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.
The function of the pretensioner is mon itored by
a warning light
r:::') page 13.
Swi tc hable l ocking f eature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant information about this feature
r=;,page 178.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c:> 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 buckle wi ll 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 ju red 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 safety seat in
the vehicle
c:> page 180.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 160 Safety belt posit ion
-"' .... 9 I ... a,
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
s ize.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- height-adjustab le front seats.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- 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 s its as low as pos
sib le on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the a bdomen . The belt sho uld a lways f it
snug ly
r:::;, fig. 160. Pull on the belt to tig hten
if necessary .
- The lap be lt 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
c:> fig. 160. 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 ..,_
a,
a,
..... N r-N ..... 0 0
0:
co
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
9 page 142.
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. 161 Safety belt position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
e r's body
c::> page 144.
• Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor
rectly
c::> page 60, General information .
• 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
there is no pressure on the abdomen
c::>fig . 161, c::> .&_ .
• Inse rt the tong ue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c::>page 143, fig . 159.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in th e buckle.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts 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 .
Safety belts
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> A in Fasten
ing safety belts on page 144.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 162 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
c::> fig. 162 . The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
c::> ,&..
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase your risk of be
ing injured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size .
Fig. 163 Safety belt height adjustment for the front seats
... 0 0
0
6 ... a,
-loop-around fittings Ill>
145
Safety belts
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
c::> A in Safety belt position on
page 144.
"' Push
the loop -around fittings up c::> fig. 163 @,
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 important informat ion
c::> page 142.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment of the seat can also be used to adjust the po
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
veh icle occupants and especially for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
c>_& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
146
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat 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 ore tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt 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.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward .
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be acti
vated once.
- Th e safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli
sions.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are acti
vated, a fine dust is released. This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle.
- Th e relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop is familiar
with these regulations and will be pleased
to pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi
vidual parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have your authorized Aud i
dealer perform this service for you.
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Service and disposal of safety belt preten
sioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety be lts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly 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.
A WARNING
-
Improper care, serv icing and repa ir proce
dures can increase the r isk of personal injury
and death by preven ting a safety be lt preten
sioner from activating when needed or acti
vating it unexpectedly:
- T he be lt pretensione r system can be act ivat
ed only once.
If belt pretensioners have
been ac tiva ted, the system must be re
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or ch ange any parts of
the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems in cl ud ing safety belt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Specia l
procedures are req uired for removal, insta l
lation and disposa l of this system.
- For any work on the safety bel t system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au
thorized Aud i dea ler or qualified technician
who has an A udi approved repair manual,
train ing and spec ial equ ipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi
al -spec ia l handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo rate. When the veh icle or parts of the re
straint system including air bag modules safe
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
app licabl e laws and regula tions must be ob
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
w it h these req uirements and we recommend
S afet y be lts
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you .
147
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also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
A lwa 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 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.
Therefore, 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.
- If you are unrest rained, leaning forward, s it
ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of in jury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts p roperly
i=> page 143, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured o r kill ed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride un restrained or im
prope rly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
fro nt sea ts properly.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as fa r as possible from the steer-
ing wheel o r the instrument panel
c::> page 132.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the 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 recline the front passenger's seat to transpo rt objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu
ver. Objects nea r the airbags can become
p roje ct il es and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t h ave deployed in a cr ash m ust be
r e p laced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap
p roved by A udi a nd insta lled by a trained
technici an who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assu re system
effect iveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be sure to read the important i nformat ion and
head the WARNINGS for important deta ils
about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
c::> page 168 .
Even though your veh icle is equipped wit h an Ad
vanced Airbag System, make certa in that a ll chil
dre n, espec ia lly those 1 2 yea rs and yo unger, al
ways r ide in the back se at prope rly res train ed fo r
their age and size. The ai rbag on t he p asse nger
s ide makes t he fron t seat a potentia lly dange rous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
sa fest p lace for a child in a forward-facing child .,.
149
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 158, 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:
150
- 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 170), 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 132, 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 159, 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 168, 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.
Ill>
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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 a uthorized Audi dea le r.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety sea ts 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 front passenger seat to
the highest 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
adjustment range, as fa r away from the air
bag as possib le, before insta lling the for
ward- facing child restra int .
- Always ma ke sure tha t the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restrain t and
not next to or in front o f the chi ld restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Airb ag sys tem
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a child restraint is in
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
i gnition is switched on .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on , perform t he checks desc ribed
~ page 158, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System.
- Take the child restra int off t he front passen
ge r seat an d install it prope rly at one of the
rear sea t positions i f the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the air bag system inspec ted by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly .
- Always c are fully follow ins tructions from
child restrain t manufacture rs when instal
ling child restraints .
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-facing child re
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Imp roper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the chi ld -even
with an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always care fully follow the manufacturer 's
instr uctions provided with the child safety
seat or carr ie r.
- Never p lace add itiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight registered by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in
jury in a crash.
151
Airbag syste m
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants.
Fig. 164 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 165 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 . 164 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel
<=>fig. 165. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG".
152
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 .