seats AUDI RS7 SPORTBACK 2016 Owner's Manual

....
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts 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 single most effective
means available 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
likely 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 Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
N child sitting on your lap. er:
~ -Never let more people ride in the vehicle
~ than there are safety belts available. Lil
N v:, ......
Safety belts
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
, ff. 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 .
Fig. 143 Safety belt warn ing light in the instrument clus ­
te r -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
.,, N
"' 0 ..:, ., m
~ Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
~ Protect children w ith a ch ild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition, you wil l hear
a warning 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 sing le most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, a lways correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
127

Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide on ly additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, 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 offer protect ion in those accidents in w hich
a ir bags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the vehicle where even
more severe or fatal injur ies can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themse lves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig. 147. 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. 148 Dr iver is correctly restra ined in a sudden b raking
maneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause se ri­
ous injur ies. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts
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 ene rgy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to ca use injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety be lts can also substantially re ­
duce the r isk of injury in other k inds 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. Acciden t 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 supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most count ries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, 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 air bag
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.
129

Safe ty 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
corre ctly -throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 151 Safety belt pos ition during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
¢ page 131.
... Adjust the front seat and ad justable head re­
straint* correctly ¢
page 52, General informa­
tion .
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelv is
r::;, fig. 151 , ¢ _&..
... Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch secure ly
¢page 130, fig. 149.
... Pull on t he be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le .
A WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious persona l injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways 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¢ &.
in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 131.
132
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only ofter the vehicle hos stopped.
.,,
Fig . 15 2 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
... Push the red re lease button on the buck le
r:::;, fig. 152. The belt tongue wi ll spring out of
the buck le
r::;, A .
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
ing inj ured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt he ight
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strop routing
con be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
F ig . 153 Safety belt height adj ustment for the front seats
- loop -around fittings
0 ,-. N 0 :i: .. m
The shoulder be lt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the co llar bo ne as poss ible and s hou ld fit well
o n the body
r::;, .&. in Safe ty belt posi tion on
page 131. ..,,.

~ Push the loop-around fittings up qfig. 153 @,
or
~ squeeze together the(!) 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 informat ion
qpage 129.
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 belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
n ess of safety be lts and will
even i ncrease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the correct seat ing posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
Q A .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occupants
are correctly restra ined and stay in a co rrect
seating pos it io n whenever the ve hicle is be­
ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important in format ion
q page 129.
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.
Rever sible safety belt tensioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The following
funct ions are available when the dr iver's/front
passenger's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the MMI :
!CARI function
button
> (Car )* system s > Vehicle setting s >
Seats > Driver's seat or Passeng er' s s eat > Au­
tom atic belt ten sioner
> Off .
- In certain driving situations, the safety bel ts
may tighten w it h a reve rsib le tensioning func­
tion
q page 177.
-The safety be lts may also tigh ten with this re-
versible tension ing function in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners
The safety belts are equipped w it h safety belt
prete nsioners. The system is activated by sensors
in front, side and rear -end collisions of great se­
verity and in a ro llover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
q .& in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 134.
Taking up
the slack he lps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
--
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the pyrotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
133

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already deployed ; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first coll is ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 127 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel o r in­
st rument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All vehicle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
-If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rward, s it­
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u 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.
136
-
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
r=;, page 130, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the backrest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
r=;, page 119.
-Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre ­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects nea r the airbags can become
projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtant info rmat ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important details .,.

about children and Advanced Airbags
c::>page 159.
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways ride in the back seat properly 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
seat .
It can be a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
T he Advanced Airbag System in 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
Veh icle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica­
b le a t the time your veh icle was m an ufact ured.
Accord ing to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certifi ed for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard) .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned
off
by the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u switch on the ignition, the
PAS ·
S ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance meas ­
ured by the capac itive passenger detection sys­
tem for the front passenger seat equals the combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward-facing
or forward-facing child restraints listed in Fed ­
era l Moto r Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208 with which the Advanced Airbag System i n
yo ur vehicle was ce rtified. For a l isting of the
child rest raints t hat were used to ce rtify your
vehicle's compliance with the Safety Standa rd
c::> page 161.
Airb ag sys tem
-wi ll stay on if there is a small child or c hild re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go
off if the front passenge r seat is occu ­
pied by an adult as registered by the capac itive
passenger detection system
c::, page 146, Mon­
itoring the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less t han the
combined capacitance of a typical 1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in yo ur vehicle was
ce rtified.
If the total e lec trical capacitance reg istered on
t h e front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on).
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 electron ic con trol
u nit and can dep loy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions s tored in its
memory .
For example , th e airbag may deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child seats lis ted
c::> page 161), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
inst rument cluste r and stays on .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in­
jury through interact ion w ith the airbag . "Low
r isk " dep loymen t occurs in those crashes that
t ak e place at lowe r decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic cont rol unit
c::, page 147, PASSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
Ill>
137

Airbag syste m
Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness 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 children -when properly restrain­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
¢ page 159, Child safety.
.8, WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the chi ld seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing chi ld
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing ch ild seats insta lled on the
front passenger's seat may interfe re with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­
rious persona l injury to the child.
.8, WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing se at
has been designed and certified by its man ­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag .
138
-
-Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost posit ion 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 restraint . The backrest
must be adjusted to an upr ight position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on a ll the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is swi tched on.
.8, WARNING
To reduce the ris k of serious injury, ma ke sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t will
be d isp layed whenever a ch ild rest raint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the ignition is switched on.
-If the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 146 , Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
- Take the child restraint 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
Aud i dea ler immediately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restra ints.
.8, WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re­
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kil l the child -even
w ith an Advan ced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat or
earner.

-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will ca use the
capacit ive 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 signa l that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The p resence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
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.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig. 154 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 155 Location of front passenger 's airbag: in th e in­
strume nt panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in comp liance with United States
F edera l Moto r Vehicle Safety Standard
( FM VSS) 208, as well as Canad a Moto r Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as app licab le at
Airb ag sys tem
the time your ve hicle was manufactured . The
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the belt system .
The pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic 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.
T he airbag for the drive r is in the steering wheel
hub ~
fig. 154 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel~
fig. 155 . The
general locat ion of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags i n your vehicle . We urge you to read the deta iled
information about airbags, safety be lts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the ow ner's literature . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS - they are extremely important
for yo ur safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infan ts and small children.
_&. WARNING
-
Neve r rely o n ai rbags alone fo r prote ct ion.
- E ven w hen they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental pro tection.
- Ai rbag work most effectively when used
with p roperly worn safety belts.
- Therefo re, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your ve hicle is
p roperly restrained.
- Always hold the steering w heel with both
ha nds on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3 :00 o'clock po ­
sitions to help reduce t he risk of personal i n­
jury if the driver's a irbag inflates.
- Never hold the stee ring wheel at the 12
o'clock position or wi th your hands any ­
where inside the steering wheel o r on the
steer ing whee l hub . Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the r isk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys.
~
139

Airbag system
& WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer ­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air -
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates .
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles 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 accessories 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 panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas 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 could cause serious in­
jury in a collision , especially when the air­
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 during breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
& WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­ cially infants and small children, will 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
140
-
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the ,,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U .S . Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­ployment 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 children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de ­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety belts. Rathe r, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle . Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe ­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly .,.

restrained, not just because the law requires you
to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your ve hicle has
been certified to meet the " low r isk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children on the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . The low r isk dep loyment cr iteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates .
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in child re­
stra ints that a re listed in the Standard
¢ page 161, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system .
"Suppression" 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 fro nt passenger seat i n one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified . For a listing of the ch ild
restraints that were used to certify your vehi ­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 161,
-When a person is detected on the front passen ­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the tota l electrical capac itance of
a ch ild that is about 1 year old restra ined in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety
Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced A irbag
System i n your veh icle was certified), the front
airbag o n the passenge r side may o r may not
deploy.
The
P A SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on
when the electron ic cont rol un it detects a total
e lectrical capacitan ce on the front passenge r seat
that requ ires the front a irbag to be turned off. If
the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
Airb ag sys tem
has not been turned off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses an impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capaci tance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is mo re than that of a
typica l 1 year -old, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PA SS ENGER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on).
For example , the ai rbag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
yea r-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless o f whether the child is in one of the
child seats listed
¢ page 161),
-a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenge r seat .
If the front passenge r a irbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument pane l wi ll come on and stay on .
If the front passenger a ir bag deploys, the Feder­
al Standa rd requi res the ai rbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteri a to he lp redu ce the r isk
of inj ury th rough interaction with the airbag .
" Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic contro l unit ¢
page 146.
Alwa ys 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 important infor­
mation in the sections that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wea r safety belts properly.
- If you are u nrestra ined, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r is k of injury is much highe r.
- You will also receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up against the
ai rbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an A dvanced Airbag
¢page 135.
141