All seat belts except the driver's seat belt are
equipped with a special seat belt retractor to
securely fasten child restraint systems in the
vehicle. Further information can be found under
"Special seat belt retractor" (
Ypage 49).
Releasing seat belts
!Make sure that the seat belt is fully rolled up.
Otherwise, the seat belt or belt tongue will be
trapped in the door or in the seat mechanism.
This could damage the door, the door trim
panel and the seat belt. Damaged seat belts
can no longer fulfill their protective function
and must be replaced. Visit a qualified spe-
cialist workshop.
XPress the release button in the belt buckle,
hold the belt tongue firmly and guide the belt
back.
Belt warning for drivers and front pas-
sengers
The 7 seat belt warning lamp in the instru-
ment cluster is a reminder that all vehicle occu-
pants must wear their seat belts. It may light up
continuously or flash. In addition, there may be
a warning tone.
Regardless of whether the driver's seat belt has
already been fastened, the 7seat belt warn-
ing lamp lights up for 6 secondsa fter each time
the ignition is switched on. After the engine has
been started, it goes out once the driver has
fastened the seat belt.
If the driver's seat belt is not fastened when the
engine is started, an additional warning tone will sound. This warning tone stops after a maximum
of six seconds or once the driver's seat belt is
fastened.
If the vehicle's speed exceeds 15 mph
(25 km/h) once and the driver's seat belt is not
fastened, a warning tone sounds. The warning
tone sounds for 60 seconds or until the driver's
seat belt is fastened.
If the driver's seat belt is unfastened during the
journey, the seat belt warning is activated again.
Air bags
Introduction
The installation point of an air bag can be rec-
ognized by the SRS/AIRBAG or AIRBAG mark-
ing.
An air bag complements the correctly fastened
seat belt. It is no substitute for the seat belt. The
air bag provides additional protection in appli-
cable accident situations.
Not all air bags are deployed in an accident. The
different air bag systems function independ-
ently from one another (
Ypage 47).
However, no system available today can com-
pletely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
It is also not possible to rule out a risk of injury
caused by an air bag due to the high speed at
which the air bag must be deployed.
Important safety notes
GWARNING
If you do not sit in the correct seat position,
the air bag cannot protect as intended and
could even cause additional injury when
deployed. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
To avoid hazardous situations, always make
sure that all of the vehicle's occupants:
Rhave fastened their seat belts correctly,
including pregnant women
Rare sitting correctly and maintain the great-
est possible distance to the air bags
Rfollow the following instructions
Always make sure that there are no objects
between the air bag and the vehicle's occu-
pants.
RAdjust the seats properly before beginning
your journey. Always make sure that the seat
is in an almost upright position. The center of
the head restraint must support the head at
about eye level.
RMove the driver's and front-passenger seats
as far back as possible. The driver's seat posi-
tion must allow the vehicle to be driven safely.
ROnly hold the steering wheel on the outside.
This allows the air bag to be fully deployed.
Occupant safety45
Safety
Z
RAlways lean against the backrest while driv-
ing. Do not lean forward or lean against the
door or side window. You may otherwise be in
the deployment area of the air bags.
RAlways keep your feet in the footwell in front
of the seat. Do not put your feet on the dash-
board, for example. Your feet may otherwise
be in the deployment area of the air bag.
RFor this reason, always secure persons less
than 5 ft (1.50m)tall in suitable restraint sys-
tems. Up to this height, the seat belt cannot
be worn correctly.
If a child is traveling in your vehicle, also
observe the following notes:
RAlways secure children under twelve years of age and less than 5 ft (1.50 m)tall in suitable
child restraint systems.
RChild restraint systems should be installed on
the rear seats.
RAlways secure a child in a rearward-facing
child restraint system on a suitable rear seat.
The front-passenger front air bag cannot be
deactivated.
RAlways observe the instructions and safety
notes on "Children in the vehicle"
(
Ypage 49) and on the "Child restraint sys-
tem on the front-passenger seat"
(
Ypage 52) in addition to the child restraint
system manufacturer's installation and oper-
ating instructions.
Objects in the vehicle interior may prevent
an air bag from functioning correctly. Before
starting your journey and to avoid risks resulting from the speed of the air bag as it deploys, make
sure that:
Rthere are no people, animals or objects
between the vehicle occupants and an air bag
Rthere are no objects between the seat, door
and B-pillar
Rthere are no hard objects, e.g. coat hangers,
hanging on the grab handles or coat hooks
Rno accessories, such as cup holders, are
attached to the vehicle within the deployment
area of an air bag, e.g. to doors or side win-
dows
Rno heavy, sharp-edged or fragile objects are in
the pockets of your clothing. Store such
objects in a suitable place
GWARNING
If you modify the air bag cover or affix objects
such as stickers to it, the air bag can no longer
function correctly. There is an increased risk
of injury.
Never modify an air bag cover or affix objects
to it.
GWARNING
Sensors to control the air bags are located in
the doors. Modifications or work not per-
formed correctly to the doors or door panel-
ing, as well as damaged doors, can lead to the
function of the sensors being impaired. The air
bags might therefore not function properly
anymore. Consequently, the air bags cannot
protect vehicle occupants as they are
designed to do. There is an increased risk of
injury.
Never modify the doors or parts of the doors.
Always have work on the doors or door pan-
eling carried out at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
Front air bags
Driver's air bag :deploys in front of the steer-
ing wheel. Front-passenger front air bag ;
deploys in front of and above the glove box and
the center console.
When deployed, the front air bags offer addi-
tional head and thorax protection for the occu-
pants in the front seats.
Side impact air bags
Depending on the vehicle's equipment, some
front seats are equipped with a side impact air
bag; see the AIRBAG label on the outer side of
the seat backrest.
46Occupant safety
Safety