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Safe driving 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 your passenge rs and others . We have summar
i zed 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 well as that
of your passengers.
The informa tion in t his sect ion app lies to all
model versions of your vehicle. Some of the fea
tures described in t his sections may be standard
eq uipment 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
st ruct ions and heed the WAR NINGS in t his
Manua l. It is in your i nterest a nd in the in
t e res t of your passengers .
-
-Always keep the complete Owner's Litera
t ur e in yo ur Audi whe n you lend or se ll yo ur
vehicle so tha t this import ant information
w ill a lways be available to t he d rive r and
passengers.
-Alw ays keep t he Owne r's lite rature h andy so
that you can f ind it easily if yo u have ques
tions .
Safe dri ving
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 passenger,
b efor e driving alw ay s:
.. Make sure that a ll lights and s ignals are operat
ing correctly.
.. Make sure tha t the tire pressure is correct .
.. Make sure that all windows are clean and afford
good vis ibility to the outs ide .
.. Secure all luggage and othe r items ca refully
c::> page 183, c::> page 49.
.. M ak e sure tha t not hing c an in terfere wi th the
peda ls .
.. Adj ust seat and mirrors correctly for your
height .
.. Make sure to use the right child restra int cor
rectly to protect children
c::> page 216, Child
safety.
.. Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passenger do the
same ¢ page 46, Front
seats.
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and wear i t properly. Al
so inst ru ct yo ur passenge r to fas ten his safety
be lt properly
¢ page 187.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is dire ctly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili
ty to concentrate on the road without being dis
tracted.
T he dr iver is responsib le for the sa fe ty of the ve
hicle and a ll of its occupants. If your ability to
drive is impai red, safety risks for everybody in the
vehicl e inc rease and you a lso become a hazard to
everyone else on the road
¢ A_ . Therefore:
.. Do not let yourse lf be distracted by passenge r
or by using a ce llular telephone .
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im
pa ired (by med ications, alcohol, drugs, etc.) .
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and
speed lim its and plain common sense .
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic and
weather conditions .
.,.
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-Never adjust the seats while the vehicle is
moving. Your seat may move unexpectedly
and you could lose control of the vehicle.
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due
to incorrect positioning of the safety belt
and improper seating position .
- Children must always ride in child seats
¢page 216. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat ¢
page 194.
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position is
important for safe, relaxed driving.
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the seat for the front passenger
to the following position:
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position and your back comes in full
contact with it whenever the vehicle is moving .
.,. Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of the
front passenger seat .
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢ page 190.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
front passenger's seat, see ¢
page 46.
A WARNING
Front seat passengers who are unbelted, out
of position or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured or killed by the airbag as it
unfolds . To help reduce the risk of serious
personal injury:
- Passengers must always sit in an upright po
sition and never lean against or place any
part of their body too close to the area
where the airbags are located.
- Passengers who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the airbag can be seri
ously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye .
Safe driving
-Always make sure that there are at least
10 in (25 cm) between the front passen
ger's breastbone and the instrument panel.
- Always make sure that there are at least 4 in
(10 cm) between the front passenger's
knees and the lower part of the instrument
panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front pas
senger seat properly.
- Always keep your feet on the floor in front
of the seat. Never rest them on the seat, in
strument panel, out of the window, etc . The
airbag system and safety belt will not be
able to protect you properly and can even in
crease the risk of injury in a crash .
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due
to incorrect positioning of the safety belt
and improper seating position .
- Children must always ride in child seats
¢
page 216. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat ¢
page 194.
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 death. Safety belts can only work when
they are properly positioned on the body. Im
proper seating positions reduce the effectiveness
of safety belts and will even increase the risk of
injury and death by moving the safety belt to crit
ical areas of the body . Improper seating positions
also increase the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seating position. A driver
is responsible for the safety of all vehicle occu-
pants and especially for children. Therefore:
IJJ,,
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Safe driving
on the safety compliance sticker on the left
door jamb. Exceeding permissible weight
standards can cause the vehicle to slide and handle differently .
- Please observe information on safe driving
9 page 179.
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 convertible top,
- 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 convertible top and the rear lid are
securely 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.
- 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.
184
@ Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window fog
ging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel, on the left
side of the luggage compartment. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure label is lo
cated on the driver's side B-pillar . The tire
pressure label lists the recommended 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 man
ufactured. For recommended tire pressures
for normal load conditions , please see chap
ter ¢page255.
Tie -downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure luggage and other items.
I A UD I I
Fig. 151 Lu ggage compartmen t: loca tion of the tie -dow ns
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
9page 183, Loading 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 energy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the
item . Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
For example , in a frontal collision at a speed of
30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10 lbs
(4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the normal
weight of the item. This means that the weight
of the item would suddenly be about
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Safety belts
General notes
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, or physically im
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously 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 veh icle has two seating positions. 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
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing sma ll ch ildren, into any belt.
It is espe
ci ally da ngerous to place a safety belt over a
ch ild sitting on your 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.
4 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. 152 Safety belt warn ing ligh t in the instrument clus
ter -en larged
Before driving off, always:
l,; N 0
> ... m
• Fasten your safety belt and make sure you wear
it properly.
• 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, a
warning tone will sound 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.
Fo r your protection and that of yo ur passen
gers, always correctly 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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Safe ty belts
,.. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch secure ly
¢ page 190, fig. 157 .
,.. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
.,&. WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
ser ious personal inju ry in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap po rtion 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
othe r important information
Q .&. in Fasten
ing safety belts on page 191.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
.,
F ig . 1 60 Releasi ng th e tongue fro m the buck le
,.. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 160 . The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
¢ &_ .
,.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed posit ion.
.,&. WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will i ncrease you r risk of be
ing injured o r kill ed .
192
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se
vere injuries.
Wear ing safety belts improperly can cause seri
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
whe n they are correctly posit ioned on the body .
Imprope r seat ing positions reduce the effective
ness of safety bel ts and w ill even increase the
risk of inj ury and death by moving the safety be lt
to critical are as of the body . Imprope r seating
pos itions also increase the risk o f serious injury
and death when an airbag dep loys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especially for chi ldren.
Therefore:
,.. Never pe rm it anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing pos ition in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &_ .
.,&. WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of ser ious perso nal injury and death whenever
a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all veh icle occu pants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
se ating position whenever the ve hicle is be
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other impo rtant
informat ion ¢ page 189 .
Safety belt tensioner
How safety belt pretensioners work
Pyrotechn ic safety belt preten sioners
Seat belts with pyrotechnic safety be lt preten
sioners are tensioned automatically in severe col lis ions, depending on the circumstances. This
helps to reduce the forward motion of the occu
pants .
.,&. WARNING
-It is poss ible for the pretens ioners to dep loy
incor rect ly.
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Airbag system
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 180,
.,. Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
~ page 181,
.,. Wear safety belts p roperly ~ page 189,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect chi ldren
~ page 216.
In a coll is ion airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
p lemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper ·
ly. T herefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all t imes .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal
coll isions ¢ page 180, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 46.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
¢page 216 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passenger
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
194 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 dea ler or qualified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, 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 . Th e a irbags w ill deflate im
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see t hrough the windsh ield aga in
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir 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 passenger from hitting parts of the inside
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 lowe r parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of t he a irbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and regis tered by the electronic con
trol unit . If this rate is be low the refe rence value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even tho ugh t he car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances wi ll vary considerab ly
between one collision and another, it is not possi
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
im pact , vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
..,.

Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants.
Fig. 161 location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 162 location of front passenger's airbag: in the in
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air
bag System" in compliance with Un ited States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your vehicle was manufactured.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing whee l
hub
~ fig. 161 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel
~fig. 162. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle. We urge you to read th e detailed
information about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS - they are extremely important
198
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with proper ly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in
jury if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys .
.&_ WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in
crease the r isk of injury in a crash by interfer
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that cou ld be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
-
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never p lace accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind
shield; never place them over or near or at
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
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Cl 00 .-< N r-N .-< 0 r-Vl 00
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such objects could cause serious in
jury in a collision, especially when the air bags inflate .
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
-
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U .S . Federal Standard if a child that is
heavier than the typical one-year old child is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- For its own safety, a child should always ride
properly restrained for its age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driv er's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de
celeration is high enough.
Airbag system
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airb ag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low risk" require
ments for 3 and 6 year-old children on the pas
senger side and very small adults on the driver
side. The low risk deployment criteria are intend
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
example, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument p anel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
res trained on the front passenger seat in child re
straints that are listed in the Standard
~page 218, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is restrained
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 which the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified . For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
~page 218,
- When a person is detected on the front passen
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the total electrical capacitance of
a child 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 which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified), the front
.,,.
199