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as even as possible with the top of your head. If
that is not possible, try to adjust the head re
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible. If there is a passenger in the center
rear seat, slide the head restraint upward
c:>page 58 .
• Make sure that the seatback is securely latched
in the upright pos ition
r:::;, page 63 .
• Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front of
the rear seat .
• Fasten and wear safety be lts properly
,:;;;,page 264.
• Make sure that children are always properly re
strained in a child restraint that is appropriate
for their size and
ager:::;, page 291 .
A WARNING
Passengers who are improperly seated on the
rear seat can be seriously injured in a crash.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat .
- Safety belts only offer max imum p rotection
when the seatback is securely latched in the
upr ight position and the safety be lts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body. By not sit
t ing upright, a rea r seat passenger increases
the risk of personal in jury from improperly
posit ioned safety belts !
- Always adjust the head rest raint properly so
that it can g ive maximum protection.
Dri ving safety
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an impor
tant part of your vehicle's occupant restraint sys
tem and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in
accident situations.
F ig . 2 2 0 Head restraint: v iewed from t he front
The head restraints must be correctly adjusted to
achieve the best protection.
• Adjust the head restraints so the upper edge is
as even as possib le with the top of your head. If
that is not possible, try to adjust the head re
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible . Position* the head restraint as close
as possible to the back of your head.
• If there is a passenger in the center rear seat,
slide the head restra int upward.
Adjusting head restraints
r:::;, page 58.
A WARNING
All seats are equipped with head restraints .
Driving w ithout head restraints or w ith head
r est raints that are not properly adjusted in
creases the r is k of se rious or fata l neck injury
dramat ic al ly. To help reduce the risk of inju ry:
- Always d rive with the head restra ints in
p lace and properly adjusted.
- Every pe rson in the veh icle must have a
p roperly adjusted head restraint.
- Always make sure each person in the veh icle
p roperly adjusts the ir head restraint. Adj ust
the head restraints so the upper edge is as
even as possible wi th the top of your head.
I f that is not poss ible, try to ad just the head
rest raint so that it is as close to this position
as poss ible.
Ill>
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Drivin g saf ety
- Never attempt to adjust head restraint
wh ile driving. If you have dr iven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any rea
son, first stop the vehicle safely before at
tempting to ad just the head restra int.
- Children must always be properly restrained
in a child restraint that is appropriate for
their age and size
c> page 291 .
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce
the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are properly
seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious in
jury or deat h. Safety belts can only work when
they are properly positioned on the body . Im
proper seating positions reduce the effect iveness
of safety belts and w ill even increase the r isk of
i n ju ry and death by moving the safety be lt to crit
ical a reas of t he body. Improper seat ing posit ions
a lso increase the risk of serious injury and dea th
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seating position. A driver is responsib le for the safety of all vehicle occu
pants and especially for children. Therefore :
~ Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being used
c> & .
The fo llowing bulletins list only some sample po
sitions that wi ll increase the risk of serio us inj ury
and death. Our hope is that these examples will
make you more aware of seating posit ions that
are dangerous.
The refore, when ever th e vehicle i s mo ving :
-never stand up in the vehicle
- never s tand on the seats
- never knee l on the seats
- never r ide with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the seats
- never lean up against the instrument pane l
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit sideways
- never lea n ou t t he w indow
- never put yo ur feet out the window
256
-never put your feet on the instrument panel
- neve r rest your feet on the seat c ushion or bac k
o f the seat
- neve r ride in the footwell
- never ride in the cargo area
.8, WARNING
Imp roper seating positions in cr ease the risk
of ser ious personal inju ry and dea th whenever
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all veh icle o ccupants
s tay in a proper sea ting posit ion and a re
proper ly restrained whenever the vehicle is
being used .
Pedal area
Pedals
The pedals must always be free to move and
must never be interfered with by a floor mat or
any other object.
Make sure that all pedals move free ly without in
terference and that nothing prevents them from retur ning to their or ig inal pos itions .
Only use floor mats that leave the pedal area free
and can be secured with floor mat fasteners.
If a bra ke circuit fails, increased brake pedal trav
e l is req uired to bring the vehicle to a fu ll stop.
.8, WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely can cause loss
of vehicle contro l and increase the r isk of seri
ous injury.
- Never p lace any objects in the driver's foot
wel l. An object could get into the pedal area
and interfere with pedal funct ion. In case of
sudden braking or an acc ident, you would
no t be able to brake o r acce le rate!
- Always make sure that nothing can fall or
move into the driver's footwell.
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Floor mats on the driver side
Always use floor mats that can be securely at
tached to the floor mat fasteners and do not in
terfere with the free movement of the pedals .
.,. Make sure that the floor mats are properly se
cured and cannot
move and interfere with the
pedals ¢&_ .
Use only floor mats that leave the pedal area un
obstructed and that are firmly secured so that
they cannot slip out of pos it ion . You can obtain
suitab le floor mats from your authorized Audi
deale r.
F loor mat fasteners are installed in your Audi.
Floor mats used in your vehicle must be attached
to these fasteners. Proper ly securing the floor
mats will prevent them from sliding into posi
tions that could interfere with the pedals or im
pa ir safe operation of your vehicle in other ways.
A WARNING
Peda ls that cannot move free ly can result in a
loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of
ser ious personal in jury.
- Always make sure tha t floor mats are p rop
erly sec ured.
- Never place o r install floor mats or other
floor coverings in the ve hicle that cannot be
prope rly secured in place to prevent them
from slipp ing and interfering with the ped
als or the ability to control t he vehicle .
- Never place o r inst all floo r m ats or o ther
floor coverings on top of already insta lled
floo r mats. Additional floor mats and other
cove rings wi ll reduce the size of the peda l
area and interfere with the pedals.
- Always properly reinstall and secure floor
mats that have been taken o ut for cleaning.
- Always make sure that objects cannot fa ll
into the dr iver footwell while the veh icle is
moving. Objects can become trapped under
the brake peda l and accelerator peda l caus
ing a loss of veh icle control.
Dri ving sa fety
Storing cargo correctly
Loading the luggage compartment
All luggage and other objects must be properly
stowed and secured in the luggage compart
ment .
Fig . 221 Safe load pos iti on ing : plac e heavy ob jects as low
a n d as far forward as possible.
Loose items in the luggage compartment can
sh ift suddenly, changing vehicle hand lin g charac
te ristics. Loo se i tems can a lso increase the risk of
se rious persona l injury in a sudden veh icle ma
neuver or in a collision .
.,. Distribute the load evenly in the luggage com
pa rtment .
.,. Always p lace and properly secu re heavy items in
t he l uggage compartment as low and as far for
wa rd as possib le
¢ fig . 221.
.,. Secure luggage usi ng the tie -downs provided
¢ page 65.
.,. Make sure that the rear seatback is secure ly
latched in place.
A WARNING
-
Improperly stored luggage or other items can
f ly through the vehicle ca us ing se rious per
sona l injury i n the event of ha rd bra king or an
accident. To help reduce the risk of serio us
personal injury:
- Always put obje cts, for examp le, l uggage or
o ther he avy item s in the luggage compa rt
men t.
- Always secure objects in the luggage com
p art ment us ing the tie -down eyelets and
suitable straps .
257
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Driving safety
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehi
cle handles . To help reduce the risk of a loss
of control leading to serious personal injury:
- Always keep in mind when transporting
heavy objects, that a change in the center of
gravity can also cause changes in vehicle
handling:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
possible.
-Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating
or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specified
on the safety compliance sticker on th e driv
er's side B-pillar. Exceeding permissible
weight standards can cause the vehicle to
slide and handle differently .
- Please observe information on safe driving
<=) page 252.
A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas from
being drawn into the vehicle, always keep the
rear lid closed while driving .
- Never transport objects larger than those
fitting completely into the luggage area be cause the rear lid cannot be fully closed .
- If you absolutely must drive with the rear lid
open, observe the following notes to reduce
the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the sunroof*,
-Open all air outlets in the instrument pan-
el,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed .
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win
dows, the sunroof* and the rear lid are se
curely closed and locked to reduce the risk of
injury when the vehicle is not being used .
-After closing the rear lid , always make sure
that it is properly closed and locked.
258
-Never leave your vehicle unattended espe
cially with the rear lid left open. A child
could crawl into the vehicle through the lug
gage compartment and close the rear lid be
coming trapped and unable to get out . Be
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious
personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the vehi
cle .
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment . Vehicle occupants must al
ways be properly restrained in one of the
ve
hicle 's seating positions.
@ Note
If you are transporting large items with the
backrest folded down*, you should remove
the Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE)* and its
holder* to avoid damage.
© Tips
-Air circulation helps to reduce window fog
ging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure to
keep these slots free and open .
-The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure label lists the recom
mended cold tire inflation pressures for the
vehicle at its maximum capacity weight and
the tires that were on your vehicle at the
time it was manufactured. For recommend ed tire pressures for normal load condi
tions, please see chapter
Q page 336 .
Tie-downs
The luggage compartmen t is equipped with four
t ie-downs to secure luggage and o ther i tems.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
Qpage 25 7, L oading the luggage compartment.
In a collision , the laws of physics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause serious in
jury. Items in the vehicle possess ene rgy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the
item . Vehicle speed is the mos t significant fac tor .
..,.
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For examp le, in a frontal collision at a s peed o f
30 mph (48 km/ h), the forces act ing o n a 10-lb
(4. 5 k g) object are abo ut 20 times the no rma l
weight of the item. Th is means that the weight
of t he item would suddenly be abo ut
200 lbs . (90 kg) . You can imagi ne the injuries
that a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item fly ing free ly throug h
the passenge r compart men t could ca use in a col
lision like this .
_& WARNING
-
Weak , da maged or improper stra ps us ed to
s e cu re i te m s to t ie-downs can fail during hard
brak in g or i n a co llision and cau se seriou s per
sonal injury .
- Alw ays use su it a ble mounting str aps and
prope rly secure item s to the tie-downs in
t h e lu gg age compartment t o help prevent
items from s hifting or f lying fo rwa rd as dan
gerous missiles.
- When th e rea r seat backrest is folde d down,
always use su itab le mounting stra ps an d
prope rly secure items t o th e tie -d owns in
t he l ugg age compartmen t to he lp pre ven t
it em s from flyi ng fo rw ar d as dang erou s
mi ssiles into t he pass eng er com partment .
- N ev er attac h a chi ld saf ety se at t ether s trap
t o a tie-do wn.
Reporting Safety Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause a
crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately in
form the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in
addition to notifying Audi of
America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com
plaints, it may open an investiga-
Driving safety
tion, and if it find s that a safety
defects exists in a group of
vehicles, it may order a recall and remedy campaign. However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in
individual problems between you,
your dealer, or Audi of America, Inc .
To contact the NHTSA, you may either call:
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153) or
1-800-424-9393
or you may write to: NHTSA
U .S. Department of Transporta
tion
1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E .
West Building
Washington, DC 20590
You can al so obtain other infor
mation about motor vehicle safe
ty from :
http: / /www.safercar.gov
Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you be
lieve that your vehicle has a de-
fect that could cause a crash, in
jury or death, you should immedi ately inform Transport Canada, Defect Investigations and Recalls .
..,.
259
Page 262 of 392
Driving safety
You should also notify Audi Cana
da.
Canadian customers who wish to report a safety-related defect to
Transport Canada, Defect Investi
gations and Recalls, may either
call Transport Canada toll-free at :
Tel. : 1-800-333-0510 or
Tel. : 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa re
gion and from other countries)
TTY for hearing impaired :
1-888-6
7 5-6863
or contact Transport Canada by
mail at:
Transport Canada
Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J8Z 0Al
For additional road safety infor
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu.htm
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Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains 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 s ingle most effective
means ava ilable 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
like ly 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 Aud i 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 wear ing them im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
inju ry and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe
cia lly dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitt ing on you r lap.
- Never let more 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.
Fig. 222 Safety belt warn ing ligh t in the instrument clus ·
te r - en larged
Before driving off, always:
• Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
"' 0 ,:.
;;i;
• Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
• Protect ch ildren with a child restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
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 add ition,
you w ill hear a warn ing 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 effect ive
means available to red uce the risk of serious
i njur y and death in automobile accidents.
F or your protection and that of yo ur passen
gers, a lways correct ly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Fail ure to pay attention to the warning light
that comes on cou ld lead to personal injury.
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Safety belts
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 223 Unbelted occupants in a veh icle headi ng fo r a wall
Fig. 224 The vehicle c rashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi
cle and the passengers possess energy which var ies w ith vehicle speed and body weight. Engi
neers call this energy "k inetic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor .
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us
ing safety belts
qfig. 223, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, unti l something stops them -
here, the wall
q fig . 224.
The same principles apply to people sit ting in a
vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision . Even
at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
262
(2,000 lbs. or 1,000 kg) or more . At greater
speeds, these forces are even higher.
People who do not use safety belts are also not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal collis ion
they will also keep moving forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash.
Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in
jured or killed . Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 225 A drive r not wea ring a safety belt is vio len tly
t hrow n fo rward
Fig. 226 A rear passe nge r not wear ing a sa fety belt will fly
forward and str ike t he drive r
Unbelted occupants are not able to res ist the tre
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe
ty restraint systems, the unrestra ined occupant
will slam violently into the stee ring wheel, in
strument panel, windshield, or whatever e lse is
in the way
q fig . 225. T his impact with the vehi
cle interior has all the energy they had just be-
fore the crash.
liJJ,-