belt AUDI S3 SEDAN 2015 Owner's Manual

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_& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death. Safety belts can work only
when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­
fore driving off and make sure al l passen­
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be pos itioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­ duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely.
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder be lt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acc i­
dent. Inspect belts regularly. If webb ing,
bind ings, buckles, or retracto rs are dam-
Safety belts
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, d isassemble, o r try
to repair the safety belts yourself.
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inertia reel~
table Internal
cleaning on page 237.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 122 Belt buck le and tongue on the d rive r's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly ¢
page 54, Front seats.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench is
in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt¢.&, .
.. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and pull it even ly
across the chest and pelvis ¢.&_ .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ fig. 122 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
Ill>
143

Safety belts
Autom atic safet y belt retractors
Every safety belt is eq uipped w ith an automatic
be lt retractor on the shou lder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the be lt is pulled o ut fast,
during hard brak ing and in an accident . The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
S afety belt p rete n sioner s
The safety be lts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove s lack when the pretensioner is activated
¢ page 146. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
mon itored by a warning light
<=:>page 20.
Converti ble lock ing r etra ctor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped w ith a convertib le locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢page 182 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident¢
page 144,
Safety belt posi tion.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rea r seat back­
rest to which t he center rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety be lt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen ­
ger wi ll move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck le
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be se riously in jured by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
144
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are secur ing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
¢page 184.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
¢page 146.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 123 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts.
.&_ WARNING
I mp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an accident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the bel t
above the latch to ng ue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos ­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snug ly¢
fig. 123. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as poss ible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c::> fig. 123. Pu ll on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
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-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information ¢
page 142.
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. 124 Safety belt position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
c:> page 144.
• Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re­
straint* correctly¢
page 54, Front seats.
• Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis ¢
fig. 124, c:> .&_.
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 143, fig. 122 .
•Pullon the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
_& 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 t he 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 144.
Safety belts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped .
J-L
Fig. 125 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
• Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 125. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
c:> .&_ .
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
_& WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed.
Adjusting the safety belt latch tongue
Fig. 126 Safety belt: la tch tongue cl ip (example)
.,.. Slide the clip so that you can easily reach the
belt latch when putting the safety belt on .
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145

Safety belts
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.
F ig . 127 Safety belt height ad justment for t he front seats
- loop -a round f itt ings
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¢ .&.
in Safety belt position on
page 144 .
... Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢ fig . 127 @,
or
... squeeze together the (D button, and push the
l oop-around fit tings
down @.
... Pull the belt to make sure t hat the upper at ­
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important information
¢ page 142.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can a lso be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts con cause se­ vere injuries.
Wearing safety be lts imprope rly can cause seri­
ous injury or death . Safety belts can on ly work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effective­
ness of safety be lts and will
even i ncrease the risk
146
of injury and death by moving the safety belt to
critical areas of the body . Improper seating posi­
tions also increase the risk of serious in jury and
death when an airbag deploys and strikes an oc­
cupant who is not in the correct seating position.
A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for ch ildren . Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect sit-
ting posit ion in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &_ .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the r isk
of serious personal inju ry and death wheneve r
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehi cle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position wheneve r the vehicle is be­
ing used .
- Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
o ther important informa tion
¢ page 142.
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.
R ev ersib le safety belt t ensione rs
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversib le tensioners. The fo llow ing
functions are availab le when the driver's/front
passenger's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tensio ners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain t ime period or vehicle
speed.
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten with a reversible tensioning func­
tion
¢page 103.
-The safety belts may a lso tighten with this re-
vers ible tensioning function in minor collisions.
Pyrotechn ic safet y belt pretens ioner s
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sensors ..,.

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in front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack¢.&.
in Service and disposal of
safety bel t pretensioner on page 147.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to deploy
incorrectly .
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one collision . If the pyrotech­
nic pretensioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(D Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners can
only deploy once .
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal and side collisions, in rear­
end collisions, in rollovers and in collisions
involving very little impact force.
-A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners deploy. This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
vidual parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We recommend you have your authorized Audi
dealer perform this service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a collision.
Safety belts
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
= -
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be activat­
ed only once. If belt pretensioners have
been activated, the system must be re­ placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are required for removal, instal­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual,
training and special equipment necessary .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Material
-special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modules safe ­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you.
147

Airbag system
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, befo re driving off, always:
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
Q page 131,
"'Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
Qpage 54,
"'Wear safety be lts properly C? page 142,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
Qpage 172.
In a coll is ion, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly . Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions
c> page 131, Correct
passenger seating positions.
Fo r details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
c>page54.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
Qpage 172.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seat ing position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a phys ical impairment or condition that
prevents you from sitt ing properly on the dr iver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
148
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dea ler or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger . The air bags w ill deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags also inf late
with a grea t deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they dep loy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts s low
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the veh icle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con ­
trol unit. If th is rate is below the reference val ue
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered , even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi ­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one co llision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object wh ic h the car hits, the angle of
i mpact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will .,.

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also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in roll­
overs .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbag s wi ll deploy on ly once,
and on ly in cer tain kinds of collisions. Your safety
b e lts a re a lways there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision.
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 airbag system works most
effectively when used w ith the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 140.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r in­
strument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
o f persona l injury in a coll is ion .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the peda ls and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restrained child cou ld be injured by striking
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or improperly restrained
child is also at greater risk of injury o r death
thro ugh contact wi th an infla ting airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward, sit­
t ing s ideways o r ou t of position in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serio us inju ries and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it in flates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag .
-
Airbag syste m
- To reduce the risk of injury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c::> page 143, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that ch ildren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren a re not properly restrained, they may
be severe ly injured or killed when an a irbag
inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestrained or im­
properly rest rained in the vehicle . Ad just the
front seats p roperly .
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 131.
- Always sit upright with 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 recli ne the front passenger 's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­
b ag during bra king or in a sudden maneu­
ver . Ob je cts near the airbags can become
p rojectiles and ca use inj ury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed i n a crash must be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls and
d iagnostic equipment to properly rep lace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the importa nt information and
heed the WARNI NGS for important detai ls
149

Airb ag syst em
-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat or
carr ier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause 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 heav ier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front a irbag 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.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig. 128 Location of d river ai rbag: in steeri ng w heel
F ig. 129 Location of fro nt passenger's a irbag: in the i nstru­
m ent pane l
Your vehicle is equipped w ith an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
152
Federa l Moto r 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 electronic control unit for the
airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load lim iters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub ¢
fig. 128 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 129. The
genera l 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 WARN INGS - they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children .
A WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental p rotection.
- Airbag wor k most effective ly when used
w it h properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, alw ays wea r your safe ty belts and
ma ke sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained.
- Always hold the s teer ing whee l w ith bo th
hands on the outside of the steer ing whee l
r im at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po ­
sitions to help reduce the r isk of persona l in­
jury if the driver's airbag in flates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steer ing whee l hub. Hold ing the steer ing
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe in jury to the arms, hands , and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys .
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_& 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
-
Airbag system
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 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 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 asap­
plicable at the time your vehicle was manufac­
tured.
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. Rather, 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 ..,.
153

Airbag system
and your passengers must always be properly re­
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to meet the " low risk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 year-old chi ldren on the pas­
senger side and very small adu lts 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 steer ing wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppress ion" 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 r e­
straints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 17 4, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is rest rained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-facing infant rest raints 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
¢ page 174,
-When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat that has an electrica l 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 Veh icle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your veh icle 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
elec trical capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
154
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the control unit senses an impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory.
If the total electrica l capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than t hat of a
typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the we ight of a
small adult, the front airbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heavier than a typical 1
year -old chi ld is on the front passenger seat (re­
gardless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child seats listed
¢ page 17 4),
- a child who has outgrown chi ld 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 ai rbag deploys, the Federal
Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of inj ury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
i n the electronic control un it
¢ page 160.
Always remember: Even though yo ur vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest p lace
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A 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
¢page 148.