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move the rear seat head restraint if it is dif
ficult to install the child seat with the head restraint in place¢
page 50 . Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving w ithout head
restra ints or w ith head rest raints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious o r fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS when
ever using a child res trained in a veh icle is
being used
¢ page 140, Safety belts,
¢ page 148, Airbag system and
¢ page 172, Important information.
&_ WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety and
well-being require that the follow ing spec ial
precaut ions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has been
designed and certified by its manufacturer
for use on a front seat with a passenger
front and side airbag .
-Always follow the manufacturer 's instruc
t ions prov ided with the ch ild safety seat or
infant carrier.
- 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 se at's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air
bag as possib le, before insta lling the for
ward-facing child restra int .
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the chi ld restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i
t ioned.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents the
front passenger's seat from being moved to
the rearmost position in its fore and aft ad
justment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an up
right position.
Ch ild safety
-Never p lace or use any e lectrica l device
(such as a laptop, CD player, e lectron ic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighte r socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passe nger seat,
never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Make sure that the re are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no wate r o r other
liqui ds on t he front passenger seat cush ion.
- Never p lace objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, C D playe r, electro nic games device,
power inverter o r seat heater fo r ch ild
seats). These may influence the electri cal
capacitance measu red by the capacitive pas
senger detect ion system and can also fly
aro und in an accident and cause serious per
sonal injury.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER A IR BAG OFF li ght does
not come on and stay on, immediately in
stall the forward-fac ing ch ild seat at a seat
ing position on the rea r seat and have the
ai rbag system inspected by your authorized
Aud i deale r.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen
ge r seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay on whenever
the igni tion is switched on.
181
Child safety
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. 169 Rear seat: ch ild proper 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 chi ld ren 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 be lt 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 pelv is 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 child in a boos
te r 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
c> page 178.
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 weight. Experts say that
the skeletal structure, particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
182
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
suitable child restraint .
It is usually best to put these children in appro
priate booste r 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 child's protection, whether or not a boos
ter seat is used. Children age 12 and under m ust
always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/
1.45 meters) ta ll 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 child, regard less of how big the
c hi ld is. Always remember that children do not
have the p ronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap belt portion of the
ve
hicle's three point lap and shoulder belts. The
c hi ld's safety absolutely requ ires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snugly 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
i ts 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 ve hicle occupant 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 will receive serious or
possibly even fatal injury .
In order for the a irbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any ch ildren, who must be in the front seat be
cause of exceptional c ircumstances, be properly
re stra ined and as far away from the a irbag as
possible. By keeping room between the child's .,..
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ment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro
vide supp lemental protect ion 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 situat ion. To help red uce the risk of se
rious personal injury and/or death:
- T he shoulder be lt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie f lat 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 that 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 140.
-The rear side of the child safety seat should
be pos itioned as close as poss ible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat.
- For adjustable head restraints : adjust or re
move the rear seat head restraint if it is d if
ficult to install the child seat with the head restra int in place
<=? page 50. Ins tall the
head restrain t again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving w ithout 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 cou ld
cause severe injur ies 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 knee l on any seat,
for example the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
Ch ild safety
-Always remember that a child leaning for
ward, sitting sideways or out of position in
any way during an accident can be struck by
a deploying airbag. Th is w ill result in serious
personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of exceptional
circumstances the
PASSEN GER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght must come on and stay on, when
eve r the ignit io n is switched on.
- I f the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks desc ribed
¢ page 160, 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
PAS SENGER AIR
BAG O FF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a chi ld restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used ¢
page 140, Safety belts,
c:> page 148 , Airbag system and
c:> page 172, 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 emergency lock ing retractors for
the rear seats safety be lts and for the front pas
senger's seat safety be lt have a conve rtible lock
ing retractor for child restraints . The safety be lt
must be locked so that be lt webbing cannot un
reel. The retractor can be activated to lock the
safety belt and prevent the safety belt webbing
from loosening up dur ing normal driving . A ch ild
safety seat can only be properly installed when
the safety be lt is locked so that the ch ild a nd
c hi ld safety seat will stay in place.
Always remember : Even though your veh icle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and younger, .,.
183
Child safety
should always ride in the back seat properly restrained for their age and size.
A WARNING -
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 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 collision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat back
rest to which the center rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used to se
cure a child restraint.
- 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 child
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 seriously injured and
can be killed when the passenger airbag in
flates.
- 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 install rear-facing child safety seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward -facing child safety seats or infant
carriers installed on the front passenger's
seat may interfere with the deployment of
the airbag and cause serious injury to the
child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing child
safety seat on the rear seat.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢page 172. Special precautions
184
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 149, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
A WARNING
Always take special precautions if you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child re
straint on the front passenger's seat in excep·
tional situations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described ¢
page 160, 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.
- Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protection.
- An improperly installed child restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child.
-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier .
- After checking to make sure that the child
restraint is properly installed, make certain
that the child restraint is correctly recog
nized by the capacitive passenger detection
system in the front passenger seat and that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light signals
the correct front passenger frontal airbag
status.
A WARNING
Forward-facing child restraints:
-
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has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- 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 fa r away from the air
bag as possib le, before insta lling the for
wa rd-facing child restra int.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the chi ld restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly posi
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on .
_&. WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A ch ild 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 a irbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the ch ild 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 c ir
c u mstances.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AI R BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PA SSENGER A IR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in
sta ll the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer .
Child safety
Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to secure a
child restraint .
Always heed the ch ild safety seat manufacturer 's
instruct ions when installing a child restraint 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 w ay out .
.. Route it around or through the child restra int
be lt path ¢&_ .
.. Push the ch ild safety seat down with you r 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 ''cl icking" noise as the belt
w inds back into the inertia reel. Test the con
vert ible lock ing retractor by pull ing on the belt .
You shou ld no longer be able to pull the belt
out of the retractor. The convertib le loc kin g re
t ractor 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) .
,&. WARNING
Using the wrong ch ild rest raint o r an improp
e rly installed child restra int can cause se rious
personal injury or death in a crash.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt re
tr actor is locked when installing a child
safety seat . An un locked safety be lt retrac
tor cannot hold the chi ld safety seat in p lace
during normal driving or in a crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firm ly in
p lace 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. .,.
185
Child safety
-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 fly 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 vehicle is
being used
¢ page 172 . Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 149, 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 bock into the re
tractor .
~ Press the red button on the safety belt buckle .
Th@ 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 deactivate this feature. If the
convertible lock ing retractor is not deactivated,
the safety belt will gradually become tighter and
uncomfortable to wear.
A WARNING
-
Improperly installed child 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
186
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
being used
¢page 172. Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 149, 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 practicable 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
versal anchorages" (or "lower universal anchor
age bars") are used to describe 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 requirements . These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new child seats.
Installing a child restraint that requires a top
tether without one can seriously impair the per
formance of the child restraint and its ab ility to
protect the child in a collision. Installing a child
restraint that requires 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 with hook-on or ...
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<..:l 'SI"
Tether anchors and tether straps
Fig. 174 Te the r ancho rs: att achm ent hook locatio ns be
hi nd the rea r seatbacks
The tether anchors for the two/three* re ar seat
ing positions are located on the backside of the
rear seatbacks
¢ fig. 174. Vehicles with two rear
seating positions are equipped with two tether
anchors.
A tether is a straight or V-shaped strap that at
taches the top part of a child restraint to special
anchorage points in the vehicle.
The purpose of the tether is to red uce the for
ward movement of the child restraint in a crash,
in order to he lp reduce the risk of head injury
that could be caused by striking the vehicle inte rior .
F orward 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 risk of injury and death in a
crash.
- Always follow the instructions provided by
the manufacturer of the child restra int you
intend to install in your Aud i.
- Improper use of child restra int anchors (in
cl uding tethe r anchors) ca n l ead to inj ury in
a collision. The anchors are designed to
withstand only those lo ads imposed by cor
rectly f itted child restraints .
Child sa fety
- Never mount two child restraint systems on
one LATCH lower anchor point.
- Never attach two child restraint systems to
one tether strap or tether anchorage.
- Never attach a tether strap to a tie-down
hook in the luggage compa rtment.
- Never use child restraint tether anchorages to secure safety be lts or other kinds of occu
pant restraints.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or other
items to the LATCH lower anchorages or to
the tether anchors.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rea r-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the a irbag system
i n spe cted by your Audi dea ler.
Installing the upper tether strap on the
anchorage
F ig . 1 75 Tet her st rap: p roper rout ing an d mount ing
Installing the tether strap
.,. Release or deploy the tether strap on the child
restraint according to the ch ild rest raint manu
facture r's instr uctions .
.,. Guide the upper te ther s trap under or s ideways
of the rear head restraint~
fig. 175 (dependi ng
on the chi ld restraint).
.. Attach the tether strap anchorage hook into
the tether anchorage.
.,. Pull on the tether strap hook so that the spring
catch of the hook engages .
.,. Tighten the tether strap firmly following the
child restra int manufacture r's instructions . .,.
189
Child safety
Releasing the tether strap
.,. Loosen the tension following the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions.
.,. Depress the spring catch on the hook and re
leas e it from the anchorage.
(D Note
If you leave the child restraint with the tether
strap firmly installed for several days, 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 also be permanently stretched around the tether strap . This applies especially to
leather seats.
Using tether straps on rearward-facing
child restraints
Currently, few rear-facing child restraint systems
come with a tether. Please read and heed the
child restraint system manufacturer's instruc
tions carefully to determine how to properly in
stall the tether.
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
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced 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, or
door.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
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, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
190
Additional information
· Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
There are a number of sources of additional in
formation about child restraint selection, instal
lation and use :
NHTSA advises that the best child safety seat is
the one that fits your child and fits in your vehi
cle, and that you will use correctly and consis
tently.
Try before you buy!
U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Administra
tion
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153)
http://www.nhtsa.gov
http:/ /www.safercar.gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (202) 662-0600 http://www.safekids .org
Safety BeltSafe U.S.A
Tel.: (800) 745-SAFE (English)
Tel.: (800) 747-SANO (Spanish)
http://www.carseat.org
Transport Canada Information Centre
Tel.: 1-800-333-0371 or call 1-613-998-8616 if
you are in the Ottawa area
http://www.tc.gc.ca/ eng/roadsafety/menu. htm
Audi Customer Relations
Tel.: (800) 822-2834