2017 AUDI Q3 warning light

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.. Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same
¢page 44, Front
seats .
.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly. Al­
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe­
ty belts properly
¢page 109.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili­
ty to concentrate on the road without being dis­
tracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of the ve­
h icle and all of its occupants . If your ability to
drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody in the
veh icle increase and you also become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢_& .T herefo re:
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers
or by using a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER dr ive when your dr iv ing ability is im­
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
.. Observe a ll traff ic laws, rules of the road and
speed limits and plain common sense.
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic and
weather conditions.
.. Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not drive
for more than two hours at a stretch.
.. Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pres­
sure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impai red dr iv ing safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal inju ry and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
Dr iving safety
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
F ig. 101 Cor rect seating position
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in­
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver's seat to the following pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the floor while
keep ing your knee(s) slightly bent¢_& .
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
full contac t wi th it when you dr ive.
.. Adj ust the steer ing wheel so that there is a d is­
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the steering whee l and your breast bone¢
fig. 101.
If not possible, see your author ized A udi dealer
about adaptive equipment.
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag cover points at your chest and
not at your face .
.,. Grasp the top of the steering wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent .
.. Ad just the head res tra int so the upper edge is
as even as possib le w ith the top of yo ur head.
If
that is no t possib le, try to adjust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible .
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 112.
.. Always keep both feet i n the footwell so that
you are in control of the veh icle at all t imes .
101

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Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­ ing position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
- Never let mo re people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
Safety belts
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fi g. 104 Safety belt warn ing light in the instrument clus ·
te r -en larged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
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.,. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
.,. Protect your children with a child restraint sys­
tem appropr iate for the size and age of the chil­
dren .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety belts . In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their safe­
ty belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to red uce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
109

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Automatic safety belt r etractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped wi th an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is p ulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely .
Safety be lt pret en sioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated.
The funct ion of the pretensioner is monitored by
a warning light
r::> page 14 .
Convertibl e loc king retract or
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 safety seat. Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
<::> page 147 .
& WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accide nt
¢ page 113,
Safe ty belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upr ight and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
- Always ma ke sure tha t the rear sea t ba ck­
rest to wh ic h t he cente r re ar safety be lt 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 cras h.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle w ill reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not p roperly restrained
can be seriously in ju red by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger par ts
Safet y bel ts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
r::> page 149.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 111 Safety belt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to ma tch your body
s iz e.
- be lt height adjustment for the front seats,
- he ight-adjustable front seats .
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
se rious personal injury in an acc ident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body . Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across the chest so th at it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the abdomen . The belt should a lway s fit
snug ly
r::> fig. 111. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary .
- The lap be lt portion of the sa fety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
r::> fig. 111 . Pull on
the belt to tighte n if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
in ju ries by shifting its position on your body
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113

Airbag syste m
For this reason, and bec ause t he back seat is the
safest place for chi ldren -when properly restrain­
ed according to the ir age and size -we strong ly
recommend that children a lways sit in the back
seat
<=> page 13 7, Child safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w il l hit the child safety
seat or infant car rier with g reat force and
will smash the ch ild safety seat an d child
against the backrest, cen ter armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
-If you mus t install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safe ty seat on the front passenger seat be ­
ca use of exceptiona l 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
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
ca use serious pe rsonal injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptio nal circumstances, you must in­
stall a fo rward-facing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and ce rt ified by its man­
u fa ctu rer for use on a fron t se at with a pas­
senger fron t and si de a irbag .
- Never pu t the forw ard-fa cing child res tra int
up against or very near the ins trument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger se at to
the h ighes t position in the up and down ad ­
justment range and move it back to the
rea rmost position in the seat's fore and aft
120
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER A IR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on a ll the time
whenever the ig nit io n is swi tched on.
A WARNING
To reduce the ris k of serious injury, ma ke sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will
be d isp layed whenever a ch ild rest raint is in­
stalled on the front p assenge r seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
no t stay on, perform the checks describe d
<=> page 12 7, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System .
- Take the child res tra int off the front passen ­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions i f the PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the ai rbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restra int manufacturers when instal­
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re­
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any pro tect ion.
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even ki ll the child -even
w it h an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child safe ty
seat o r ca rrie r.

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If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument panel will come on and stay on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic control unit.
c::;, page 12 7
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for childre n is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 117.
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 .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re-
Airbag system
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- 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 rearward-facing child re­
straints in the back seat.
- 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 authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in-
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
-Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas ­
senger 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 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.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
123

Airbag syste m
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possib le, before insta lling the
forward-facing ch ild restraint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upright posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PAS SEN GER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the we ight­
sensing mat, sensors, w iring, brac kets, and
mo re. The function of the system in the front
passenger seat is checked by the elec tronic con ­
trol unit when the ignition is on. The contro l unit
monitors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the airbag indicator light on when a malfunct ion
in the system components is detected. The func­
tion of the airbag indicator light is described in
greater detail below. Because the front passen­
ge r seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to p re­
vent i t from being damaged. Damage to the seat
may prevent the Advanced Airbag for the fron t
passenger seat from doing its job in a c rash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of th e follow ing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An e lectronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de­
c ides" whether the safety belt pretens ioners
sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve fo r the driver ins ide the steer ing
whee l hub.
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
124
- A weight -sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat. The
information reg istered is sent cont inuous ly to
the electronic control unit to regulate deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger s ide .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
c::;,page 127.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mat ion registered is sent cont inuously to the
elect ronic contro l unit to regu late dep loyment
of the fron t Advanced Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the cente r of the ins trument
pa nel
c::;, page 128, fig. 118 and te lls yo u when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned
off .
-A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on
the safety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight registered by the weight-sens­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned off or not
c::;, page 118, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety be lt is latched o r not and
transmits this informa tion to the e lec tronic
cont rol un it.
_&. WARNING
D amage to the front passenger seat can pre ­
vent the front airbag from working prope rly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and proper ly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.

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- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctured
it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The additional padding will prevent the
weight-sensing mat in the seat from accu­
rately registering the child restraint or per­
son on the seat and prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from functioning properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the child restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever the
child restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in­
stall child restraint in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer.
Airbag system
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the side
airbags supplement the protection offered by the
front three-point safety belts with pretensioners and load limiters and the adjustable head re­
straints to help reduce the risk of injury in a wide
range of accident and crash situations. Be sure to
read the important information about safety and
heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­ pend on the deceleration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic control
unit. Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety belt
use , the airbag will be turned
off if the weight on
the passenger seat is less than the amount pro­
grammed in the electronic control unit. The front
airbag on the passenger side will also be turned
off if one of the child safety seats that has been
certified under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 has been recognized on the seat.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on to tell you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
¢page 118, Child restraints on the front seat ­
some important things to know .
_&. WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 117.
125

Airbag syste m
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 11 7 Inflated front airbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup­
p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
- and the head restra ints have bee n properly ad-
justed.
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, things you have on your lap or have
placed on the seat could become dangerous pro­
jectiles , and be pushed into you if the airbag in­
flates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irritate sk in.
It is important to remember that while the sup ­
plemental a irbag system is designed to reduce
the likel ihood of serious injur ies, other injuries,
for example swel ling, b ruising and m inor abra­
sions, can a lso happen when airbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags only supplement the
three po int safety belts in some frontal co llisions
126
in which the vehicle decele ration is high enough
to deploy the airbags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
-if the igni tion is sw itched off when a crash oc-
curs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control un it .
Th e front pa ssenge r ai rb ag w ill also n ot
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the weight on the front passenger seat as
sensed by the Advanced Airbag System indi­
cates that the front a irbag on the passenger
side has to be turned off by the electron ic con­
trol unit (the
PASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light
comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitt ing in the wrong posit ion can increase the
risk of serious injury i n crashes .
- To reduce the r isk of injury w hen the ai rbags
inflate, the drive r and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbe lted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye
Q page 118.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be k illed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild safety
seat o r infant ca rr ie r with great force and
w ill smash the child safety seat and child