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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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 s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobi le accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen
gers, always co rrect ly wea r safety be lts
w hen the veh icle is mov ing.
- Pregnant wome n, in ju red, o r physically im
paired persons mus t also use safety be lts.
Lik e al l vehicle oc cupan ts, they are mo re
li kely to be serio usly injured i f th ey do no t
wear safety be lts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mothe r - thro ughout
the ent ire pregnancy.
Number of seats
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith five seats: Your vehicle
has two front seats and three rear seats. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith seven seats: Your
ve hicles has two front seats, three seats in the
second row and two seats in the third row. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety bel ts or wear ing them im
properly increases the risk of ser io us pe rsonal
inju ry and death.
- Never st rap more tha n one person, i nclud
ing small c hildre n, into any be lt.
It is espe-
Safet y be lts
cially dangero us to p lace a safety be lt over a
child sitting on yo ur lap.
- Never let more peop le ride in the vehicle
than there are safety be lts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly restrained with a separate safety
be lt o r ch ild rest raint.
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.
F ig . 222 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in t he inst rume nt clus
ter - en larged
Before dr iving off , always :
~ Fasten your safety belt and ma ke sure you are
wearing it properly.
;?;
~ Make sure that you r passengers also b uckl e up
and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a c hild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
lights up when t he ignit ion is switched on as a re
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safet y belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
b e lts .
A WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the sing le m ost effect ive
means available to red uce the risk of se riou s
i njur y and death in a utomo bile acci dents.
F or your p rotection and tha t of yo ur
261
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bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe
ty restraint systems , the unr estrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, in
strument panel, windshield , or whatever else is
in the way
c:;, fig. 225 . This impact with the vehi
cle interior has all the energy they had just be
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy , airbags provide only additional
protection . Airbags are not supposed to deploy in
all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in
jury or death in a crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protection in those accidents in which
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown out of the vehicle where even more severe or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
c:;, fig. 226 . In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and injure the driver and/or front seat passenger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
Fig. 227 Drive r is co rr ectly restrained in a sudden b rak ing
maneuver
Safety belts
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap plied to the body in an accident , and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri ous injuries. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of be ing thrown out of the vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more gently or "softly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi
neered into today's vehicles . By "absorbing" the
kinetic energy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerable" and less likely to cause injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety belts can also substantia lly re
duce the risk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too. Accident statistics show that vehi
cle occupants properly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of surviving an accident. Properly using
safety belts also greatly increases the ability of
the supplemental a irbags to do their job in a col
lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada.
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not acti
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear col
lisions, in rollovers or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other airbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
263
Safety belts
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
• Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de
scribed in this chapter .
• Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death. Safety belts can work only
when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be
fore driving off and make sure all passen
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be positioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
-Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is mov ing. Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat hard
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter
fere with correct positioning of belts and re duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
264
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely.
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre
ate slack in the shoulder belt. However, spe
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al
so be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourself.
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func
tion of the inertia reel
c:> table Interior
cleaning on page 353.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 228 Belt bu ckle and tongue on the driver's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
er's body.
• Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper-
ly
c:> page 54, Front seats. ..,.
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• Make sure the seatback of the rear sea t bench
is in an upright position and secure ly latched in
place before using the belt¢.&_ .
• Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pelvis ¢
fig. 228, ¢ .&_ .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
• Pullon the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident . T he belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or thr ough a s harp curve. Dur ing normal dr iv
ing the bel t lets you move freely.
Safet y belt pretensioners
Safety belts wit h pretensioners he lp to tighte n
the safety belt and remove s lack when the pre
tensione rs a re activate d¢
page 267 . T he fu nc
t ion of the pretensioner is moni to red by a warn
ing light
q page 25.
Convertible locking retractor
E very safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a co nvertible locking ret rac
tor that
must be used when the safety bel t is
used to attach a child safe ty seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant i nfo rmat ion about this feature
¢ page 302.
.&._ WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
q page 265,
Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
-Always ma ke sure that the rear seat bac k
rest to wh ich the center rear safety be lt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear cente r safety belt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen
ger will move forward with the backrest dur-
Safet y bel ts
ing sudden braking, in a s udden ma neuver
and espec ia lly in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attach ing the be lt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec
tiveness and can cause serio us personal i n
jury .
- A passenger who is not properly rest rai ned
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it
self when it moves from the st ronge r parts
of the body into c ritical areas like the abdo
men .
- Always loc k the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are s ecu ring a c hild safety seat in
the vehicle
q page 304.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 22 9 Safet y belt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to matc h your body
s ize .
- be lt height adjus tment for the front seats,
- he igh t-a djust able fro nt seat s.
.&_ WARNING
Im properly posi tioned sa fe ty belts can ca use
se rious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- Th e shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of t he collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body . Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue 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 ..,.
265
Safety belts
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snugly
~ fig. 229. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt 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 . 229. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its pos ition on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
Q page 264.
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. 230 Safety belt pos ition during preg nan cy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
er's body
i=> page 265.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor
rectly
c> page 54, Front seats .
.,. 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
Q fig. 230, QA .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
266
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious 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.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c> .& in Fasten
ing safety belts on page
265 .
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 231 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
Q fig. 231. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
Q .&, .
.,. 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.
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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.
F ig . 2 32 Safety belt height adjustment -loop -around fit
t ings
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
¢ .&. in Safety belt position on
page 265.
~ Push the loop-a round fitt ings up ¢ fig. 232 @,
or
~ squeeze together the(!) button, and push the
l oop-arou nd 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¢
page 264.
(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 be lts improperly can cause seri
ous injury or death. Safety belts can on ly work
when they are co rrectly positioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effective
ness of safety belts and will even increase the
Safet y bel ts
risk of in jury and death by moving the safety be lt
to critical areas of the body. Improper seating
pos itions also increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag dep loys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi
t ion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especially for ch ildren.
Therefore:
~ Never perm it anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢ .&_ .
.&, WARNING
Imp roperly wo rn safety belts increase the risk
of ser ious personal inj ury and death whenever
a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all ve hicle occupants
are cor rec tly rest rained and stay in a corre ct
seating posi tion whenever the vehicle is be
ing used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other impor tant informat ion¢
page 264.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Rever sible safety belt pretensioners
The following functions are available when safety
belts w ith reversible safety belt tensioners are
fastened:
-Automatic tensioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or veh icle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the Infotainment sys
tem:
! ME NUI button> Car > left control b utton
> Vehicle setting s> Seat s > Driver' s seat or
Pa ssenger' s seat > Automati c be lt ten sion er.
- I n ce rta in driving situations, the safety bel ts
may tighten wit h a reversib le tensioning func
tion
¢ page 112.
-The safety be lts may also tighten with this re
versible te nsion ing funct ion in m inor collisions . .,._
267
Airbag syste m
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro llovers .
Always rememb er: 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 col lision.
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 a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
¢ page 261.
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
c ould 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.
270
-
- To reduce the r is k of i njury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts prope rly
¢ 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
¢page 253.
-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 mo ve 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 WAR NINGS for impo rtant deta ils ..,.