seat, the front-passenger front air bag isenabled or deactivated (Ypage 47). Besure to observe the notes on "Seatbelts“ (Ypage 41) and "Air bags"(Ypage 44). There you can also find infor-mation on the correct seat position.
Seat belts
Introduction
Seat belts are the most effective means ofrestricting the movement of vehicle occupantsin the event of an accident or the vehicle roll-ing over. This reduces the risk of vehicle occu-pants coming into contact with parts of thevehicle interior or being ejected from the vehi-cle. Furthermore, the seat belt helps to keepthe vehicle occupant in the best position inrelation to the air bag.
The seat belt system comprises:
RSeat belts
REmergency Tensioning Devices for the frontseat belts and the outer seat belts in therear
RSeat belt force limiters for the front seatbelts and the outer seat belts in the rear
If the seat belt is pulled out of the belt outletquickly or with a jerky movement, the beltretractor locks. The belt strap cannot beextracted any further.
The Emergency Tensioning Device tightens theseat belt in an accident, pulling the belt closeagainst the body. However it does not pull thevehicle occupant back in the direction of thebackrest.
The Emergency Tensioning Device does notcorrect an incorrect seat position or the rout-ing of an incorrectly fastened seat belt.
When triggered, a seat belt force limiter helpsto reduce the force exerted by the seat belt onthe vehicle occupant.
The seat belt force limiters for the front seatsare synchronized with the front air bags, whichabsorb part of the deceleration force. This canreduce the force exerted on the vehicle occu-pants during an accident.
!If the front-passenger seat is not occupied,do not engage the seat belt tongue in thebuckle on the front-passenger seat. Other-wise, in the event of an accident the Emer-gency Tensioning Device and the side
impact air bag, in addition to other systems,may be triggered and have to be replaced.
Important safety notes
The use of seat belts and child restraint sys-tems is required by law in:
Rall 50 states
Rthe U.S. territories
Rthe District of Columbia
Rall Canadian provinces
Even where this is not required by law, all vehi-cle occupants should correctly fasten theirseat belts before starting the journey.
GWARNING
If the seat belt is not worn correctly, it can-
not perform its intended protective function.
An incorrectly fastened seat belt can also
cause injuries, for example, in the event of
an accident or when braking or changing
direction abruptly. This poses an increased
risk of injury or even fatal injury.
Always ensure that all vehicle occupants
have their seat belts fastened correctly and
are sitting properly.
The components of the restraint system workin conjunction with each other. They can onlydeploy their protective function if, at all times,all vehicle occupants:
Rhave fastened their seat belts correctly(Ypage 42)
Rhave the seat and head restraint adjustedproperly (Ypage 92)
GWARNING
The seat belt does not offer the intended
level of protection if you have not moved the
backrest to an almost vertical position.
When braking or in the event of an accident,
you could slide underneath the seat belt and
sustain abdomen or neck injuries, for exam-
ple. This poses an increased risk of injury or
even fatal injury.
Adjust the seat properly before beginning
your journey. Always ensure that the back-
rest is in an almost vertical position and that
Occupant safety41
Safety
Z
the shoulder section of your seat belt is
routed across the center of your shoulder.
GWARNING
Persons less than 5 ft (1.50m)tall cannot
wear the seat belt correctly without an addi-
tional and suitable restraint system. If the
seat belt is not worn correctly, it cannot per-
form its intended protective function. An
incorrectly fastened seat belt can also cause
injuries, for example, in the event of an acci-
dent or when braking or changing direction
abruptly. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
For this reason, always secure persons
under 5 ft (1.50m)tall in suitable additional
restraint systems.
If a child younger than twelve years old andunder 5 ft (1.50m)in height is traveling in thevehicle:
Ralways secure the child in a child restraintsystem suitable for this Mercedes-Benzvehicle. The child restraint system must beappropriate to the age, weight and size ofthe child.
Ralways observe the instructions and safetynotes on "Children in the vehicle"(Ypage 53) in addition to the childrestraint system manufacturer's installationand operating instructions
Ralways observe the instructions and safetynotes on the "Occupant Classification Sys-tem (OCS)" (Ypage 47)
GWARNING
The seat belts may not perform their inten-
ded protective function if:
Rthey are damaged, modified, extremely
dirty, bleached or dyed
Rthe seat belt buckle is damaged or
extremely dirty
Rthe Emergency Tensioning Devices, belt
anchorages or inertia reels have been
modified.
Seat belts may be damaged in an accident,
although the damage may not be visible, e.g.
due to splinters of glass. Modified or dam-
aged seat belts may tear or fail, e.g. in an
accident. Modified Emergency Tensioning
Devices could accidentally trigger or fail to
deploy when necessary. This poses an
increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
Never modify the seat belts, Emergency Ten-
sioning Devices, belt anchorages and inertia
reels. Make sure that the seat belts are
undamaged, not worn out and clean. Follow-
ing an accident, have the seat belts checked
immediately at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
Only use seat belts that have been approvedfor your vehicle by Mercedes-Benz.
Sports seat or AMG Performance seat:thisseat is designed for the standard three-pointseat belt. If you install another multi-point seatbelt, e.g. sport or racing seat belts, therestraint system cannot provide the best levelof protection.
GWARNING
If you feed seat belts through the opening in
the seat backrest, the seat backrest may be
damaged or may even break in the event of
an accident. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
Only use the standard three-point seat belt.
Never modify the seat belt system.
Proper use of the seat belts
Observe the safety notes on the seat belt(Ypage 41).
Every vehicle occupant must observe the fol-lowing notes to ensure a properly worn seatbelt can provide full protection. Also makesure that all vehicle occupants are alwayswearing the seat belt correctly while the vehi-cle is in motion.
When fastening the seat belt, always makesure that:
Rthe seat belt buckle tongue is inserted onlyinto the belt buckle belonging to that seat
Rthe seat belt is pulled tight across your body
Avoid wearing bulky clothing, e.g. a wintercoat.
Rthe seat belt is not twisted
42Occupant safety
Safety
Only then can the forces which occur be dis-tributed over the area of the belt.
Rthe shoulder section of the belt is routedacross the center of your shoulder
The shoulder section of the seat belt shouldnot touch your neck or be routed under yourarm or behind your back. Where possible,adjust the seat belt to the appropriateheight.
Rthe lap belt is taut and passes across yourlap as low down as possible
The lap belt must always be routed acrossyour hip joints and not across your abdo-men. This applies particularly to pregnantwomen. If necessary, push the lap belt downto your hip joint and pull it tight using theshoulder section of the belt.
Rthe seat belt is not routed across sharp,pointed or fragile objects
If you have such items located on or in yourclothing, e.g. pens, keys or eyeglasses,store these in a suitable place.
Ronly one person is using a seat belt
Infants and children must never travel sit-ting on the lap of a vehicle occupant. In theevent of an accident, they could be crushedbetween the vehicle occupant and seat belt.
Robjects are never secured with a seat belt ifthe seat belt is also being used by one ofthe vehicle's occupants
Also ensure that there are never objectsbetween a person and the seat, e.g. cush-ions.
Seat belts are only intended to secure andrestrain vehicle occupants. Always observe the"Loading guidelines" for securing objects, lug-gage or loads (Ypage 250).
Fastening and adjusting the seat belts
Observe the safety notes on the seat belt(Ypage 41) and the notes on correct use ofseat belts (Ypage 42).
Basic illustration
XAdjust the seat (Ypage 92).The seat backrest must be in an almostupright position.
XPull the seat belt smoothly from the beltoutlet.
XEngage seat belt tongue Din beltbuckle C.
XIf necessary, pull up on the shoulder sectionof the seat belt to tighten the belt acrossyour body.
The shoulder section of the seat belt mustalways be routed across the center of theshoulder. Adjust the belt outlet if necessary.
XTo raise:slide the belt outlet up.The belt outlet will engage in various posi-tions.
XTo lower:hold belt outlet release