2017 AUDI A4 Owners Manual

Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80
lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9
in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.
Fig. 233 Rear seat: child p roper ly restrained in a booster
seat
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 ch ildren 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 chi ld on a booster seat .
.. The shoulder belt 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 chi ld 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 .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r:=>page 283.
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 we ight. Experts say that
the skeletal structure, part icularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
Child safety
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 applicab le 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 be lt over the chi ld's body is very important
for the ch ild'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 ch ild, regard less of how big the
ch ild is. Always remember that child ren do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap be lt 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 snug ly and
as low as possible around the pe lvis. 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 considerab le 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 occ upant who is out of position and too
close to the a irbag gets in the way of an inflating
airbag. When an occupant is too close , he or she
will be struck violently and w ill receive serious or
possibly even fata l injury .
In order for the airbag to offer protect ion, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children , who must be in the front seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances, be properly
restrained and as far away from t he airbag as
poss ible. By keeping room between the child's ..,_
287

Child safety
body and the front of the passenger compart­
ment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro­
vide supplemental protection in certain frontal
collisions.
.,&. 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 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 245.
-The rear side of the child safety seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat . 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 62. 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.
- Never let a child put the shoulder belt under
the arm or behind the back, because it could
cause severe injuries in a crash.
- 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.
- 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
288
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
fj,;; light must come on and stay on,
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF fj,;; light
does not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described ¢
page 265, 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 245, Safety belts,
¢ page 253, Airbag system and
¢ page 2 77, 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 for the rear seats and for the
front passenger 's seat have a convertible locking
retractor for child safety seats . 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
children, especially those 12 years and younger,
should always ride in the back seat properly re­
strained for their age and size .

<( a, .... N ,....
N .... 0 0
3 a,
A WARNING 1-= -
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
safety seat . An unlocked safety belt retrac­
tor cannot hold the child safety seat in place
during no rma l 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 d uring
a sudden stop or in a collision .
- Always ma ke sure that the rear seat bac k­
rest to wh ich the center rea r safety be lt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used to se­
cure a ch ild rest raint.
- 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 ch ild
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 serious ly injured and
can be killed when the passenger airbag in ­
flates .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the ch ild safety seat and ch ild
against the backrest, center armrest, door
o r roof.
- Always install rear-faci ng child safety seats
o r infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats or infant
c a rriers ins talled on the front passenge r's
seat may inte rfe re with t he deployment of
the a irbag and cause serious injury to the
child.
- It is s afe r to ins tall a forward-fac ing ch ild
sa fety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS when­
ever using a child res trained in a veh icle is
being used
r:o page 2 77. Spec ia l precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat
¢ page 2 54, Child
Ch ild safety
restraints on the front seat -some impor­
tant things to know.
A WARNING
-A lways take special precautions if you must
i nstall a forward or rearward-facing child re­
stra int on the front passenger's seat in excep ­
tional s ituations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward-fac ing
child restraint is installed on the front pas ­
senger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light must come on and stay on whenev­
er the ign ition is switched o n.
- I f the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not come on and stay on, perform the
checks desc ribed
r:o page 265, Monitoring
the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ge r seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions i f the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF~;
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on .
- Improper installat ion of child res tra ints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them f rom providing any protect ion .
- An improperly installed child restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the chi ld.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instr uctions provided with the child safety
seat or carr ier .
- After checking to make sure that the c hild
restraint is properly installed, make certain
that the child restraint is correctly recog­
n ized by the capacitive passenger detection
system in the front passenger seat and that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light sig­
na ls the cor rect front passenger fronta l air­
bag status.
A WARNING
F orwa rd-facing child restra ints:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has bee n des igned and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
-
289

Child safety
-Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up, against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF~ ;
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof .
- Always be especially careful if you must in­
stall a rearward facing child 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
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If 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 .
290
· Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to secure a
child restraint.
Always heed the child safety seat manufacturer 's
instructions when installing a child restrain t in
your vehicle . To activate the convertible locking
retractor:
.. Place the child restraint on a seat, preferably
on the rear seat .
.. Slowly pull the belt
all the way out .
.. Route it around or through the child restraint
belt path
~ ,&. .
.. Push the child safety seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt really tight.
.. Insert the belt tongue into the buckle for that
seating position.
.. Guide the safety belt back into the retractor un­
til the belt lies flat and snug on the child safety
seat.
.. You should hear a "clicking" noise as the belt
winds back into the inertia reel. Test the con ­
vertible locking retractor by pulling on the belt.
You should no longer be able to putt the belt
out of the retractor. The convertible locking re­
tractor is now activated .
.. Make sure that the red release button is facing
away from the child restraint so that it can be
unbuckled quickly.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure the safety belt is
properly tight and fastened so that the seat
cannot move forward or sideways more than
one inch (2 .5 cm) .
A WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an improp­
erly installed child restraint can cause serious
personal injury or death in a crash.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re­
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt retrac­
tor 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 crash.

<( a, .... N ,....
N .... 0 0
3 a,
-Always make sure the seat backrest to which
the child restraint is installed is in an up­
right position and securely latched into
place and cannot fold forward. Otherwise,
the seatback with the child safety seat at­
tached to it could f ly forward in the event of
an accident or other emergency situation.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when­
ever using a child restrained in a veh icle is
being used¢
page 277. Specia l precaut ions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat
¢ page 2 54, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor­
tant things to know.
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re­
straints will be deactivated automatically when
the belt is wound all the way back into the re­
tractor .
~ Press the red button on the safety belt buckle.
The belt tongue will pop out of the buckle.
~ Guide the safety belt all the way back into its
stowed position .
Always let the safety belt retract completely into
its stowed position. The safety belt can now be
used as an ordinary safety belt without the con­
vertible locking retractor for child restraints.
If the convertible locking retractor should be ac­
tivated inadvertently, the safety belt must be un­
fastened and guided completely back into its
stowed position to deact ivate this feature. If the
convert ible locking retractor is not deactivated,
the safety belt w ill gradually become tighter and
uncomfortable to wear.
_& WARNING
-
Improperly installed chi ld safety seats in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deactivate
the convertible locking retractor for child re­
straints while the vehicle is moving . You
Child safety
would not be restrained and could be seri­
ously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when­
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used
¢ page 2 77. Special precautions
apply when install ing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 254, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor­
tant things to know.
LATCH system (Lower
anchorages and tethers
for children)
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
To provide a simpler and more practicab le way to
attach the child restraint on the vehicle seat,
Federal regulations require special lower ancho­
rages in vehicles and devices on new child re­
straints to attach to the vehicle anchorages .
In the United States, the combination of the
tether anchorages and the lower anchorages is
now generally called the LATCH system for
"Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Children". In
Canada, the terms "top tether" with "lower uni­
versa l anchorages" (or "lower universal anchor­
age bars") are used to descr ibe the system .
In other countries the term "ISOFIX" is used to
describe the lower anchorages .
Forward-facing child restraints manufactured af­
ter September 1, 1999, are required by U.S. fed­
eral regulations to comply with new child head
movement performance req uirements. These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new ch ild seats.
Installing a child restraint that requires a top
tethe r without one can seriously impair the per­
formance of the child restraint and its ab ility to
pro tect the child in a collision. Installing a child
restra int that requi res a top tether without the
top tether may be a violation of state law.
Child restraint manufacturers offer LATCH lower
anchorages on their child seats w ith hook-on or ..,.
291

Child safety
push-on connectors attached to adjustable
straps.
I n addition to the LATCH lower anchorages, these
chi ld restraint systems usually require the use of
tether straps to he lp keep the child restraint
firm ly in place.
A WARNING
Improper installation of child restraints will
increase the risk of injury and death in a
crash.
- Always follow the instructions provided by
the manufacturer of the child restraint you intend to install in your veh icle.
- Never install a child restraint without a properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instruct ions
requ ire the top tether strap to be used.
- Improper use of child restra int LATCH lower
anchorage points can lead to injury in a colli ­
s ion . The LATCH lower anchorage points are
designed to withstand on ly those loads im­
posed by cor rect ly fitted child restraints .
- Never mount two child restraint systems on
one LATCH lower anchorage point.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or other
item to the LATCH lower anchorages.
Location
Fig. 234 Schem atic overv iew : LA TCH ancho rage point loca­
t io ns
The illustration shows the seating locatio ns in
your veh icle which are equipped with the lower
anchorages system.
292
Description
The lower anchorage positions are marked for
quick locating .
Fig. 235 Second row of s eats: locator b uttons for lowe r an­
cho rages
Lower anch orage s
The lower anchorage attachment points are lo­
cated between the rear seatback and rear seat
cush io n
¢ fig . 235.
Lower anchorages secure the child restraint in
the seat without using the vehicle's safety belts.
Anchorages prov ide a secure and easy-to-use at­
tachment and minimize the poss ib ility of improp ­
er child restraint installat ion .
All child restraints manufactured after Septem­ ber 1, 2002, must have lower anchorage attach­
ments for the
LATCH system.
Remember that the lower anchorage points are
only intended for installation and attachment of
ch ild restraints spec ifically certified for use with
LATCH lower anc horages. Child restra ints that
are not eq uipped w ith the lower anchorage at­
tachments can still be installed in compl iance
with the ch ild restraint manufacture r's i nstr uc­
tions on using vehicle safety bel ts.
A WARNING
Improper use of LATCH lower anchorages can
cause ser ious persona l injury in an accident.
- Always carefully follow the ch ild restraints
manufacturer's instructions for proper in­
stallation of the child restraint and proper
use of the lower anchorages or safety belts
in your vehicle .

-Never secure or attach any luggage or other
items to the
LATCH lower anchorages .
- Always read and heed the important infor­
mation about child restraints in this chapter
and WARNINGS
c:> page 277, Child safety.
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always fol­
low the child restraint manufacturer's instruc­
tions .
Fig. 236 Lower anchorages: p roper mount ing
Mounting
.. Make s ure the seatback of the rear seat bench
i s in the upr igh t position and secu rely latched
in place .
.. Remove the covers to access the lower anchor­
age brackets.
.. Attach both hook-on connectors with the spring
catch release on the child safety seat onto the
LATCH lower anchorage so that the connectors
lock into place
c:> fig . 236 .
.. Pull on the connector attachments to make
s ur e they a re prope rly attached to the LA TC H
lower anchorage .
.. Pull straps tight fo llowing the child restra int
manufacturer's instructions.
Releasing
.. Loosen the tension on the straps following the
ch ild rest raint man ufactu rer's inst ruct ions .
.. Depress the spri ng catches to release the an­
chorage hooks from the lower anchorages .
Remember: Use tether straps to he lp keep the
chi ld restraint f irmly in place .
Child sa fety
A WARNING
-Improper use of the LATCH system can in-
crease the ris k of serious persona l injury a nd
death in a n accident.
- These anchors were developed only for child
safety seats using the "LATCH" system.
- Never attach other ch ild safety seats, be lts
or other objects to these anchors.
- Always make sure that you hear a click when
latching the seat in place . If you do not hear
a click the seat is not sec ure and co uld f ly
forward and hit the inter ior of the vehicle,
or be ejected from the veh icle.
A WARNING
-I mp roper insta llation of child restra ints w ill
i n cr ease the risk of injury in an accide nt.
- Always follow the ch ild restraint system
manufac ture r's instruc tions fo r proper in­
stallat io n of t he chi ld restrain t system and
p roper use of tether straps as well as the
lower ancho rages or safety belts in yo ur ve ­
h icle.
- Always read and hee d the important info r­
mation and WARN INGS about ch ild safety
and the installation of child restrai nt sys­
tems
c> page 2 77, Child safety .
Tether anchors and tether straps
Fig. 23 7 Tet her anchors: recess flaps beh ind the rear set­
backs
The tether anchors for the rear seat ing pos itions
are located in recesses in the rear window shelf .
A tether is a straight or V-shaped strap that at­
taches the top part of a ch ild restraint to special
anchorage poi nts in the veh icle. ..,
293

Child safety
The purpose of the tether is to reduce the for­
ward movement of the child restraint in a crash,
in order to help reduce the risk of head injury
that could be caused by striking the vehicle inte­ rior .
Forward facing child restraints manufactured af­
ter September 1, 1999, are required by U .S. fed­
eral regulations to comply with new child head movement performance requirements . These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new child safety seats .
A WARNING
Improper installation of child restraints will
increase the r isk of injury and death in a
crash.
- Always follow the instructions provided by
the manufacturer of the child restraint you
intend to ins tall in your Audi.
- Imprope r use of child restra int anchors (in­
cl ud ing tether anchors) can lead to in jury in
a collision. The anchors are designed to
withstand only those loads imposed by cor­
rectly f itted child restraints .
- Never mount two child restraint systems on
one LATCH lower anchor point .
- Never attach two child restrai nt systems to
one tether strap or tether anchorage.
- Never a ttach a tether strap to a t ie -down
hoo k in the luggage compartment.
- Never use ch ild restraint tether an chorages
to sec ure safety belts or other k inds of occ u­
pant restraints.
- Never secure or a ttach any luggage or other
items to the LATCH lower anchorages or to
the tether anc ho rs.
294
Installing the upper tether strap on the
anchorage
Fig. 238 Tet her s tra p: prope r rout ing an d mo unting
Install ing the tether strap
.,. Release or deploy the tether strap on the ch ild
restraint according to the ch ild restraint manu­
facture r's instructions.
.,. Guide the upper te ther strap
under the rear
head rest raint (raise the head restra int if neces­
sary) . For child restraints with V -tether straps,
always make sure that the head restraint guide
rods do not interfere with any part of the top
tether strap.
.,. Tilt the recess f lap up to expose the anchor
bracket.
.,. Attach the tether st rap anchorage hook into
the opening of the tether anchorage .
.,. Pull on the tether strap hook so that the spring
catch of the hook engages .
.,. Ti ghten the tether strap f irm ly following the
child restraint manufacture r's instructions .
Releasing the tether strap
.,. Loosen the tension fo llow ing the child restra int
manufact urer's instr uctions.
.,. Depress the spr ing catch on the hook and re­
lease it from the anchorage.
(D Note
I f you leave the child restra int with the tethe r
strap firmly installed for severa l d ays, this
could leave a mark on the upholstery on the
seat cushion and backrest in the area where
the tether strap was installed. The upholstery
would a lso be permanently stretched a round
the tether strap. T his applies especially to
l eathe r seats .