passenger seat belts are not fastened, a warn-ing tone sounds. A warning tone also soundswith increasing intensity for 60 seconds oruntil the driver or front passenger have fas-tened their seat belts.
If the driver or front passenger unfasten theirseat belts during the journey, the seat beltwarning is activated again.
Air bags
Introduction
The installation point of an airbag can be rec-ognized by the AIRBAG marking.
An airbag complements the correctly fastenedseat belt. It is no substitute for the seat belt.When deployed, an airbag can increase theprotection provided for the respective vehicleoccupant.
Not all airbags are deployed in an accident.The various airbags work independently ofeach other (Ypage 53).
However, no system available today can com-pletely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
It is also not possible to rule out a risk of injurycaused by an airbag due to the high speed atwhich the airbag 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
greatest 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.
All vehicle occupants must observe the follow-ing notes to avoid risks posed by the airbagwhen it deploys.
RAdjust the seats properly before beginningyour journey. Always make sure that theseat is in an almost upright position. Thecenter of the head restraint must supportthe head at about eye level.
RMove the driver's and front-passenger seatsas far back as possible. The driver's seatposition must allow the vehicle to be drivensafely.
ROnly hold the steering wheel on the outside.This allows the airbag to be fully deployed.
RAlways lean against the backrest while driv-ing. Do not lean forward or lean against thedoor or side window. You may otherwise bein the deployment area of the airbags.
RAlways keep your feet in the footwell infront of the seat. Do not put your feet on thedashboard, for example. Your feet may oth-erwise be in the deployment area of the air-bag.
RFor this reason, always secure persons lessthan 5 ft (1.50 m) tall in suitable restraintsystems. Up to this height, the seat beltcannot be worn correctly.
If a child is traveling in your vehicle, alsoobserve the following notes:
RAlways secure children under twelve yearsof age and less than 5 ft (1.50 m) tall in suit-able child restraint systems.
RSecure a child to the front-passenger seatonly when the front-passenger front airbagis deactivated, and then only in a rearward-facing child restraint system. The front-passenger front airbag is deactivated whenthe PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicatorlamp is lit continuously (Ypage 41).
RAlways observe the instructions and safetynotes on the "Occupant Classification Sys-tem (OCS)" (Ypage 48) and on "Childrenin the vehicle" (Ypage 57) in addition tothe child restraint system manufacturer'sinstallation and operating instructions.
Objects in the vehicle interior may restrictthe airbag from functioning correctly.Toavoid risks resulting from the speed of the air-bag as it deploys, vehicle occupants mustensure the following points.
Occupant safety45
Safety
Z
Before commencing your journey, ensure that:
Rthere are no people, animals or objectsbetween the vehicle occupants and an air-bag
Rthere are no objects between the seat, doorand 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, areattached to the vehicle within the deploy-ment area of an airbag, e.g. to doors or sidewindows
Rno heavy, sharp-edged or fragile objects arein the pockets of your clothing. Store suchobjects in a suitable place
GWARNING
If you modify the cover of an air bag or affix
objects such as stickers to it, the air bag
can no longer perform its intended function.
There is an increased risk of injury.
Never modify the cover of an air bag 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 paneling carried out at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop.
Front air bags
!Do not place heavy objects on the front-passenger seat. This could cause the sys-tem to identify the seat as being occupied.In the event of an accident, the restraintsystems on the front-passenger side may betriggered and have to be replaced.
Driver's air bag Cdeploys in front of thesteering wheel. Front-passenger front airbag Ddeploys in front of and above the glovebox.
When deployed, the front air bags offer addi-tional head and thorax protection for the occu-pants in the driver's and front-passengerseats.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator lampinforms you about the status of the front-passenger front air bag (Ypage 41).
The front-passenger front air bag will onlydeploy if:
Rthe system, based on the OCS weight sen-sor readings, detects that the front-passenger seat is occupied (Ypage 48).The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicatorlamp is not lit (Ypage 48)
Rthe restraint system control unit predicts ahigh accident severity
Knee bags
Driver's knee bag Cdeploys under the steer-ing column and front-passenger knee bag Dunder the glove box. The driver's and front-passenger knee bags are triggered togetherwith the front air bags.
46Occupant safety
Safety
The driver's and front-passenger knee bagsoffer additional thigh, knee and lower leg pro-tection.
Side impact air bags
GWARNING
Unsuitable seat covers can obstruct or pre-
vent deployment of the air bags integrated
into the seats. Consequently, the air bags
cannot protect vehicle occupants as they
are designed to do. In addition, the opera-
tion of the occupant classification system
(OCS) could be adversely affected. This
poses an increased risk of injury or even
fatal injury.
You should only use seat covers that have
been approved for the respective seat by
Mercedes-Benz.
Side impact air bags Cdeploy next to theouter bolster of the seat backrest.
When deployed, the side impact air bag offersadditional thorax protection. However, it doesnot protect the:
Rhead
Rneck
Rarms
If the restraint system control unit detects aside impact, the side impact air bag isdeployed on the side on which the impactoccurs.
The side impact air bag on the front passengerside deploys under the following conditions:
Rthe OCS system detects that the frontpassenger seat is occupied or
Rthe seat belt buckle tongue is engaged inthe belt buckle of the front passenger seat
If the belt tongue is engaged in the beltbuckle, the side impact air bag on the frontpassenger side deploys if an appropriate acci-dent situation occurs. In this case, deploymentis independent of whether the front passengerseat is occupied or not.
Head air bags
Head bags Cdeploy in the area of the sidewindows at the front.
When deployed, the head bag enhances thelevel of protection for the head. However, itdoes not protect the:
Rchest
Rarms
If the restraint system control unit detects aside impact, the head bag is deployed on theside on which the impact occurs.
If the system determines that they can offeradditional protection to that provided by theseat belt, a head bag may be deployed in otheraccident situations (Ypage 53).
The head bag on the front-passenger sidedeploys under the following conditions:
Rthe OCS system detects that the front-passenger seat is occupied or
Rthe seat belt buckle tongue is engaged inthe belt buckle of the front-passenger seat
If the belt tongue is engaged in the beltbuckle, the head bag on the front-passengerside deploys if an appropriate accident situa-tion occurs. In this case, deployment is inde-pendent of whether the front-passenger seat isoccupied or not.
Occupant safety47
Safety
Z
The roll bars are located in the rear area of thevehicle under the two outer rear compartmenttrim covers.
They extend if systems detect that the vehicleis in danger of rollover. The two outer rearcompartment trim covers are opened and theroll bars are extended within fractions of asecond.
Once the roll bars are extended, you can nolonger lower them. An open roof can no longerbe closed. In this case, visit the nearest quali-fied specialist workshop.
Deployment of Emergency Tension-
ing Devices and air bags
Important safety notes
GWARNING
The air bag parts are hot after an air bag has
been deployed. There is a risk of injury.
Do not touch the air bag parts. Have a
deployed air bag replaced at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop as soon as possible.
GWARNING
A deployed air bag no longer offers any pro-
tection and cannot provide the intended pro-
tection in an accident. There is an increased
risk of injury.
Have the vehicle towed to a qualified spe-
cialist workshop in order to have a deployed
air bag replaced.
For your own safety and that of your frontpassenger, it is important that you havedeployed air bags replaced and defective airbags repaired. This will help to make sure the
air bags continue to perform their protectivefunction for the vehicle occupants in the eventof a crash.
GWARNING
Emergency Tensioning Devices that have
deployed pyrotechnically are no longer
operational and are unable to perform their
intended protective function. This poses an
increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
Have pyrotechnically triggered Emergency
Tensioning Devices replaced immediately at
a qualified specialist workshop.
An electric motor is used by PRE-SAFE®totrigger the tightening of the seat belt in haz-ardous situations. This procedure is reversible.
If Emergency Tensioning Devices are triggeredor air bags are deployed, you will hear a bang,and some powder may also be released. The urestraint system warning lamp lights up.
Only in rare cases will the bang affect yourhearing. The powder that is released generallydoes not constitute a health hazard, but it maycause short-term breathing difficulties in peo-ple with asthma or other respiratory problems.Provided it is safe to do so, you should leavethe vehicle immediately or open the window inorder to prevent breathing difficulties.
Air bags and pyrotechnic Emergency Tension-ing Devices (ETDs) contain perchlorate mate-rial, which may require special handling andregard for the environment. National guide-lines must be observed during disposal. In Cal-ifornia, seewww.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Perchlorate/index.cfm.
Method of operation
During the first stage of a collision, therestraint system control unit evaluates impor-tant physical data relating to vehicle decelera-tion or acceleration, such as:
Rduration
Rdirection
Rintensity
Based on the evaluation of this data, therestraint system control unit triggers the Emer-gency Tensioning Devices during a head-on orrear-end collision.
Occupant safety53
Safety
Z
Rsetting a more favorable seat position forthe front-passenger seat.
Rvehicles with a multicontour seat: increasingthe air pressure in the side bolsters of theseat backrest.
!Make sure that there are no objects in thefootwell or behind the seats. There is a dan-ger that the seats and/or objects could be
damaged when PRE-SAFE®is activated.
Should an accident not occur, the preventativemeasures taken are reversed. Certain settingsmust be made yourself.
XIf the seat belt pre-tensioning is notreduced, move the seat backrest backslightly.Seat belt pre-tensioning is released.
PRE-SAFE®PLUS (anticipatory occu-
pant protection system PLUS)
Introduction
PRE-SAFE®PLUS is only available in vehicleswith the Driving Assistance package.
Using the radar sensor system, PRE-SAFE®
PLUS is able to detect that a head-on or rear-end collision is imminent. In certain hazardous
situations, PRE-SAFE®PLUS takes pre-emptivemeasures to protect the vehicle occupants.
Important safety notes
The intervention of PRE-SAFE®PLUS cannotprevent an imminent collision.
The driver is not warned about the intervention
of PRE-SAFE®PLUS.
PRE-SAFE®PLUS does not intervene if thevehicle is backing up.
When driving, or when parking or exiting aparking space using Active Parking Assist,
PRE-SAFE®PLUS will not apply the brakes.
Function
PRE-SAFE®PLUS intervenes in certain situa-tions if the radar sensor system detects animminent head-on or rear-end collision.
PRE-SAFE®PLUS takes the following meas-ures depending on the hazardous situationdetected:
Rif the radar sensor system detects that ahead-on collision is imminent, the seat beltsare pre-tensioned.
Rif the radar sensor system detects that arear-end collision is imminent:
-the brake pressure is increased if thedriver applies the brakes when the vehicleis stationary.
-the seat belts are pre-tensioned.
The PRE-SAFE®PLUS braking application iscanceled:
Rif the accelerator pedal is depressed when agear is engaged
Rif the risk of a collision passes or is no lon-ger detected
Rif Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC indi-cates an intention to intervene
If the hazardous situation passes withoutresulting in an accident, the original settingsare restored.
Automatic measures after an acci-
dent
Immediately after an accident, the followingmeasures are implemented, depending on thetype and severity of the impact:
Rthe hazard warning lamps are switched on
Rthe emergency lighting is activated
Rthe vehicle doors are unlocked
Rthe front side windows are lowered
Rthe electrically adjustable steering wheel israised when the driver's door is opened
Rthe engine is switched off and the fuel sup-ply is cut off
Rvehicles with Mercedes me connect: auto-matic emergency call
56Occupant safety
Safety