in
the doors. Modifications or work not per-
formed correctly to the doors or door panel-
ing, as well as damaged doors, can lead to the
function of the sensors being impaired. The air
bags might therefore not function properly
anymore. Consequently, the air bags cannot
protect vehicle occupants as they are
designed to do. There is an increased risk of
injury.
Never modify the doors or parts of the doors.
Always have work on the doors or door pan-
eling carried out at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
Front air bags
Driver's air bag :deploys in front of the
steering wheel. Front-passenger front air bag
;deploys in front of and above the glove
box.
When deployed, the front air bags offer addi-
tional head and thorax protection for the
occupants in the driver's and front-passenger seats.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF and
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamps
inform you of the status of the front-
passenger front air bag (
Ypage 41).
The front-passenger front air bag will only
deploy if:
Rthe system, based on the OCS weight sen-
sor readings, detects that the front-
passenger seat is occupied (
Ypage 49).
The PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator
lamp is lit (
Ypage 49)
Rthe restraint system control unit predicts a
high accident severity
Knee bags
Driver's knee bag :deploys under the steer-
ing column and front-passenger knee bag ;
under the glove box. The driver's and front-
passenger knee bags are triggered together
with the front air bags.
The driver's and front-passenger knee bags
offer additional thigh, knee and lower leg pro-
tection.
Side impact air bags
GWARNING
Unsuitable seat covers could restrict or even
prevent the deployment of the air bags inte-
Occupant safety47
Safety
Z

grated into the seats. Consequently, the air
bags cannot protect vehicle occupants as
they are designed to do. In addition, the func-tion of the Occupant Classification System
(OCS) could be restricted. This poses an
increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
You should only use seat covers that have
been approved for the respective seat by
Mercedes-Benz.
Side impact air bags :deploy next to the
outer bolster of the seat backrest.
When deployed, the side impact air bag offers
additional thorax protection. However, it does
not protect the:
Rhead
Rneck
Rarms
In the event of a side impact, the side impact
air bag is deployed on the side on which the
impact occurs.
The side impact air bag on the front-
passenger side deploys under the following
conditions:
Rthe OCS system detects that the front-
passenger seat is occupied or
Rthe belt tongue is engaged in the belt
buckle of the front-passenger seat
If the belt tongue is engaged in the belt
buckle, the side impact air bag on the front-
passenger side deploys if an appropriate acci-
dent situation occurs. In this case, deploy-
ment is independent of whether the front-
passenger seat is occupied or not.
Head bags
Head bags :deploy in the area of the side
windows at the front.
When deployed, the headbag enhances the
level of protection for the head. However, it
does not protect the:
Rchest
Rarms
In the event of a side impact, the headbag is
deployed on the side on which the impact
occurs.
If the system determines that they can offer
additional protection to that provided by the
seat belt, a headbag may be deployed in other
accident situations (
Ypage 54).
The headbag on the front-passenger side
does not deploy under the following condi-
tions:
ROCS has detected that the front-passenger
seat is unoccupied.
Rthe front-passenger seat belt is not fas-
tened.
If the belt tongue is engaged in the belt
buckle, the headbag on the front-passenger
side deploys if an appropriate accident situa-
tion occurs. In this case, deployment is inde-
pendent of whether the front-passenger seat
is occupied or not.
48Occupant safety
Safety

Occupant Classification System
(OCS)
Introduction
The Occupant Classification System (OCS)
categorizes the person in the front-passenger
seat. Depending on that result, the front-
passenger front air bag and front-passenger
knee bag are either enabled or deactivated.
The system does not deactivate:
Rthe side impact air bag
Rthe front-passenger head bag
Rthe Emergency Tensioning Devices
Prerequisites
To be classified correctly, the front passenger
must sit:
Rwith the seat belt fastened correctly
Rin an almost upright position with their
back against the seat backrest
Rwith their feet resting on the floor, if possi-
ble
If the front passenger does not observe these
conditions, OCS may produce a false classi-
fication, e.g. because the front passenger:
Rtransfers their weight by supporting them-
selves on a vehicle armrest
Rsits in such a way that their weight is raised from the seat cushion
If you install a child restraint system on the
front-passenger seat, be sure to observe the
correct positioning of the child restraint sys-
tem. Never place objects under or behind the
child restraint system, e.g. cushions. The
entire base of the child restraint system must always rest on the seat cushion of the front-
passenger seat. The backrest of the forward-
facing child restraint system must lie as flat as
possible against the backrest of the front-
passenger seat.
The child restraint system must not touch the
roof or be subjected to a load by the head
restraint. Adjust the angle of the seat back- rest and the head restraint position accord-
ingly.
Only then can OCS be guaranteed to function
correctly. Always observe the child restraint
system manufacturer's installation instruc-
tions.
Occupant Classification System opera-
tion (OCS)
:PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator lamp
;PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamp
The indicator lamps inform you whether the
front-passenger front air bag is deactivated or
enabled.
XPress the Start/Stop button once or twice,
or turn the SmartKey to position 1or 2in
the ignition lock.
The system carries out self-diagnostics.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF and
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamps
must light up simultaneously for approx-
imately six seconds.
The indicator lamps display the status of the
front-passenger front air bag.
RPASSENGER AIR BAG ON lights up: the
front-passenger front air bag is enabled. If,
in the event of an accident, all deployment
criteria are met, the front-passenger front
air bag is deployed.
RPASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lights up: the
front-passenger front air bag is deactiva-
ted. It will then not be deployed in the event
of an accident.
Occupant safety49
Safety
Z

If the status of the front-passenger front air
bag changes while the vehicle is in motion, an
air bag display message appears in the instru-
ment cluster (
Ypage 223). When the front-
passenger seat is occupied, always pay atten-
tion to the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON and
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator lamps. Be
aware of the status of the front-passenger
front air bag both before and during the jour-
ney.
GWARNING
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp is lit, the front-passenger front air bag is
disabled. It will not be deployed in the event of
an accident and cannot perform its intended
protective function. A person in the front-
passenger seat could then, for example, come
into contact with the vehicle's interior, espe-
cially if the person is sitting too close to the
dashboard. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
When the front-passenger seat is occupied,
always ensure that:
Rthe classification of the person in the front- passenger seat is correct and the front-
passenger front air bag is enabled or disa-
bled in accordance with the person in the
front-passenger seat
Rthe front-passenger seat has been moved
back as far back as possible.
Rthe person is seated correctly.
Make sure, both before and during the jour-
ney, that the status of the front-passenger
front air bag is correct.
GWARNING
If you secure a child in a rearward-facing child
restraint system on the front-passenger seat
and the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator
lamp is lit up, the front-passenger front air bag may deploy in an accident. The child could be
struck by the air bag. This poses an increased
risk of injury or even fatal injury.
Make sure that the front-passenger front air
bag has been disabled. The PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF indicator lamp must be lit.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp remains off and/or the PASSENGER AIR
BAG ON indicator lamp lights up, do not install
a rearward-facing child restraint system on
the front-passenger seat. You can find more
information on OCS under "Problems with the
Occupant Classification System"
(
Ypage 53).
GWARNING
If you secure a child in a forward-facing child
restraint system on the front-passenger seat
and you position the front-passenger seat too close to the dashboard, in the event of an
accident, the child could:
Rcome into contact with the vehicle's inte-
rior if the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indi-
cator lamp is lit, for example
Rbe struck by the air bag if the PASSENGER
AIR BAG ON is lit up
This poses an increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
Move the front-passenger seat as far back as
possible. Always make sure that the shoulder belt strap is correctly routed from the vehicle
belt loop to the shoulder belt guide on the
child restraint system. The shoulder belt strap
must be routed forwards and downwards
from the belt loop. Always observe the child
restraint system manufacturer's installation
instructions.
If OCS determines that:
Rthe front-passenger seat is unoccupied, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator lamp
lights up after the system self-test and
remains lit. This indicates that the front-
passenger front air bag is deactivated.
Rthe front-passenger seat is occupied by a
child of up to twelve months old, in a stand-
ard child restraint system, the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF indicator lamp lights up after
the system self-test and remains lit. This
50Occupant safety
Safety

indicates that the front-passenger front airbag is deactivated.
But even in the case of a twelve-month-old
child, in a standard child restraint system,
the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON can light up
permanently after the system self-test. This
indicates that the front-passenger front airbag is activated. The result of the classifi-
cation is dependent on, among other fac-
tors, the child restraint system and the
child's stature. Make sure that the condi-
tions for a correct classification are met. If
the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator
lamp is still lit, do not install a child restraint system on the front-passenger seat.
Rthe front-passenger seat is occupied by a
person of smaller stature (e.g. a teenager
or small adult), either the PASSENGER AIR
BAG ON or PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indi-
cator lamp lights up and remains lit after
the system self-test depending on the
result of the classification.
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicatorlamp lights up, move the front-passenger
seat as far back as possible.
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp is lit, a person of smaller stature
should not use the front-passenger seat.
Rthe front-passenger seat is occupied by an
adult or a person of a stature correspond-
ing to that of an adult, the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamp lights up after the
system self-test and remains lit. This indi-
cates that the front-passenger front air bag
is activated.
If children are traveling in the vehicle, be sure
to observe t
he notes on "Children in the vehi- cle" (
Ypage 57).
When OCS is malfunctioning, the red 6
restraint system warning lamp in the instru-
ment cluster and the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF indicator lamp light up simultaneously.
The front-passenger front air bag is deactiva-
ted in this case and does not deploy during an accident. Have the system checked by quali-
fied technicians as soon as possible. Consult an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. The
front-passenger seat should only be repaired
at an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
If the front-passenger seat, the seat cover or
the seat cushion is damaged, have the nec-
essary repair work carried out at an author-
ized Mercedes-Benz Center.
For safety reasons, Mercedes-Benz recom-
mends that you only use seat accessories
that have been approved by Mercedes-Benz.
If the driver's air bag deploys, this does not
mean that the front-passenger front air bag
will also deploy. The Occupant Classification
System (OCS) categorizes the occupant in the
front-passenger seat. Depending on that
result, the front-passenger front air bag is
either enabled or deactivated.
System self-test
GDANGER
If both the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF and
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamps do
not light up during the system self-test, the
system is malfunctioning. The front-
passenger front air bag might be triggered
unintentionally or might not be triggered at all
in the event of an accident with high deceler-
ation. This poses an increased risk of injury or
even fatal injury.
In this case the front-passenger seat may not
be used. Do not install a child restraint system
on the front-passenger seat. Have the Occu-
pant Classification System (OCS) checked
and repaired immediately at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop.
GDANGER
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp remains lit after the system self-test, the
front-passenger front air bag is disabled. It will
not be deployed in the event of an accident. In
this case, the front-passenger front air bag
cannot perform its intended protective func-
tion, e.g. when a person is seated in the front-
passenger seat.
Occupant safety51
Safety
Z

That person could, for example, come into
contact with the vehicle's interior, especially
if the person is sitting too close to the dash-
board. This poses an increased risk of injury or
even fatal injury.
When the front-passenger seat is occupied,
always ensure that:
Rthe classification of the person in the front-passenger seat is correct and the front-
passenger front air bag is enabled or disa-
bled in accordance with the person in the
front-passenger seat
Rthe person is seated properly with a cor-
rectly fastened seatbelt
Rthe front-passenger seat has been moved
back as far back as possible
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp remains lit when it should not, the front-
passenger seat may not be used. Do not
install a child restraint system on the front-
passenger seat. Have the Occupant Classifi-
cation System (OCS) checked and repaired
immediately at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
GWARNING
Objects between the seat surface and the
child restraint system could affect OCS oper- ation. This could result in the front-passenger
air bag not functioning as intended during an
accident. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
Do not place any objects between the seat
surface and the child restraint system. The
entire base of the child restraint system must
always rest on the seat cushion of the front-
passenger seat. The backrest of the forward-
facing child restraint system must, as far as
possible, be resting on the backrest of the
front-passenger seat. Always comply with the
child restraint system manufacturer's instal-
lation instructions.
After the system self-test, the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF or PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamp display the status of the front-
passenger front air bag (
Ypage 49).
For more information about the OCS, see
"Problems with the Occupant Classification
System" (
Ypage 53).
52Occupant safety
Safety