2018 AUDI A3 SEDAN belt

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Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
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Fig. 231 Safety belt pos it ion
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Standard feat ures on your vehicle he lp you adjust
the position of the safety be lt to match your body
size .
- belt he igh t adjustmen t fo r the front seats *,
- height-adjustable front seats.
.8, WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n ca use
ser ious personal inj ury in an accident .
- T he shoulder belt sho uld lie as close to the
center of the co llar bone as possible and
should fit we ll on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tong ue a nd pu ll it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pelvis and there is no press ure
on the abdomen . The belt should always fit
snugly
Q fig. 231. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety be lt must
be pos itioned as low as possible across pel ­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
Q fig . 231 . Pull on
th e belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause ser ious
injuries by shifting its pos ition on you r body
fr om the st rong bones to more vu lne rable,
soft tiss ue a nd c ause ser ious injury.
- Always read and heed all WA RN INGS and
other importa nt inform ation¢
page 263.
Safet y bel ts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety bel ts
correctly
-throughout the pregnancy.
F ig . 2 32 Safe ty bel t pos ition durin g pregnancy
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's
body ¢ page 265 .
.. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re­
straint*
correctly¢ page 59, Front seats .
.,. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it s its as low as possible on the pelvis and
there is no pressure on the abdomen
¢ fig. 232, Q .&, .
.,. Insert the tongue into the co rrect buckle of
your se at unt il yo u h ear i t latch secu rely.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that i t is sec urely
latched in the buckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
serious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident.
-Expectant mothers m ust always wea r th e
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the round­
ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important
i nformation¢ .&. in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 264.
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Safety belts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 233 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 233. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle ¢
,&.
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed.
Adjusting the safety belt latch tongue
Applies to: vehicles with adjustable latch tongue
Fig. 234 Safety belt: latch tongue cl ip (example)
.. Slide the clip so that you can easily reach the
belt latch when putting the safety belt on .
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Adjusting safety belt height
Applies to: vehicles with safety belt height adjustment
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. 235 Safety belt heigh t adjustment for the front seats
-loop-around fittings
The shoulder belt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possible and shou ld fit well
on the body¢
A in Safety belt position on
page 265 .
.,. Push the loop-around fittings up q fig . 235 @,
or
.,. squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-a round 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 information¢
page 263.
(l} 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 imp roper ly can cause seri-
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correct ly positioned on the body.
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Im proper seating posi tions reduce the effective ­
ness of safety be lts and wi ll even increase the
risk of injury a nd death by mov ing the safety belt
to crit ica l areas of t he body. Improper seating
posi tions also increase the risk of serious injury
a nd death when an airbag deploys and str ikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seat ing pos i­
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of a ll
ve hicle occupants a nd espec ia lly for children.
Therefo re:
.,. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile travel ing
¢ & .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
o f serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used .
- Always ma ke sure that a ll 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 information
¢ page 263.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The follow ing funct ions are ava ilable when safety
be lts with reve rsible safety belt tensioners are
fastened:
- In certai n driving situat ions, the safety belts
may tighten with a revers ible tens ion ing func­
t ion
r=;, page 130 .
-The safety belts may a lso tighten with this re -
versible tensioning function in minor coll is ions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
Seat belts w ith pyrotechn ic safety belt preten­
sioners are tens ioned automat ica lly in severe col­
lisions, depend ing o n the c ircumstances . Th is
h elps to reduce t he forward mot ion of the occu ­
pants .
Safet y be lts
.&_ WARNING
--
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incor rectly .
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the py rotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(D Tips
- A fine dust is re leased when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners dep loy. This is no r­
mal and is not caused by a fi re in the veh i­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the sys tem are scrapped . A q ual ified
dealership is familiar with these regulat ions
a nd w ill be pleased to pass on the informa­
t ion to you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensione rs are parts of the
safety belts on your Aud i. Installing, removing,
servicing or repair ing of belt pretens ione rs can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from wo rking co rrectly in a co llision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effective ness of the
system will not be impa ired and that d iscarded
components do no t cause inju ry or pollute the
enviro nment .
.&_ WARNING -
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
d ur es can inc rease the risk of personal in jury
and death by p reventing a safety belt preten­
sione r from activating when needed or act i­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be activat­
ed only once. If belt pretens ioners have
been activated, the system must be re­
p laced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts o f
the safety belt system.
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Safe ty belt s
-Safety belt systems including safety be lt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are requ ired for removal, insta l­
lat ion and disposal of this system .
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Aud i dealer or qualified technician
who has an A udi approved repair manual,
t raining and spec ial equ ipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Materi­
al -special handl ing may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/pe rchlo­
rate. When the vehicle o r parts of the re­
s traint system including air bag modules safe­
ty belts with pretens ioners are scrapped, all
app licab le laws and regulations m ust be ob­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
w ith these req uirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you .
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Airbag system Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always :
.,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly~ page 250,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
~page 251,
.,. Wear safety belts properly ~page 263,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
r=> page 294.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supplemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all times .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions
r=> page 250, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
r=>page 59.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
r::> page 294 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im­
mediately after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will
.,.
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Airbag syste m
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro ll- overs.
Alwa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy only once,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supplementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r;:;, page 260 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel o r in­
st rument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 1 0 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, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All vehicle 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 interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an infla ting airbag .
-If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut o f pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
air bag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
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-
- To reduce the r is k of i njury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts prope rly
r;:;, page 264, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in 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 ch ildren r ide unrestra ined or im­
properly 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
r;:;, page 250 .
-Always sit upright w ith 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 serious injur ies 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 into
the area of the s ide airbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver . Obje cts nea r the airbags can become
pro jecti 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 Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never perm it 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 re ad the impo rtan t in format ion an d
hee d the WARN IN GS for impo rt a nt deta ils
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-An improper ly installed child 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 manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat or
carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause 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 without 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.
Fig. 236 Loc ation of driver a irbag: in ste .e ring wheel
Airbag system
Fig. 237 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
st rum ent panel
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 airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
¢ fig. 236 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
¢fig . 237. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG ".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
information 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 protection .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- 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.
..,.
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Airbag syste m
-Never hold the steering whee l at the 12
o'clock pos it ion or w ith your han ds any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the steering wheel hub. Holding t he steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the d river a irbag deploys.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag w il l in­
crease the risk of inj ury in a crash by interfer­
ing w ith the way the airbag unfo lds 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 str uck
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 persona l injury .
- Never hold th ings in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessor ies or other objec ts
(s uch as c up ho lders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, o r 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 p lace them between
these a reas and yo u or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the w indshield
above the passenger front airbag, s uch as
accessory GPS navigation uni ts or mus ic
players . S uch objects could ca use serio us in ­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to transport objects . Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side a irbags or
the front a irbag during breaking o r in a sud­
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerous ly through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
274
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious in juries and can even be k illed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant o r a small child
is on the fron t passenger sea t, nobody can
absolu tely guarantee tha t deployment un­
de r these specia l condi tions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of yo ur vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the
,. low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child w ith electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capac i­
tance of a typical one-year o ld infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rea r­
ward-facing chi ld seats with which yo ur ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the o ther conditions for airbag de-
ployment are me t.
- Accident s tatisti cs have shown th at children
are generally safer in the rear seat are a than
in the front seat ing pos ition.
- For their own s afety, all ch ildren, especi ally
12 years and younger, should alw ays ride in
the back proper ly 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 Veh icle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the t ime your vehi­
cle was manufactu red .
The front Advanced A irbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide add itiona l protect ion
for the driver 's and front passenger's heads and
upper bod ies in fronta l crashes. The a irbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de-
ce le ra tion is high e no ugh.
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