2017 AUDI A7 warning

Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retr actors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automa tic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in a n accident . The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you
move freely .
Safety belt p ret en sion ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
¢
page 146 . The function of the pretensioner is
mon itored by a warn ing light¢
page 17.
Con vertible loc king retracto r
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢ page 183 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly pos it ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident ¢
page 144,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat bac k­
rest to which the center rea r safety belt* is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong b uckle will reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
144
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­ men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
¢ page 185.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to¢
page 146 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 151 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts .
.&_ WARNING
Imp roperly positioned safety belts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an a cc ident.
- The shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos ­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways f it
snug ly ¢
fig. 151. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by sh ifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious i nju ry .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
r=;, page 142 .

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<..:l 'SI'
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
corre ctly -throughout the pregnan cy.
F ig. 152 S afe ty be lt pos it io n dur ing pregnan cy
To provide max imum pro tection, safety bel ts
mu st always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er 's body ¢
page 144 .
.,. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re­
strain t* cor re ctly ¢
page 48, Seat s and stor­
age .
.,. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it sits as low as poss ib le on the pelv is and
the re is no pressu re on the abdomen
¢ fig . 152, ¢ ,& .
.,. Inse rt the tongue in to the correc t buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch secure ly .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious 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 a nd heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
i:> &. in Fasten ­
ing safety belts on page 144 .
Safety bel ts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle hos stopped .
J-L
Fig . 1 53 Re leas ing t he tong ue from the buckl e
.. Push the red re lease button on the buck le
¢
fig . 153. The belt tongue w ill spring out of
the buck le ¢ ,& .
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
_& WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt wh ile the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so w ill increase your r isk of be­
in g injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment , the three point safety belt strop routing
con be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size .
Fig. 154 Safet y belt he ig h t adj ust m en t fo r th e fro nt seats
- loop -a rou nd f itt ings
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The shoulder be lt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the co ll ar bone as possible and shou ld fit well
o n the body
¢ ,& in Safe ty belt position on
page 144. ..,.
145

Safety belt s
"'Push the loop -around fittings up c> fig . 154 @,
or
"'squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
down @.
"'Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er impo rtant informat ion
c>page 14 2.
(D Tips
With the front seats , the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safe ty belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts imprope rly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they a re correctly pos itioned on the body.
Imp roper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
ris k of injury a nd deat h by mov ing the safety bel t
to cr it ica l areas of the bo dy. Imp roper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serio us inj ury
and deat h when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the co rrect seat ing pos i­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
ve hicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an inco rrect
s itting position in the vehicle wh ile trave ling
c> ,&. .
A WARNING
Impro perly wor n safety belts increase t he risk
of se rious personal injury a nd death wheneve r
a vehicle is bei ng use d.
- Always make sure tha t all veh icle occupa nts
are co rrectly restra ined and stay in a co rrect
seat ing pos ition w heneve r the veh icle is be­
ing used.
146
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
o ther impo rtant in format ion
c>page 142.
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.
Reversible safety belt tensioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power revers ible tensioners. The following
funct io ns are available when the dr iver's/front
passenger 's safety belts are faste ned:
- Automatic tensione rs: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve hicle
spee d. To switch the a utomat ic tens ioners off,
select the following in t he M MI :
!CARI function
button
> ( Car )* systems > Vehicle settings >
Seat s > Driver's seat or Pas senger's seat > Au ·
tomatic belt tensioner > Off .
-In certain drivi ng s ituations, the s afe ty bel ts
m ay tighten w ith a reversib le tensioning func ­
tion
c> page 138 .
- The s afety be lts may also tigh ten with this re-
vers ible tension ing f unct io n in m ino r collisions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are eq uipped w it h safety bel t
pretensione rs. The system is activa ted by se nsors
i n front, s ide a nd r ear-end collisions of grea t se ­
verity and in a ro llover. This tig htens the bel t and
takes up belt slack
c> &. in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 147.
Taking up
the slack helps 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 p rovide
protection for one collision. If the py rotech­
nic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
sys tem must be rep laced.

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\.J ' @ Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners can
only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not dep loy
in minor fronta l, side and rear-end co lli­
sions.
- A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety be lt pretensioners deploy . This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the veh icle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
dealersh ip is familiar with these regulations
and will be p leased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the veh icle or indi­
v idual parts of the system, particularly the
safety be lt o r airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend yo u have your author ized Audi
dealer perform this serv ice for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretens ioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repa iring of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from wor king cor rectly in a collision .
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system w ill not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
& WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repa ir proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety be lt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly :
- The be lt pretensioner system can be act ivat­
ed only once. If belt pretensioners have
been activated, the system must be re­
placed.
S afet y be lts
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety belt system .
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are required for removal, instal­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strong ly recommend that you see your au­
thor ized Audi dealer or qualified techn ician
who has an Audi approved repa ir manual,
tra ining and special equipment necessary .
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Materi­
al -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca . gov /haza rdouswaste/ perch [o­
r ate. When the vehicle or pa rts of the re­
straint system including ai rbag modu les safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regu lations must be ob ­
served . Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you.
147

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\.J - also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro llovers .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collis ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most effect ively when used with the safety belts.
T herefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::> page 140.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle d uring a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r ris k of inju ry or death
through contact with an infla ting airbag .
-If you are unrest rained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is m uch higher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it w hen it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear sa fety belts prope rly
c::> page 143, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younge r always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children r ide unrestrained or im­
p roperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 130.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
b ag d uring braking o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts ne ar the airbags can be come
projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
A WARNING ,____ -
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and installed by a t rained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effect iveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils
149

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\.J ' Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by t he rapidly inflating
passenger 's airbag in a frontal co llision . The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
chi ld restraint a nd even seriously i njure the ch ild
during inflation .
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c::> page 172, 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 k illed if the front air­
bag inf lates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great fo rce and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, center arm rest, door or roof.
- Always ins tall rear-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptiona l circumstances and the
PASSEN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear­
facing child seat in a rea r seat ing position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild seats installed on the
front passenge r's seat may interfe re with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­
rious person al injury to the child.
.8, WARNING
If, in except io nal circumst ances, you mus t in­
stall a forward-f acing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forwar d-fa cing seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man ­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag .
.
Airb ag sys tem
-Never put the fo rwa rd-facing child restraint
up aga inst or very nea r the instr ument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing t he for­
ward-facing ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the c hild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child res traint
so th at the s afety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on .
.8, WARNING
= -
To reduce the risk of serious injury, ma ke sure
that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a child restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght does
not stay on, perform t he checks described
c::> page 160, Monitoring the Advanced Air ­
bag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ge r seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay o n.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i deale r immediately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from child r estrain t manufacture rs when instal­
ling child restra ints .
.8, WARNING i=
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in-
stall a forward or re arward-fa cing child re­
stra int on the fron t passenger 's seat:
- I mp roper installa tion of child restrai nts can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even preven t
them from provi ding any pro te ct ion .
151

Airbag syste m
-An improper ly installed ch ild restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child -even
with an Advanced Airbag System .
- Always carefully follow the manufacture r's
instructions provided w ith the ch ild seat or
carr ier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the A irbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is oc cupied by some·
one who is heav ier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi ·
tiona l objects could ca use 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 different from the way it would have worked witho ut the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu·
pants.
F ig. 15 5 Location of d river airbag : in stee ring w heel
152
Fig. 156 Locat io n of fro nt passenger 's a irbag : in th e in ­
s trumen t pane l
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air·
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your veh icle was manufactured . The
safe ty belts fo r the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the belt system.
The pretensioners are also activated by the e lec·
tronic control unit for the airbag system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body i n a
c rash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub ~
fig. 155 and the airbag for the front pas·
senger is in the instr ument panel~
fig . 156. The
general lo cat io n of the a irbags is marked "AIR·
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know abo ut the a irbags
i n your vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
i n forma tion abo ut airbags, safety be lts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapte rs that make
u p the owner's literature. P lease be sure to heed
the WARNINGS· they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
wit h proper ly worn safety belts.

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\.J ' -Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po­
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in­
jury if the driver's airbag inflates .
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
& WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in ­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle .
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate .
Airbag system
-Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
& WARNING
= -
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­ ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
= The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the .,low risk" opt ion for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­ itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment 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 children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ..,.
153