2018 AUDI Q7 ESP

Drivin g saf ety
Driving safety
Basics
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
The individua l safety features of your vehicle can
work together as a system to help protect you
and your passengers in a wide range of accidents.
These features cannot work as a system if they
are not always correctly adjusted and correctly
used .
This chapter contains important informat ion,
tips, instruct ions and warn ings that you need to
read and observe for your own safety, the safety
of you r passengers and others . We have summar­
ized here w hat you need to know about safety
be lts, a irbags, child restra ints as well as child
safety. Yo ur safety is for us priority number 1. Al­
ways observe the information and warnings in
this section -for your own safety as we ll as that
of your passengers.
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the fea­
tures described in this sections may be standard
equipment on some models, or may be optional
equ ipment on others. If you are not sure, ask
your author ized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in­
structions and heed the WARNINGS in th is
manual.
It is in your inte rest and in the in­
te rest of your passengers .
-
-Always keep all of the Owner's L iterature
manuals in yo ur Audi when you lend o r sell
yo ur vehicle so that this import ant informa­
t ion w ill alw ays be availab le to the dr iver
and passengers.
- Always keep the Owner 's Lite ra ture han dy
so that you can find it easi ly if yo u have
questions .
252
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occupant
safety always depends on the informed and care­
ful driver.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers,
bef ore dri ving alw ays:
.. Make sure that a ll lights and signals are operat­
ing correctly .
.. Make sure that the tire pressure is correct.
.. Make sure that all windows are clean and afford
good vis ibility to the outs ide .
.. Sec ure all luggage and othe r items ca refully
¢ page
257 .
.. Make sure tha t noth ing ca n interfere wi th the
peda ls .
.. Adjust front seat, head restraint and mirrors
correctly for your height.
.. Instruct passengers to adjust the head re­
straints according to their he ight.
.. Make sure to use the right child restraint cor­
rectly to protect children¢ page 291, Child
safety .
• Sit proper ly in yo ur seat a nd make sure t hat
your passenge rs do the same ¢ page 54, Front
seats .
.. Fasten your sa fety belt and wear it p roperly . Al ­
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe­
ty be lts properly ¢ page 261 .
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili­
ty to concentrate on the rood without being dis­
tracted.
The driver is responsib le for the safety of the ve ­
hicle and a ll of its occupants. If your ability to
drive is impa ired, safety risks for everybody in the
vehicle increase and you a lso become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢
_&.. Therefore:
.. Do not let yourse lf be distracted by passenge rs
or by using a cellular telephone .
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im­
paired (by med ications, alcohol, drugs, etc .) .
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and
speed lim its and plain common sense . .,.

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.

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 341 .
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 257, 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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::r ' 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 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.
"' 0 ,:.
;?;
~ 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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:E ' • 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

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:E ' 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

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::r ' 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 253,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
~page 254,
.,. Wear safety belts properly~ page 264,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 291.
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¢
page 253, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 54.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained ¢
page 291.
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 .,.
269

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 ..,.