
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 four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seat ing
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 s afety bel ts availab le.
122
-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 (on USA models only) front seat passenger
to remind you about the importance of buckling
up .
Fig. 135 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in th e in st rument clu s
ter -enl arged
Before driv ing off , alway s:
.. Fasten your sa fety belt and make sure you are
wearing it prope rly.
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and proper ly wea r th eir safety belts .
.. Protec t your ch ildren with a ch ild rest raint sys
tem app ropr iate for the size and age of the chil
dren .
The . war ning light i n the instrument cluste r
l ights up when the ig nition is swi tched on as a re
minde r to fas ten t he safety be lts. In addition,
yo u w ill hea r a wa rn ing tone for a ce rt ain per io d
of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their safe
ty belts.

Safe ty belts
Never rely o n airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. A irbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are a lways there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in wh ic h
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready dep loyed. Unbel ted occupants can
a lso be thrown o ut of the veh icle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injur ies can occur .
It is also important for the rear pass enge rs to
wear safety belts co rrectly. Unbelted passengers
i n t he rea r seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
~ fig . 139. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
F ig . 14 0 Driver is correctly restrai ned in a sudde n braking
m aneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap
plied to the body in an accident, and he lp prevent
the uncont rolled moveme nt that can cause seri
ous injur ies. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the veh icle .
124
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car an d give
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longer per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tole rab le" and less likely to cause inj ury.
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes.
So, whethe r yo u're on a long trip or just going to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t stat ist ics show that veh i
cl e o ccupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of being injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l
li sions, in roll overs or in cases where the re is not
eno ugh deceleration throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd are not damaged .

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A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correct ly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be fore driving off and make sure all passen
gers are cor rect ly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
- Never strap more than one person, includ ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitt ing
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat wh ile the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride w ith their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat .
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Do ing so will increase your risk of
being injured or k illed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat hard
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter
fere with correct positioning of belts and re
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre ate slack in the shoulder be lt . However, spe
cial clips may be requ ired for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt ha rdware can break in an acc i
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bind ings, buckles, or re tractors are dam-
Safet y bel ts
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i dea ler .
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al
so be inspected.
- Never remove, mod ify, d isassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf.
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func
tion of the inert ia reel~
page 182.
Safety belts
Belt positioner
The driver and front passenger seats are equip
ped with belt positioners.
F ig. 141 Driv er's seat: Belt pos it ioner
The front seats are equipped with belt position
ers so it is easier to fasten the safety belts . The
belt positioners automatically extend when the
door closes and the ignit ion sw itches on
~ fig . 141.
The belt positioner returns to its start ing posi
tion aga in when
- the tongue in the belt latch engages or the belt
was not fastened within 60 seconds.
-you switch the ignition off.
- you open the door .
125

Safe ty belts
_& WARNING
-Only your authorized Audi dealer shou ld
work on the system or remove and installing
system components when perform ing other
work.
- The belt pos itioners could cause injury or
damage if they pinch peop le or objects
when extending or ret ract ing.
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
F ig. 1 42 Belt buckle a nd tong ue o n the dr iver's seat
To prov ide max imum protection, safe ty belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear
er's body .
.,. Adjust the fro nt sea t an d head restra int proper
ly ¢
page 57, Seats and storage .
.,. Make s ure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and sec ure ly latched in
place before using the belt¢.&_ .
.,. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pelvis
¢ fig. 142, ¢ .&_ .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely .
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
Autom atic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
du ring hard b raking and in an accident . The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or th rough a s harp c urve. Dur ing no rmal driv
ing the belt lets you move freely.
126
Safety belt pr etensioners
The safety belts are eq uipped w ith a bel t preten
s ioner that he lps to tighten the safety be lt and
remove slack when the pretensione r is activated.
The function of the pretens ioner is monitored by
a warn ing light ¢
page 17.
Convertible locking retractor
Every safety belt except the o ne on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertib le locking retrac
tor that
mu st be used when the safety be lt is
used to attach a child safety seat . Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
¢ page 159.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious i nju ry in an accident
¢page 127,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when t he seatback is up right and belts a re
properly positioned on the body .
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat . Attach ing the be lt to the
w rong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec
tiveness and can cau se serio us pe rsonal in
jury .
- A passenge r who is not prope rly rest rained
can be ser iously injured by the safety belt i t
self when it moves from the st ronger parts
of the body into c ritical areas like the abdo
men.
- Always lock the co nver tible locking retractor
when yo u are securing a c hild safety seat in
the vehicle
¢ page 161.

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Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts.
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Fig. 143 Safety belt position
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
size.
- height-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen . The belt should always fit
snugly¢
fig. 143. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt 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 ¢
fig. 143. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information ¢
page 124.
Safety belts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly -throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 144 Safety belt position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
er's body
¢page 127.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor
rectly
Q page 5 7, Seats and storage.
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt .
.,. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it sits as low as possible on the pelvis and
the re is no pressure on the abdomen
Q fig. 144, c::> ,&..
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is secure ly
latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
--Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos
sible across the pelvis and below the round
ing of the abdomen.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> & in Fasten
ing safety belts on page 126.
127

Airbag syste m
safety seat. It can be a very dangerous p lace for
an infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been ce rt ified to comp ly 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 s ide has been
certified for "suppression " for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de
p loyment " for children aged
3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Ai rbag on the passenger side has been tu rned off
by the elect ronic cont rol unit.
Each t ime you tur n on the ignit ion , the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on fo r a few
seconds and :
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will s tay on if there is a small c hild or child re
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight
sensing mat¢
page 140 , Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
The PAS SENGER AIR BAG O FF light comes on
when the control unit detects a total we ight on
the front passenger seat that requires the front
airbag to be turned off.
If the tota l weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less than the we ight of a small adult, the front
a irbag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on) .
If the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the electronic
control unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the condit ions stor
ed in its memory.
For e xample, the airbag may deploy if:
132
- a small chi ld that is heavier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on th e front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed¢
page 152), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
instrument cluster and stays on.
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
or teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up
right with thei r back against a non-recl ined back
rest with the ir fee t on the vehicle floor in front of
the sea t is on the fron t passenger sea t
<=> page 112, Proper seating position for the driv
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in
jury through interaction w ith the airbag . "low
risk " deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lowe r de cele rations as defined in
the e lec tronic co ntro l unit ¢
page 140, PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OF F light.
Always remembe r, a chi ld safety seat or infant
c ar rie r ins talled on the front seat may be s truck
and knocked ou t of posit ion by t he rap idly i nflat
i ng passenge r's airbag in a frontal coll is ion . The
airbag could greatly red uce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the child during inflation.
Fo r th is reason, and beca use 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
c> page 150, Child safety .
A WARNING
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
a ir bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.
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-The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating pos it ion and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea le r.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the child.
~ WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger 's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up 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 far away from the air
bag as possib le befo re installing the for
wa rd- facing child restra int. The bac krest
must be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- 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
To red uce the risk of serious in jury, make s ure
t hat the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light w ill
be displayed wheneve r a child restraint is in
stalled on t he front passenger seat and t he
ign ition is switched on .
Airb ag sys tem
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 140, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen
ger seat and install it prope rly 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
author ized Audi dealer immed iately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacture rs when instal
ling child restra ints .
A WARNING
-If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in-
stall a forward or rearward-facing child re
stra int on t he fron t passenger 's seat:
- Imp roper installat ion of child res traints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provi ding any pro tect ion.
- An imprope rly installed child restra int can
interfere wi th the airbag as it deploys and
serio usly injure or even kil l the c hild -eve n
with an Advanced A irb ag Sys tem.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instr uctions provided wi th the child sa fe ty
seat or ca rr ie r.
- Never p lace add ition al it ems on the se at
that can increase the total weight registered
by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in
jury in a crash .
133

Airbag syste m
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants.
Fig. 146 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 147 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
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Sta ndard (CMVSS)
208 as app licable 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 . 146 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel<=>
fig. 147. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG".
1 34
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and child
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 prote ct ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with properly worn safety be lts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrained .
.&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious inju ries 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 i f 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 seat ing pos ition.
- For their own safety, all chi ld ren, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back proper ly restrained for their age
and size .