AUDI A3 CABRIOLET 2015 Owners Manual

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Child Safety
Important things to know
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your veh icle is in a crash app ly also to chi ldren
~ page 139, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?.
But unlike adults and
teenagers, their muscles and bones are not
fu lly developed. In many respects children are
at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than
adu lts.
Because children's bodies are not fully deve l­
oped, they require restraint systems especial­ ly designed for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many countries and all states of the
United States and provinces of Canada have
laws requiring the use of approved child re­
straint systems for infants and small children .
In a fronta l crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-pound
(6 kg) infant w ill be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child . This means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more than
260 pounds ( 120 kg). Under these conditions,
on ly an appropriate chi ld restraint properly
used can reduce the risk of ser ious injury.
Child restra ints, like adult safety belts, must
be used properly to be effective. Used improp­
erly, they can increase the risk of serious in ­
jury in an accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's
instructions in order to be sure the seat is
right for your chi ld's size ~
page 173, Impor­
tant safety instructions for using child safety
seats.
Please be sure to read and heed all of
the important information and WARNINGS
about ch ild safety, Advanced A irbags, and the
installation of child restraints in this chapter.
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad­
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they
wo rk when infants and children in child re-
Child Sa fet y 169
straints are on the front passenger seat . Be­
cause of the large amount of important infor­
mation, we cannot repeat it a ll here . We urge
you to read the detailed information in this owner's manual about airbags and the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very important information about transport­
ing children on the front passenger seat .
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for yo ur safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in­
fants and small children .
.A, WARNING
-Accident statistics have shown that chil ­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un­ der in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An unrestrained
or improperly restrained chi ld could be
injured by str iking the interior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuve r or impact. An un re ­
strained or improperly restrained chi ld is
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable chi ld restraint properly instal­
led and used at one of the rear seating
positions provides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A WARNING
Children on the front seat of any car even
with Advanced Airbags can be ser iously in­
jured or even killed when an a irbag in­
flates. A child in a rearward-facing child
safety seat installed on the front passen­
ger seat will be ser iously injured and can
be killed if the front airbag inflates .
- The inflating airbag will h it the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door.
•
•
•

1 70 Child Safety
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat in exceptional circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately
install the rear-facing child safety seat in
a rear seating position and have the air­
bag system inspected immediately by
your Audi dealer.
_&, WARNING
- Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the
child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger 's seat, the child's
safety and well-being require the follow­ ing special precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-fac­
ing seat has been designed and certi­
fied by its manufacturer for use on a
front passenger seat with a front and
side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child seat or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if
the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions require the top tether strap
to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the in­
strument panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper an­
chorage to the adjustment position
that permits proper installation in ac­
cordance with the child restraint manu­
facturer's instructions.
-Always move the passenger seat into
its rearmost position in the seat's fore
and aft adjustment range, as far away
.
from the airbag as possible before in­
stalling the child restraint. The back­
rest must be adjusted to an upright po­
sition .
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) . These may in­
fluence the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger
detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected
to the 12 -volt socket or the cigarette
lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger
seat cushion .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forward-facing child seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your
authori zed Audi dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision.
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-Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in ave­
hicle
¢ page 138, Safety belts,
¢ page 146, Airbag system and
¢ page 169, Important things to
know.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam­
age to a child restraint that is not visible
could cause it to fail in another collision
situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Ad­
vanced Airbag System" in compliance with United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the
time your vehicle was manufactured .
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re­
quirements for 3-and 6-year old children on
the passenger side and small adults on the
driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the airbag that can
occur, for example, by being too close to the
steering wheel and instrument panel when
the airbag inflates . In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup­
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front passenger seat in child restraints that are list­
ed in the Standard .
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all children, espe­
cially those 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and size. The airbag on the pas­
senger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a child to ride. The front
seat is not the safest place fo r a child in a for­
ward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very
Child Safety 1 71
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat.
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a
capacitive passenger detection system in the
front passenger seat cushion that can detect
the presence of a baby or a child in a child re­
straint system on this seat.
The capacitive passenger detection system
registers the changes that result in an electri ­
cal field when a child, a child restraint, and a
baby blanket are on the front passenger seat .
The change in the measured capacitance due
to the presence of a child, a child restraint,
and a baby blanket on the front passenger
seat is related to the child restraint system resting on the seat . The measured capacitance
of a child restraint system varies depending
on the type of system and specific make and model.
The electrical capacitance of the various
types, makes, and models of child restraints
specified by the U.S.National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NH TSA) in the relevant
safety standard are stored in the Advanced
Airbag System control unit together with the capacitances typical of infants and a 1-year
old child. When a child restraint is used on the
front passenger seat with a typical 1 year-old infant, the Advanced Airbag System compares
the capacitance measured by the capacitive passenger detection system with the data
stored in the electronic control unit.
Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system
Regardless of the child restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards and has been certified by its manu­
facturer for use with an airbag. Always be sure
that the child restraint is properly installed at
one of the rear seating positions. If in excep­
tional circumstances you must use it on the
front passenger seat, ca refully read all of the
information on child safety and Advanced Air-
bags and heed all of the applicable ..,.
•
•
•

172 Child Saf ety
WARNINGS. Make certain that the ch ild and
child restraint are correct ly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detect ion system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
a irbag is turned off, and that the airbag status
is always correct ly signa led by the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BA G OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restra ints
have been ava ilable over the years, new mod­
els are introduced regular ly incorporating new
and improved designs a nd older models are
taken out of production . Child rest raints are
not standardi zed. Ch ild restra ints of the same
type typi cally have differen t weights and s izes
and d ifferent "footprints", the size and shape
of the bottom of the child restraint that sits
on the seat, when they are installed on a vehi­
cle seat. These differences make it virtually imposs ible to certify compliance w ith the re­
qu irements for advanced a irbags w ith each
and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of you r vehicle .
For this reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin istration has
published a list of specific type, makes a nd
models of child rest raints that must be used
to certify compliance of the Advanced Airbag
System in yo ur vehicle with the suppress ion
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are:
Subpart A -Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Ange l Guard Ange l September 2S, 200 7
Ride AA2403 FOF
Subpart B -Rear -facing child re straint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 2S, 2007
22-0 13PAW and base
22-999WHO
Model Manufactured on or
after
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
E venflo First Choice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snugride September 25 , 2007
Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
Subpart C - Forw ard-facing and
convertible child restraint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundabout September 25, 2007
E9L02xx
Cosco Touriva 02S19 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit De luxe September 2S, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco H igh Back September 2S , 2007
Booste r 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion December 1, 1999
254
E venflo Generations September 25 , 2007
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on whenever a
chi ld restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on. ...

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-Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer immediate­
ly.
(D Tips
The child seats listed in categories A to C have been statically tested by Audi only for
the Advanced Airbag function.
Important safety instructions for using
child safety seats
Correc t use of child safety sea ts substantially
reduces the risk of injury in an accident!
As the driver, you are responsible for the safe­
ty of everybody in the vehicle, especially chil­
dren:
.. Always use the right child safety seat for
each child and always use it properly
¢ page 175.
.,. Always carefully follow the child safety seat
manufacturer's instructions on how to route
the safety belt properly through the child
safety seat.
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
¢ page 180.
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm) .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢page 175.
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and young­
er, should always ride in the back seat proper­
ly restrained for their age and size.
_& WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in­ stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death.
-
Child Safety 173
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An unrestrained
or improperly restrained child could be
injured by striking the interior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuver or impact. An unre­
strained or improperly restrained child is
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- Commercially available child safety seats
are required to comply with U.S. Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
213 (in Canada CMVSS 213).
- When buying a child restraint, select
one that fits your child and the vehicle.
- Only use child restraint systems that fully contact the flat portion of the
seat cushion . The child restraint must
not tip or lean to either side. Audi does
not recommend using child safety
seats that rest on legs or tube-like
frames. They do not provide adequate
contact with the seat.
- Always heed all legal requirements per­
taining to the installation and use of
child safety seats and carefully follow
the instructions provided by the manu­
facturer of the seat you are using.
- Never allow children under 57 inches
(1.45 meters) to wear a normal safety
belt. They must always be restrained by a
proper child restraint system. Otherwise,
they could sustain injuries to the abdo­
men and neck areas during sudden brak­
ing maneuvers or accidents.
- Never let more than one child occupy a
child safety seat.
- Never let babies or older children ride in
a vehicle while sitting on the lap of an­
other passenger .
- Holding a child in your arms is never a
substitute for a child restraint system .
- The strongest person could not hold
the child with the forces that exist in
an accident. The child will strike the in­
terior of the vehicle and can also be
struck by the passenger .
•
•
•

174 Child Safety
-The child and the passenger can also
injure each other in an accident.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat. A child will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the passen­ ger airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat can in­
terfere with the airbag when it inflates
and cause serious injury to the child. Al­
ways install forward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safety and well-being require that the
following special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child safety seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat
into the rearmost position of the pas­
senger seat's fore and aft adjustment
range, and as far away from the airbag
as possible before installing the child
restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the backrest is
in the upright position .
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected
to the 12-volt socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger seat cushion .
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) . These may in­
fluence the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger
detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around during a sudden stop or in a collision .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢ page 138, Safety
belts,
¢ page 146, Airbag system and
¢ page 169, Child Safety .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASS EN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer immediate­
ly.

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Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat
F ig. 148 Schematic overview: keep un used safety belts
away from chi ld re n in c hild saf ety seats .@ - outer rear
safety belt
If a child safety seat is used o n the rear bench,
espec ially with LATCH universal lower ancho­
rages, the unused safety belts
mu st be se­
cured so that the ch ild in the ch ild restra int
cannot reach them
¢ ,&. .
- Gu ide the safety belt webbing @behind the
head restraint of the seat where the child re­
stra int is ins ta ll ed
¢ fig. 148. When do ing
so , do not engage the switchable locking re­
tractor! You should not hear a "clicking"
sound when wind ing up the safety be lt.
- Let the belt re tractor wind up the safety be lt
webbing .
_& WARNING
A child in a child safety seat installed with
the LATCH lower anchorages or with the
standard safety belt or a child in a booster
seat on the rear seat could play with u n­ used rear seat safety belts and become en­
tangled . This could cause the child serious
pe rsonal in jury and even deat h.
-Always secure u nused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of ch ildren in ch ild
sea ts such as by properly routing them
around the head res traint of the sea t
whe re the child restraint is installed.
- Never act ivate the convertib le loc king re­
tra ctor when rout ing the safety belts
around the head res traints .
Child S afety 175
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and 20 lbs. or 9 kg need special rearward-fac ­
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash .
Fig. 14 9 Schem atic ove rv ie w : re arward-fac ing in fant
se at, p rope rly insta lled on t he re ar seat
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertib le locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from mov ing
¢ page 180 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments .
.. Push the chi ld safety seat down w ith your
full weight to get the safety be lt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
.. Secure unused safety bel ts on the rear seat
¢ page 175.
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
a re best pro tected in spec ial infant carriers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group . Many experts believe that infants and
small ch ildren shou ld ride on ly in special re­
stra in ts in which the child faces the back of
the vehicle. These infa nt sea ts support the ba­
by 's back, neck and head i n a crash
¢ fig. 149 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentia lly dange rous place for a
ch ild to ride . The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a fo rward-facing child seat.
It is a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
ll>

1 76 Child Safety
& WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in­
stalling a child restraint increases the risk of serious personal injury and death in a
crash .
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat - even with an Advanced Air­
bag System. A child will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the inflat­
ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in­
fant carrier with great force and smashes
the child safety seat and child against
the backrest, door or roof¢
page 148,
Child restraints on the front seat -some
important things to know.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing child restraint
in the forward-facing direction . Such re­
straints are designed for the special
needs of infants and very small children
and cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-facing.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CO player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light­
er socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CO player, electronic games de­
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats). These may influence the
electrical capacitance measured by the
capacitive passenger detection system
and can also fly around in an accident
and cause serious personal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
~page 138, Safety
belts,
~ page 146, Airbag system and
¢ page 169, Important things to know.
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash.
Fig . 150 Sc hema tic overview: installat ion of the at­
tachments applicab le to a LATCH seat
Fig. 151 Schemat ic overv iew: inst allation of the seat
u sing the vehicl e's safety belt system
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertib le locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat ..,_

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from moving r::!;> page 180 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments.
~ Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
s ideways more than one inch (2 .5 cm)
¢ page 180.
~ If the child safety seat is equ ipped with a
tethe r strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢page 185.
~ Secure unused safety bel ts on the rear sea t
¢page 175.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in­
fant restraint if it is more than one year o ld
and weighs more than 20 lbs . (9 kg) .
Toddle rs and ch ildren who are older than one
yea r up to abo ut 4 years o ld and weigh more
than 20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) mus t
a lways be prope rly restrained in a ch ild safety
seat certified for their size and weight
¢ fig .150and ¢fig.151 .
The airbag on the passenge r side makes the
front seat a poten tially dangerous place for a
chi ld to ride. The front seat is not the safest
p lace for a child in a forward-facing child safe­
ty seat.
It is a very dangero us place for an in­
fant or a larger child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
A WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety seat, using the
wrong chi ld safety sea t or improper ly in­
stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
co llision or othe r eme rgency s ituation.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advan ced A irbags, can be seri­
o usly injured or eve n killed when an a ir­
bag inf lates . A child in a rearward -facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat wi ll be seriously injured
and can be ki lled if the front airbag in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
Child Sa fet y 177
and child against the backrest, center
arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing chi ld safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional c ircumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-fac ing ch ild
safety seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspe cted by your
Aud i dea le r.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be pos itioned as close as possib le
to the backres t on the vehicle seat.
- For ad justab le head restra ints: adjust or
remove the rea r seat he ad restr aint if i t
is diffi cult to ins tall the child seat w ith
the head restraint in place
¢ page 63. In­
stall the head restraint again immed iate­
ly once the child seat is removed . Dr iv ing
without head restraints or with head re ­
straints that are not properly adjusted
increases the risk of serious or fatal neck
i nj ury dramatically .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
wheneve r us ing a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used¢
page 138, Safety
b elts,
c::!;> page 146, Airbag system and
c::!;> page 169, Impor tan t things to know.
A WARNING
If ex cep tional cir cumstances require the
use o f a forward-facing child res traint on
the front passenge r's sea t, the child's safe ­
ty and well-being req uire that the follow­
ing spec ial precautions be ta ken:
- Make sure the forward -facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man u­
facturer for use on a front seat with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the ch ild safety
seat or infant carr ier.
•
•
•

1 78 Child Safety
- Always move the front passenger seat in­
to the rearmost position of the passen­
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi­
ble before installing the child restraint .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright position .
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light­
er socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de­
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats). These may influence the
electrical capacitance measured by the
capacitive passenger detection system
and can also fly around in an accident
and cause serious personal injury .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forward-facing child seat
at a seating position on the rear seat and
have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN- GER AIR BAG OFF
light
does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9 in. tall. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters)
tall.
Fig. 1S2 Rear seat : child properly restrained in a boos·
te r seat
The vehicle 's safety belts alone will not fit
most children until they are at least 4 ft. 9 in.
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs .
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these chil ­
dren up so that the safety belt will pass prop­
erly over the stronger parts of their bodies
and the safety belt can help protect them in a
crash.
" Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re­
strain a child on a booster seat.
"The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body. It must never lie across the throat or
neck . The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen.
Make sure the belt lies flat and snug . Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary .
"Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
~page 175.
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs
or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats designed for their age and weight . Ex­
perts say that the skeletal structure, particu­
larly the pelvis, of these children is not fully ...