Safety belts
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts 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 automob ile acc idents.
For your protection and that of your passen
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be serious ly injured if th ey 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
inju ry and death.
- Never strap more tha n one person, includ
i ng small children, into any belt. It is espe
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on you r lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
134 -
Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly 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 (on USA models only) to remind you about the importance of buckling
up .
Fig. 140 Safety belt warn ing lig ht in the instrument clus
ter
-enlarged
Before driving off , always:
.,. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly .
U) N
"' 9 N
and properly wear their safety belts .
.,. Protect children with a ch ild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ign it ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts . In addition , you will hear
a war ning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
A WARNING
-
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
inj ury and death in automobile accidents.
Fo r your protection and that of your passen
gers, a lways correct ly wear safety belts
when t he vehicle is moving .
- Fai lure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, cou ld lead to personal injury.
Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped with an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an 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 sione rs
Safety belts w ith pretensioners he lp to tighten
the safety belt and remove s lack when the pre
tensioners are activated
c;, page 140 . The func
tion of the pretensioner is monitored by a warn
ing light
c;, page 16 .
Convertibl e loc king r etracto r
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped w ith a convertible locking retrac
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢ page 177 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an
accident ¢ page 138,
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 be lt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen
ger will move forward with the backrest dur
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong b uckle wi ll reduce safety belt effec
t iveness and can cause serious person-a l in
jury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrained
can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
138
of the body into critical areas like the abdo men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve
hicle
,=;, page 179 .
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
c;, page 140 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 147 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts .
.&_ WARNING
Imp roperly positioned safety belts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an a cc ident.
- The shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways f it
snug ly
c;, fig. 147. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by sh ifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious i nju ry .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c;, page 136 .
a co .... N
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insta lled on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's a irbag in a frontal collision . The air
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
child restraint and even seriously i njure the ch ild
during inflation .
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for children - when properly restra in
ed according to the ir age and size
-we strongly
recommend that children always sit in t he back
seat
¢ page 166, Child safety.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i
ously in jured and can be k illed if the front air
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child sea t or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, cente r arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facin g child seats on t he
rea r seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing chil d
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptiona l circumstances and the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear
facing child seat in a rea r seat ing position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild seats installed on the
front passenge r's seat may interfere with
t h e deployment of the airbag and cause se
rious person al injury to the child.
.&_ WARNING
If, in e xcept ional circumstan ces, you mus t in
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forwar d-f a ci ng seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and s ide air bag .
Airbag syste m
- Never put the fo rwa rd-facing child restraint
up aga inst or very nea r the instr ument pan
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justmen t range , as far away from the air
bag as possible, before installing the for
ward-fa cing ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the c hild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child res tra int
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roperly posi
tioned.
- Make sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on .
.&_ WARNING
= -
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a child rest raint 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 the checks described
¢ page 154, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen
ge r seat and install it properly at one of the
rear sea t positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay o n.
- Have the ai rbag system inspected by your
Au di deale r immediately.
- Always carefully follow ins tructions from
child restrain t manufacture rs when instal
ling child restra ints .
.&_ WARNING
-
If, in exceptional c ircums tances, you must in
st all a forw ard or re arw ard-fa cing child re
stra int on t he fron t passenger 's seat:
- I mp roper installat ion of child res traints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even preven t
them from provi ding any pro tect ion .
145
Airbag syste m
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wearing your safe
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re
stra ined, not just because the law requ ires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children o n the pas
senge r side and very sma ll adul ts on the d river
side . The low r isk dep loymen t cr iteria are intend
ed to he lp reduce t he risk of injury through inter
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates .
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in ch ild re
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 168, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear
facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rt ified . For a listing of the ch ild
r estra ints tha t were used to certify your veh i
cle's compl ian ce with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 168,
-When a person is detected on the fron t passen
ger seat th at has an electr ica l capacitance t hat
is mo re than the tota l electrical capac itance of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant re
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified) , the front
148
airbag on the passenger side may or may not
dep loy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the ele ct ronic control unit detec ts a t otal
e lectrica l capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
t h e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses an impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For e xample, th e airb ag may deploy if :
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whether the child is i n one of the
child seats listed
c::> page 168),
-a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat .
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the center of
the instrument panel will come on and stay on.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" dep loyment criteria to help reduce the r isk
of injury t hrough interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
i n the elect ronic co ntrol unit
c::> page 154 .
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for ch ildre n is properly restra ined on the back
seat. Please be su re to read the impo rtant info r
mation in the sect ions that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
_&. WARNING
T o redu ce the r is k of injury when an air ba g i n-
flates, always wear safety be lts prope rly.
II)>
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t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 142 .
A WARNING
A ch ild in a rearward-facing ch ild seat instal
led on the front passenger seat w ill be ser i
ously in jured and can be k illed if the front air
bag inflates - even with an Advanced A irbag
System.
- Alt hough the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is des igned to t urn off t he front
airbag when a re arwa rd-faci ng ch ild re
straint has been insta lled on the front pas
senger seat, nobody can abso lutely guaran
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the c hild seat and child against the
backrest, ce nter armrest, door, or roof .
- Always install rearward-fac ing ch ild re
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing c hild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come o n
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear
facing child seat in a re ar seat ing pos ition
and have the a irbag sys tem inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer .
A WARNING
If , in except ional circumstances, you mus t in
sta ll a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward -facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and s ide a irbag.
Airbag syste m
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up aga inst or very near the instr ument pan
el.
-Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible, before installing the for
ward-fac ing ch ild rest raint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
a nchorage is behind the c hild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the ch ild res trai nt
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roper ly posi
tioned.
- Always make su re th at there is not hing o n
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some
one w ho is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of add i
tional objects cou ld cause the passe nger
front a irbag to be t urned on when it should
be off, o r cou ld cause t he air bag to work in a
way th at is d ifferen t from the way it wo uld
have worked withou t the object on the seat .
- Mak e sure that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever t he ignition is switched on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your ve hicle has a lot
of very important parts of t he Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the capacitive passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more . The control unit monitors the system
on the fro nt passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator l igh t
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is
detec ted ¢ page 154. Because
the fron t passenger sea t contains impo rtan t
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System, you m ust
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
..,_
149
Airbag syste m
Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag S ystem con sists
of the follo wing :
-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 electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control 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
shou ld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for 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.
- A capacitive passenger detect io n system under
neath t he front passenger seat cover. This sys
tem measures the elect rical capac ita nce of the
person in the seat. The info rm ation registe red
is sent continuous ly to the e lectronic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad
vanced Airbag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
Q page 154 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument pane l. The infor
mation reg istered is sent continuously to the
electronic control un it to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags .
- The
PASS ENGER AIR BA G OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel
Q page 154, fig . 154 and tells you when
the front Advanced A irbag on the passenger
s ide has been turned off .
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenge r that senses
whethe r th at safety belt is latched or not and
t ransm its this info rmat ion to the electronic
contro l unit.
150
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre
vent the front airbag from work ing properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced A irbag System from function ing
properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacit ive pas
senger detect ion mat in the front passenger
seat will not function p roperly if it is punc
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob
jects on the front passenger seat. Such ob
jects can influence the capacitance regis
tered by the capaci tive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect in format ion is pro
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store i tems under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys
tem from working p roper ly.
- Never p lace 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.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child res tra int system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, p illows, blankets, or
sim ila r items on the front passenge r seat.
The additional laye rs prevent the capac it ive
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measu ring the ca pac itance of t he ch ild safe
ty seat and/or the perso n on the seat and
t h us ke ep the Advanc ed Airbag Syst em fr om
working properly .
- Never place or use any electrical device
(suc h as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the devi ce is conne cted to the 12-volt
socket o r the cigarette lighter socket. Such
devices can in fluence the capacitance regis
tered by the capacitive passenger detection system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenge r seat and the child restraint man
ufact urer 's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to
properly pos ition the ch ild restraint, make
certain tha t the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t comes on and stays on whenever the
c h ild restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and st ay on, immedia tely in
st all child res traint in a re a r se ating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer .
A WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im
mediately .
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the airbag system from work
ing properly and may, for instance, deact i
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on togethe r with
the a irbag indicator light
II (USA models)/
El (Canada models) in the instrument clus
ter.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, bu t has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the airbag sys
tem from wo rking pro perly and ca use the
passenge r frontal airb ag to be enabled
(tu rned on), even though the re is a properly
Airbag syste m
installed child restraint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
turn off.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
T he front Advance d Airb ag Sys tem and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front t hree-point safety be lts and the adjustable
head restraints * to help red uce the risk of in jury
i n a w ide range of accident and c rash situat ions.
Be sure to read the important information about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapte r.
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de
pend on the dece leration measured by the crash
senso rs and reg istered by the electronic co ntro l
u nit . Crash severity depe nds on speed and dece l
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the cras h.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
u se, the front passenge r frontal a irbag will be
tu rned off if the e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenge r detect ion sys tem on
t h e fron t passenger se at is less th an the amou nt
programmed in t he e lectronic contro l unit . The
front passenge r frontal airbag wi ll also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem under Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes
o n and stays o n to tell you when the front Ad
vanced Airbag Sys tem on t he passenger side has
been turned off
q page 154 .
To reduce the risk of injury when an air bag in
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are un res tra ined, leaning forwar d, si t
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r is k of injury is much higher .
~
151
Airbag system
-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
r=;, page 142.
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 153 I nf lated 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 plemental 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 for adjustable head restraints: the head re-
straints have been properly adjusted.
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
vehicle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy. It
could irritate skin.
It is important to remember that while the sup
plemental airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra -
152
sions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body . Front airbags supplement the three
point safety belt s only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle deceleration is high enough
to deploy the airbags .
Front airbags will not deploy :
-if the ignition is switched off when a crash oc-
curs,
-in side co llisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh
old needed for airbag deployment as reg iste red
by the electron ic cont rol un it.
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat indicat es that the pas
senger side frontal a irbag must be switched off
by the electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light r=;, page 154 and how they
work comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
, -
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of serious injury in crashes.
-To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean aga inst 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 serious ly
inju red by an airbag as it unfolds with g reat
force in the blink of an eye
~ page 143. ~