light AUDI Q5 2018 Owners Manual

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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 correctly.
• Read all the information that follows 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 s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
-Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
like ly to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother
-throughout
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Aud i has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wear ing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
inju ry and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cia lly dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitt ing on you r lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
Safety belts
- Be sure 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 to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig. 222 Safety belt warn ing ligh t in the instrument clus ·
te r - en larged
Before driving off, always:
• Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
"' 0 ,:.
;;i;
• Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
• Protect ch ildren with a child restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety belts . In add ition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
A WARNING
-
- Safety belts are the single most effect ive
means available to red uce the risk of serious
i njur y and death in automobile accidents.
F or your protection and that of yo ur passen­
gers, a lways correct ly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Fail ure to pay attention to the warning light
that comes on cou ld lead to personal injury.
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Automatic saf ety belt retractor s
Every safety be lt is equ ipped with an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is pull ed out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The be lt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely .
Safety be lt pret en sioner s
Safety belts with pretensioners he lp to tighten
the safety belt and remove slack when the pre­
tensioners are activated
c:> page 267. The func­
tion of the pretensioner is monitored by a warn­
i ng light
<=> page 26 .
Con vertible loc king retract or
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
m ust be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the important information about this feature
<=>page 302 .
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c:> page 265,
Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
-Always ma ke sure tha t the rear seat bac k­
rest to wh ich the center rear safety be lt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a cras h.
-Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle w ill reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
-A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
Safet y bel ts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men .
-Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
c:> page 304.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 229 Safety belt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to ma tch your body
s iz e.
-belt height adjustment for the front seats,
-height-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
se rious personal injury in an acc ident.
-The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so th at it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the abdomen . The belt should a lways fit
snug ly
c:> fig. 229. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary .
-The lap be lt portion of the sa fety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c:> fig. 229. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
in juries by shifting its position on your body
ll>
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about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 291 .
Even though yo ur vehicle is equ ipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that a ll chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al ­
ways ride in the back seat proper ly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
safety seat. It can be a very dange rous place for
a n in fant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Ve hicle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica ­
b le at the time your veh icle was man ufactu red.
According to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about 12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
p loyment" for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF ~ ; light in the
headliner tells you when the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side has been turned off by
the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u turn on the ignition, the
PAS SEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
for a few seconds and:
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF the e lectrica l capacitance measured by the ca­
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equals the comb ined ca­
pacitance of an infant up to about one year of
age and one of the rearward-facing or forward ­
facing child restra ints listed in Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve hi­
cle was certified. Fo r a listing of the child re ­
straints that were used to ce rtify you r vehicle 's
compliance with the Safety Standard
¢ page 293 .
Airbag syste m
- PASSEN GER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
there is a small chi ld or child restraint on the
front passenger seat
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON @ will come on if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adu lt as
registered by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system
¢ page 281, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
The PAS SEN GER AIR BAG OFF ~; light comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical 1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restra ints listed in Federal Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard (F MVSS) 208 with wh ich
t h e Advanced Airbag System in you r vehicle was
ce rtified.
If the total electr ical capacitance reg istered on
t h e front passenger seat is mo re than that of a
typ ica l 1 yea r-old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sm all adul t, the front airbag on the passen ­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does
not come on, the fro nt airbag on the passenge r
side has not been t urned off by the e lectronic
contro l unit and can deploy if the contro l unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor ­
ed in its memory.
For example , th e ai rb ag ma y deplo y if:
- a small c hild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of t he
child sa fe ty seats
listed ¢ page 293), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenger seat .
If the front passenge r a irbag is tu rned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light comes on in
t h e headliner a nd stays o n.
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requ ires t he a irbag to meet the " low
r isk" deployment cr ite ria to redu ce the r isk of in­
j u ry throug h interact ion w it h t he airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in t hose crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
..,.
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Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit c> page 281, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG
OFF-,,;, ON@ light .
Always remember, a child safety seat o r infa nt
carrier insta lled on the front seat may be st ru ck
and knocked out of position by the rapid ly inflat­
ing passenger's airbag in a fronta l co llision . The
airbag cou ld greatly reduce the effect iveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
child dur ing inflation.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren
-when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and si ze
-we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c> page 291, Child safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag infla tes
-even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier wi th great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF ,;; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler .
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and ca use serio us pe rsonal injury to the child.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumst ances, you must in­
stall a forward-f acing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-f acing se at
h as been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
272 ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before ins tall ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF -,,;, light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is swi tched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk o f serious injury, ma ke sure
that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF -,,;; light
will be disp layed whenever a ch ild restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF -,,;, light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed
c> page 281, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG
OFF ,;; light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­ ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
I f, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re-
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat:
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The fr ont Advance d Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. A lways remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe­
ty belt and wear ing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re­
stra ined, not just beca use the law req uir es yo u to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your ve hicle has
been ce rt ified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire­
ments fo r 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children o n the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adul ts on the d rive r
side . The low r is k dep loymen t cr iteria are intend ­
ed to he lp reduce t he ris k of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occ ur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering whee l
and instrument pane l when the airbag inflates .
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to t urn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
<=:> page 293, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppress ion" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ic h the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rt ified. For a listing of the c hild
r estra in ts tha t were used to certify your ve hi­
cl e's comp lian ce wi th t he US S afety St andard
<=:> page 293,
- When a person is de te cte d on the fron t passen ­
ger sea t th at has an electr ica l capaci tance t hat
is mo re t han t he tota l electrical capac itance of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rea r-facing or forward-facing infant re ­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced A irbag
System in your ve hicle was certified), the front
Airbag syste m
airbag on the passenger side may or may not
dep loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; ligh t comes on
whe n the elect ronic con trol uni t detec ts a t otal
electrica l capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned
off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned
off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses a n impact
t h at meets the cond it ions stored in its memory .
If the total electr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more t han that of a
typ ical 1 year-old , but less than the weight of a
small ad ult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light does not come on).
For example, the airbag may deploy if :
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of t he
child safety seats
listed<=:> page 293),
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenge r ai rbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light in the head ­
liner w ill come on and stay on.
If the front passenge r airbag deploys, the Feder ­
al Standard requi res t he airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to he lp reduce the r is k
of i njury through interaction with the a irbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
i n the electronic co ntro l unit .
<=:>page 281
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for ch ildre n is properly restra ined o n the back
seat . Please be s ure to read the impo rtant in for­
mation in the sect ions that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WAR NIN GS.
_&. WARNING
To redu ce th e r is k of injury when an air bag in -
fl ates, always wea r sa fe ty be lts properly .
...,
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Airbag syste m
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
your risk of injury is much h igher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced
Airbag ¢ page 269.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward -facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates - even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to tu rn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas ­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door,
o r roof .
- Always install rearward -facing ch ild re ­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be ­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light does not
come on and s tay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety sea t in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and cert ified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag.
276
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fo re and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-f acing chi ld restrain t.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenger seat tha t will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing 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 differen t from the w ay it wou ld
have worked without the object on the seat .
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
"I,;; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignition is switched on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These pa rts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more . T he control unit monitors the system
o n the front passenger seat when the ignit ion is
switched on and turns the airbag indicato r light
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is
detected ¢ page 281. Because
t h e fron t passenger sea t contains impo rtant
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System , you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
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Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Ad vanced Airbag System con sists
o f the follo wing :
-Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System a bout the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de­
c ides" whether the safety belt pretens ione rs
shou ld be activated .
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the d river ins ide the steer ing
whee l hub.
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the fron t passenger.
-A capac itive passenger detect ion system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the elect ric al capac ita nce of the
person in the seat. The informat ion registe red
is sent contin uous ly to the e lectron ic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad ­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
m in the instrument cluster.
-A sensor in eac h front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat and the
stee ring wheel or instrument pane l. The infor ­
mation reg istered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Adv a need A irbags .
-The PASS EN GER AIR BAG OFF ~; ON@ light
comes on in the headliner
c:> page 281,
fig. 236 and tells you the status of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag o n the passenge r side .
-A sensor i n the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whethe r that safety belt is latched or not and
t ransm its this info rmat io n to the elect ronic
c ontro l unit.
Airbag syste m
A WARNING ~ -
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
-Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced A irbag System from f unct ion ing
p roperly.
-Repa irs to the front passenger seat must be
pe rformed by qualified a nd p roperly tra ined
wo rkshop personne l.
-Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
-Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger sea t.
-Never d isassemble or remove parts from the
seat o r disconnect w ires from it .
-Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat . The capacit ive pas­
senger de tec tion mat in the front passenger
seat will not funct ion p roperly if i t is punc­
tured.
-Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenge r seat. S uch ob­
jects ca n infl uence the capaci tance reg is­
t ered by the cap aci tive passenge r detection
sys tem, so that incorrect in forma tion is pro ­
vided to the ai rbag control unit.
-N eve r store i tems unde r the front p assenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat cou ld be dam ­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys ­
tem from wor king p roper ly.
-Never p lace seat covers or replacement up ­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
-Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air ­
bag System from recognizing chi ld re­
stra ints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and preven t the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploy ing properly.
-If a seat heater has bee n retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passe nger seat,
neve r ins tall any child restra int system on
t his seat.
-Never use cushions, p illows , blankets, or
sim ila r it ems o n the front passenge r seat .
277

Airbag syste m
The additiona l layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working p roperly .
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-vol t
socket or the cigarette lighter socket . S u ch
devices can infl uence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the ch ild restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light
does not come on and s tay on, immedi ate ly
install child restra int in a rear seating posi ­
tion and have the airbag system inspected by your A udi dealer .
,&_ WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work­
ing prope rly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~;
light will come on and stay on togethe r wi th
the a irbag ind icator light
m in the inst ru­
ment cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, bu t has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenge r frontal a irb ag to be enabled
(tu rned on), even though there is a properly
278
installed child restraint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light will
turn off.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front t hree-point safety belts and the adjustable
head restraints to he lp reduce the risk of injury in
a wide range of accident and crash situat ions. Be
sure to read the important i nformat ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­
pend on the dece leration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash seve rity depe nds on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the cras h.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
use, the front passenge r frontal a irbag will be
turned off if t he e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenge r detection system o n
t h e fron t pa ssenger sea t is less th an the amou nt
prog rammed in t he e lec tronic contro l unit. The
front passenger frontal airbag wi ll also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light
comes on a nd stays on to tell you when the front
Advanced Airbag System on the passenge r side
has been tu rned off<=?
page 281.
,&_ WARNING
T o reduce the ris k of injury when an airbag in ­
flates, always wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unres trained, leaning forward, si t­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r isk of injury is much highe r.
~

u co ..... N r-­N .....
~ 0 co
-Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates
-
even with an Advanced Airbag 9 page 269 .
More important things to know about front
airbags
F ig. 235 Inf lated fro nt a irbags
0 0 M
-.:,
~
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold prope rly and provide sup·
p lemental pro tection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide add i­
tional protect ion for the chest and face of the
d river and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly
- the seats have been positioned so that the
oc -
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag
- and the head restraints have been proper ly
ad-
justed
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
g reat fo rce, things you have on your lap or have
p laced on the seat cou ld become dangerous pro­
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in·
flates .
W hen an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irr itate skin .
It is important to remember that while the sup ­
p lemental a irbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra -
Airbag system
sions, can also happen when airbags inflate . Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supp lement the three ­
po int safety belts only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle dece leration is high enough
to dep loy the airbags .
Front airbags will not depl oy :
- if the ignition is switche d off when a crash oc-
curs
- in side co llisions
- in rear -end co llisions
- in rollovers
- when the crash decele ration measured by the
airbag system is less than the m inimum thresh­
old needed for airbag dep loyment as registe red
by the electronic con trol un it
The front passenger airbag also w ill not
deploy:
- when the fron t passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectr ica l capacitance measured by
the capacit ive passenger detection system for
t he front passenge r seat ind icates that the pas­
senger side frontal airbag must be switched off
by the e lectronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG
OFF ~; light 9 page 281 comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of ser ious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the a irbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al·
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean aga inst or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be serio usly
inj ured by an airbag as it unfolds with g reat
for ce in the blink of an eye
r=> page 2 70.
A WARNING
A child in a re arward-fa cing child safety seat
i nsta lled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously in jured and can be ki lled if the front
.,,.
279

Airbag syste m
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced 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
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward-fac ing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your a uthorized Audi dea ler.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag w ill in ­
crease the risk of inj ury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfo lds or by be­
ing pushed into you as the a irbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat . Objects could
move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing brak ing or other sudden maneuvers and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious personal injury if the a irbags
inflate .
- Never place or attach accessor ies or other
objects (such as cupholders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy o r bulky objects) on
the doors, over or nea r the area marked
"AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment pane l, sea t backrests or between
those areas and yoursel f. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects . Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag o r the front a ir­
bag dur ing braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
280
-
pro jecti les and cause injury, part icularly
when the seat is reclined.
- Never p lace or transport objects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the front passenger seat could cause the capacitive
sensor in the seat to signal to airbag system
that the seat is occupied by a person when it
in fact is not, or that the pe rson on the seat
is heavie r than he or she act ually is . The
change in elec tric capa citan ce beca use of
such o bje cts can c ause the p assenge r front
airbag to be turned on when it should be
off, or can cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would have
wo rked without objects on the seat.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenge r seat that will cause the
capacitive passenge r detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not , or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person act ually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of an ob­
ject could ca use the passenger front air bag
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 would have
worked without the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can
cause breathing prob lems for people with a
h istory of asthma or other breath ing cond i­
tions .
- To reduce the r isk of breathing p roblems,
those with asthma or other respiratory con­
ditions should get fresh a ir right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening win­
dows or doors .
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy, wash your hands and face with m ild
soap and water before eating.
- Be ca refu l not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the residue should get into your eyes,
flush them w ith wate r.