seats AUDI A7 2016 Owner's Manual

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-Passengers who are unbelted, out of posi­
tion or too dose to the airbag can be seri­
ously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great force in the blink of an eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front pas­
senger's breastbone and the instrument panel.
- Always make sure that there are at least
4 inches (10 cm) between the front passen­
ger's knees and the lower part of the instru­
ment 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.
- For adjustable head restraints: before driv­
ing, always also adjust the head restraints
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
c> page 167. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front pas­ senger seat
c> page 143.
Proper seating positions for passengers in
rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with both
feet on the floor consistent with their physical
size and be properly restrained whenever the ve­
hicle is in use.
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incorrect
seating position in the event of a sudden braking
maneuver or an accident, your passengers on the
rear bench seat must always observe the follow-
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Driving safety
.,. For adjustable head restraints : adjust the head
restraint so the upper edge is as even as possi­
ble with the top of your head. If that is not pos­
sible, try to adjust the head restraint so that it
is as close to this position as possible
c>page 129 .
.,. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front of
the rear seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts properly
c> page 138.
.,. Make sure that children are always properly re­
strained in a child restraint that is appropriate
for their size and age
c> page 167.
A WARNING
-
Passengers who are improperly seated on the
rear seat can be seriously injured in a crash.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat .
- Safety belts only offer maximum protection when the safety belts are properly posi­
tioned on the body and securely latched. By not sitting upright, a rear seat passenger in­
creases the risk of personal injury from im­
properly positioned safety belts!
- For adjustable head restraints: always ad­
just the head restraint properly so that it
can give maximum protection .
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with adjustable head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an impor ­
tant part of your vehicle's occupant restraint sys­
tem and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in
accident situations.
Fig. 145 Head restra int: v iewed from the front
129

Driving safety
The head restraints must be correctly adjusted to
achieve the best protection.
.,. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head.
If
that is not possible, try to adjust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible
c:::> fig. 145. Move the head restraint so
that it is as close to the back of the head as
possible.
.,. If there is a passenger on the rear center seat­
ing position*, slide the center head restraint*
upward at least to the next notch.
Adjusting head restraints
c:::> page 55.
A WARNING
All seats are equipped with head restraints. Driving without head restraints or with head
restraints that are not properly adjusted in­
creases the risk of serious or fatal neck injury
dramatically. To help reduce the risk of injury:
- Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted.
- Every person in the vehicle must have a
properly adjusted head restraint.
-Always make sure each person in the vehicle
properly adjusts their head restraint. Adjust
the head restraint so the upper edge is as
even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possible, try to adjust the head
restraint so that it is as close to this position
as possible. Move the head restraint so that
it is as close to the back of the head as pos­
sible.
- Never attempt to adjust head restraint while driving. If you have driven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any rea­
son, first stop the vehicle safely before at­
tempting to adjust the head restraint.
- Children must always be properly restrained in a child restraint that is appropriate for
their age and size
c:::> page 167 .
130
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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:
.,. Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being used
c:::> A .
The following bulletins list only some sample po­
sitions that will increase the risk of serious injury
and death . Our hope is that these examples will
make you more aware of seating positions that
are dangerous.
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is moving:
-never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- never kneel on the seats
- never ride with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument panel
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit sideways
- never lean out the window
- never put your feet out the window
- never put your feet on the instrument panel
- never rest your feet on the seat cushion or back
of the seat
- never ride in the footwell
- never ride in the cargo area

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Safety belts
General information
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 cor rectly.
~ Read a ll the information that fo llows 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 sing le most effective
means availab le to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For yo ur protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correct ly wear safety belts
when the veh icle is moving.
- Preg nant women, injured, or physically im­
paired pe rsons must also use safety belts.
Lik e all ve hicle occupants, t hey are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wea r safety belts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -througho ut
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. In some
ve hicles, there are five seat ing positions: two in
the front and th ree in the rear . Each seat ing pos i­
tion has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety bel ts or wearing them im­
prope rly i ncrea ses the r is k of se rious person al
injury and death.
- Never st rap more than o ne pe rson, in cl ud ­
ing small c hildren, in to any bel t. It is espe­
c ially dangerous to place a sa fety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
Sa fety bel ts
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger (on USA models only)
to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up.
Fi g. 146 Safety belt warni ng light in the instr ument clus­
te r -en larged
Befor e dr iv ing off , always :
~ Fasten yo ur safety belt and make su re you are
wearing it properly.
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~ Make sure that your passengers also buck le up
and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect childre n w ith a child restraint system
app rop riate for the s ize and age .
The warning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ignit ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts . In add ition, you will hear
a warn ing tone for a certa in pe riod of time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers al so properly put on their safety
belts .
A WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce t he risk of se rious
inj ury and death in au tomobile acc iden ts.
F or your protec tion and that of your passen ­
ge rs, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
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instrument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way~
fig. 149. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just before
the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to deploy in
all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only once
and that your safety belts are always there to of­
fer protection in those accidents in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy or when they have al­
ready deployed . Unbelted occupants can also be
thrown out of the vehicle where even more severe
or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig. 150. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
injure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision. It's simply
not true!
Fig. 151 Driver is correc tly restra ined in a sudden braking
maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap-
Safety belts
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri­
ous injuries . In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more
gently or "softly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinetic energy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerable" and less likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety belts can also substantially re­
duce the r isk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too. Accident statist ics show that vehi­
cle occupants properly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of surviving an accident. Properly using
safety belts also greatly increases the ability of
the supplemental airbags to do their job in a col­ lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal coll isions. The front airbags are not acti­
vated in all frontal coll is ions, in side and rear col­
lisions, in roll overs or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other airbag
systems in your Audi . So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained !
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
137

Safety belts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly -throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 154 Safety belt posit ion during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be pos itioned correctly on the wear­
er's body ¢
page 139 .
... Adjust the front seat and adjustab le head re­
stra int* correctly ¢
page 52, General informa­
tion .
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis¢
fig. 154, ¢ ,.&. .
... Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 138, fig . 152.
... Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion 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
other important information
¢ A in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 139 .
140
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
.,,
Fig. 155 Re leasing th e tongue from th e buckle
... Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 155. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
¢ A.
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving . Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
Fig. 156 Safety belt heigh t adjustment for the front seats
- loop -around fittings
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The shoulder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possible and should fit well
on the body
¢ ,.&. in Safety belt position on
page 139.
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~ Push the loop-aro und fittings up ¢ fig. 156 @,
or
~ squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
~ Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important information
¢ page 137.
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries .
Wearing safety be lts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can on ly work
when they are correct ly posit ioned on the body .
Imp roper seat ing posit ions reduce the effective­
n ess of safety belts and will even inc rease the risk
of inju ry and death by moving the sa fety be lt to
cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seat ing posi­
tions also increase the risk of ser ious injury and
deat h when an airbag deploys and stri kes an oc­
cupant who is not in t he cor rect seating posit ion .
A driver is responsible for the safety of all veh icle
occupants and espec ially for children. Therefore :
~ Never permit anyone to ass ume an inco rrect sit-
t ing position in the vehicle while trave ling
¢ ,& .
A WARNING
Imprope rly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whe never
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occupants
are co rrectly restrained and stay in a cor rect
sea ting pos it ion whenever the veh icle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS and
ot her important i nfo rmat ion
¢page 137 .
Safety bel ts
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts
are tensioned automatically.
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are eq uipped
with power reversib le tensioners. The fo llow ing
funct ions are availab le when the driver's/front
passenge r's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners : at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain time per iod or vehicle
speed. To sw itch the automat ic tensioners off,
s e lect the following in the MMI:
!CA RI fu nction
button
> (Car )* systems > Vehicle s etting s >
Seats > Driver's seat or Pass enger' s seat > Au­
tomatic belt ten sioner
> Off .
- In ce rtai n dr iv ing s ituations, the safety belts
may tighten w ith a revers ible tens ion ing f unc­
t ion
¢ page 185.
-The s afety be lt s may also t igh ten wi th th is re-
versible tens ion ing funct ion in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equ ipped with safe ty belt
pretensioners . The system is act ivated by se nsors
i n front, side and rea r-e nd coll is ions of great se­
ver ity and in a ro llover. This tig htens the belt and
ta kes up belt slack¢ .&.
in Service and disposal of
safety belt pre tensioner on page 14 2.
Taking up
t h e slack he lps to reduce forward occupa nt
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is poss ible for the pretens ioners to deploy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one coll is ion. If the pyrotech­
n ic pretensioners deploy, the pretens ion ing
sys tem must be replaced .
(1) Tips
The pyrotechnic safety be lt pretensioners can
o nl y dep loy once . .,.
141

Airbag syste m
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the electronic contro l unit ¢
page 155, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a chi ld seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapid ly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effect iveness of the
child restraint and even seriously injure the child
during inflation .
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restrain­
ed according to their age and s ize -we strongly
recommend that ch ildren always sit in the back
seat ¢
page 167, Child safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously inju red and can be killed if the front air­
bag inf lates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w il l hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the chi ld seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof .
- Always insta ll rear -facing child seats on the
rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat beca use of
exceptional circ umstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the a irbag system inspected by
you r Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing ch ild seats installed on the
front passenger's seat may interfere w ith
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­ rious persona l injury to the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircums tances, you mus t in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger 's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and ce rtified by i ts man-
146
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ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible before installing the for­
ward-facing child rest raint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upr ight position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, ma ke su re
that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isp layed wheneve r a ch ild restr aint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
c::> page 154, Monitoring the Advanced Air ·
bag System.
-Ta ke the child restraint off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dea ler immediately.
- Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restraints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-facing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of ch ild restraints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed ch ild restra int can
interfere w ith the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child -even
w ith an Advanced A irbag System. ..,.

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-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
ins tructions prov ided with the ch ild seat or
carrier.
- Always make sure that t he re is no thing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occ upied by some­
one who is heav ier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig . 157 Locat ion of d river a irbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig . 158 Locat ion of front passenger's a irbag: in the instru ­
ment pa nel
Your vehicle is equipped w ith an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compl iance with Un ited States
Ai rb ag system
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured. The safety be lts for the
seats have "pretensioners" that help to take slack
out of the belt system. The pretensioners are also
activated by the electron ic control unit for the
airbag system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
c:> fig . 157 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument pane l
c:>fig. 158. The
general location of the airbags is marked ''AIR ­
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the a irbags
in your vehicle. We urge you to read the detailed
information about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapte rs that make
up the owner's literature . Please be sure to heed
the WAR NINGS - they are extremely importa nt
fo r yo ur safety and the safety of you r passengers,
especially infants and small children .
_& WARNING
=
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
with p roperly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wea r you r safety belts and
make sure tha t everybo dy in your vehicle is
properly rest rained.
- Always hold the steering wheel w ith 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 persona l in­
jury if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never ho ld the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steer ing wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, ha nds, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys .
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147

Airbag syste m
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag w ill in ­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airba g unfo lds and/or by
being pus hed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag depl oyment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying a irbag
can become project iles 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 place accessor ies 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 pane l or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these a reas 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 co uld cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the a ir­
bags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag dur ing breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver . Objects near the a irbags can
fly dangerously th rough the passenger com­
partment and ca use i njur y, partic ularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate .
A WARNING
A person on the front passenge r seat, espe ­
cially infants and small children, wi ll 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
148
-
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that dep loyment un­
de r these specia l condit ions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of yo ur vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the ,,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-o ld children under the U.S. Fed­
era l Standard if a c hild with e lectr ica l capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one -yea r old infant re ­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certif ied is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position .
- For their own safety, all ch ildren, especially
12 yea rs and younger, should a lways ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped with a front Advanced
A irbag System in compliance w ith United States
Federa l Mo tor Ve hicl e Safety Standa rd 208 asap­
plicable at the time your vehicle was manufac­
tured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety be lts to p rov ide additional protec tion
f or the driver 's and front passenger 's heads and
u pper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in­
flate only in fronta l impacts when the ve hicle de­
ce lerat ion is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front seat occ upants is not a s ubstitute for yo ur safety
belts. Rather , it is part of the overall occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. A lways remember
that the airbag system can only he lp to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe-
ty belt and wear ing it properly . Th is is why you
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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 panel 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
restrained on the front passenger seat in child re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
q page 169, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"S uppression " 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 comp liance with the US Safety Standard
qpage 169,
- 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
stra ints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified), the front
airbag on the passenger side may or may not
deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a total
e lectr ical capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
Airbag system
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the control unit and
can deploy if the control unit senses an impact
that meets the conditions stored in its memory.
If the total electrical capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typical 1 year-old, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front airbag on the passenger
side may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (re­
gardless of whether the child is in one of the
child seats listed
q page 169),
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument panel will come on and stay on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal
Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic control unit
q page 154.
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the impor tant infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS .
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
9page 143.
149