seat adjustment AUDI S3 SEDAN 2015 Owners Manual

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Seats and storage
General information
Important information
A WARNING
Refer to the chapter Driving Safely
c::> page 130, Driving safety for important in­
formation, tips, suggestions and warnings
that you should read and follow for your own
safety and the safety of your passengers.
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system con only
provide maximum protection if the front seats
ore correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjusting the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger. Adjust
your seat properly so that:
- you can easily and quickly reach all the switches
and controls in the instrument panel
-your body is properly supported thus reducing
physical stress and fatigue
- the safety belts and airbag system can offer
maximum protection
c::> page 148.
In the following sections, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust your seats.
There are special regulations and instructions for
installing a child seat on the front passenger's
seat . Always follow the information regarding
child safety provided in
c::> page 172, Child safe­
ty.
A WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and all
other passengers can result in serious person­
al injury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when the
vehicle is in motion -never put your feet on
top of the instrument panel, out of the win­
dow or on top of the seat cushion. This ap­
plies especially to the passengers. If your
seating position is incorrect, you increase
Seats and storage
the risk of injury in the case of sudden brak­
ing or an accident.
If the airbag inflates and
the seating position is incorrect, this could result in personal injury or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front
passenger to keep a distance of at least
10 inches (25 cm) between themselves and
the steering wheel and/or instrument panel.
If you're sitting any closer than this, the air­
bag system cannot protect you properly. In
addition, the front seats and head restraints
must be adjusted to your body height so
that they can give you maximum protection.
- Always try to keep as much distance as pos­
sible between yourself and the steering
wheel or instrument panel.
- Do not adjust the driver's or front passeng­
er's seat while the vehicle is moving. Your
seat may move unexpectedly, causing sud­
den loss of vehicle control and personal in­
jury. If you adjust your seat while the vehicle is moving, you are out of position .
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving.
We recommend that you adjust the driver's seat
in the following manner:
.,. Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so that
you can easily push the pedals to the floor
while keeping your knees slightly bent
c::, A in
Why is your seat adjustment so important? on
page
53.
.,. Adjust the backrest so that when you sit with
your back against the backrest, you can still grasp the top of the steering wheel.
.,. For adjustable head restraints: adjust the head
restraint so the upper edge is as even as possi­
ble with the top of your head.
If that is not pos­
sible, try to adjust the head restraint so that it
is as close to this position as possible
c::> page 56. Move the head restraint so that it
is as close to the back of the head as possible. ..,.
53

Seats and storag e
_& WARNING
Never place any objects in the driver's foot­
well. An object could get into the pedal area and interfere w ith pedal function. In case of
sudden brak ing or an accident, yo u wou ld not
be able to brake or acce lerate.
Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into the
rearmost position.
To avo id contact wit h the airbag while it is de­
p loying, do not sit any closer to the instrument
panel than necessary and always wear the three­
poi nt safety belt provided ad justed correctly . We
recommend that you adjust the passe nger's sea t
in the fol low ing manner:
• Bring the backrest up to an (a lmost) upright
pos ition .
Do not ride w ith the seat reclined .
• Fo r adjus table head restraints: adjust the head
rest rain t so the upper edge is as even as possi­
ble with the top of your head . If that is not pos­
s ible, try to adjust the head restraint so that it
is as close to this position as possib le
c> page 56. Move the head restraint so that it
is as close to the back of the head as possib le.
• Place your feet on the floor in front of the pas­
senger's seat.
Front seats
Manual seat adjustment
Applies to veh icles: w ith manu ally a dju stable seats
Fig . 44 F ront seat: manual seat adjustment
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@ -Movi ng the seat fo rward/ba ck: Pull the lever
a nd move the seat.
54
@ -Lengthening/shorten ing the upper thigh
support*:
lift the grip handle.
@ -Adjust ing the a ngle of the seat surface* .
P ull /press the lever.
© -Adjust ing the lumbar support*: press the
button in the des ired direction.
® -Moving t he seat up/down: pull/press the lev­
er.
® -Adjusting the backrest angle: turn the ad­
justing wheel.
_& WARNING
- On ly adjust the fro nt seat with whe n the ve­
hicle is stationary . Otherwise, th is i ncreases
t he risk of an accident
- Exerc ise caution when adjusting the seat
he igh t. Ad justing the seat care lessly o r
w it h out check ing ca n pinch hands and fin­
ge rs.
- The front seat back rests must not be t ilted
too fa r ba ck when driv ing, beca use thi s im­
pa irs the effec tiveness of the s afety belts
a nd airbag system, which incre ases the risk
of injury.
- To reduce t he risk of injury dur ing su dden
braking or in a co llision, the driver and front
passenger should not have t heir backrests i n
the reclined posit io n while driving or riding .
The safety be lts and airbag system can pro­
vide the greatest p rotection poss ible when
the backrests are in the upright position and
the safety belts are worn correctly . The
mo re a backrest is reclined , the greater the
r is k of i njury d ue t o an incorrec t seating po­
si tion and safety belt pos ition.

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Power seat adjustment
Applies to vehicles: with power adjustable seats
Fig. 45 Front seat: power seat adjus tment
@ -Adjusting the lumbar support: press the but­
ton in the desired direction .
®-Moving the seat up/down: press the button
up/down. To adjust the front seat cush ion, press
the front button up/down . To adjust the rear seat
cushion, press the rear button up/down.
@ -Moving the seat forward/back: press the but­
ton forward/back.
© -Adjusting the backrest angle: turn the ad ­
justing wheel.
@ -Lengthening/shortening the upper thigh
support*: lift the grip hand le.
A WARNING
- Only adjust the front seat with when the ve­
hicle is stationary . Otherwise, this increases
the risk of an accident
- The power adjustment for the front seats al­
so works with the ignition switched off or
with the ignition key removed. For this rea­
son, children should never be left unattend­ ed in the vehicle - they could be injured!
- Exercise caution when adjusting the seat
height. Unsupervised or careless seat ad­
justment can pinch fingers or hands causing
injuries.
- While the vehicle is moving, the seat backs
of the front seats must not be inclined too
far to the rear because the effect iveness of
the safety be lts and the airbag system is se­
verely compromised -there is a risk of in­
jury.
Seats and storage
- To reduce the risk of injury during sudden
braking or in a collision, the driver and front
passenger should not have their backrests in
the reclined position while driving or riding.
The safety belts and airbag system can pro­
vide the greatest protection possible when
the backrests are in the upright position and
the safety belts are worn correctly. The
more a backrest is reclined, the greater the
risk of injury due to an incorrect seating po­
sition and safety belt position.
Front center armrest
Applies to vehicles: wit h front center armrest
The center armrest can be adjusted to several
levels.
Fig. 46 Armrest between the driver's/front passenger's
seats .
.,.. To adjust the angle, raise the armrest ~fig. 46
notch by notch.
.,.. To bring the armrest back down, raise it out of
the top notch and fold it back down. Then lift
the armrest to the desired position, if necessa­
ry.
Please note tha t the driver's ability to move his or
arm may be restricted when the armrest is folded
down. Because of this, the armrest should not be
folded down during city driving.
The armrest can slide forward and back.
There is a storage compartment under the arm­
rest.
55

Seats and storag e
Rear center armrest
Applies to vehicles: with rear center armrest
The storage compartment and cup holder are in­
tegrated in the armrest.
Fig . 47 Rear armrest
Folding the armre st d own
• Tilt the armrest a ll the way down.
Opening the sto rage c omp artment
• Lift the cover on the upper rim .
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For more information on the use of the cup hold­
ers, see
c> page 58.
Head restraints
Front head restraints
Applies to veh icles: with adjustable head restraints
-
'
' F ig. 48 Front seat : ad just ing the head restraint
Applies to vehicles w ith super sport seats* (no il ­
lustration): the head restraints are integrated in
the backrest and cannot be adjusted.
Adjust the head restraints so the upper edge is as
even as possible with the top of your head. If that is not possible, try to adjust as close to this posi­
tion as possib le. Push the head restra int as close
as poss ible to the back of the head.
56
• To move the head restraint up or forward, slide
it unti l it locks into place .
• To move the head restraint down or back, press
the side button -arrow-
c> fig. 48 and s lide the
head restraint until it locks into place.
Refer to
c> page 134, Proper adjustment of head
restraints
for guidelines on how to adjust the
height of the front head restraints to suit the oc­
cupant's body size.
A WARNING
- Dr iving without head restraints or head re­
straints that are not adjusted correctly dra­
mat ica lly increases the risk of serious o r fa­
tal neck inju ries.
- Read and following the WARNINGS in
c> page 134, Proper adjustment of head re­
straints.
@ Tips
Head restraints that are adjusted correctly
and safety belts are an extreme ly effect ive
combination of safety equipment.
Rear head restraints
ro -0
Fig. 49 Outer rear head rest raints: release point
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If there are passengers in the rear seat, fold the
head restraints up on the occupied seats at least
to the next notch
c> ,& .
Adju sting the head restraints
• To move the head restraint up, hold it at the
sides with both hands and slide it upward unt il
you feel it click into place. .,.

Warm and col d
Adjusting the air vents
Fig. 65 Cockp it: adjusting the air vents
®
Fig. 66 Applies on ly to Canada: Ven ts: adjusting the air­
flow setting A) Diffused B) Dire ct
The fo llow ing settings are possible .:;> fig. 65:
- CD Air flow amount
- @ Air flow d irection
- @
(Applies only to Canada) airflow setting (dif-
fused or direct)
To adjust the
air flow amount , turn the ridged
outer adjusting ring CD¢
fig. 65. To stop the air
flow, turn the adjusting r ing all the way to the
right .
To adjust the
air flow di rection , tu rn the air vent
grill insert @.
((Applies only to Canada) To adjust the air flow
s etting s,
pull or press the midd le adjustment
ring @¢
fig. 65:
-Diffu sed ai r flow (indirec t@ ): press the m iddle
adjustment ring in lightly¢
fig. 66 .
-Direct air flow (stra ight @): pP ull the center
adjus tment ri ng ou t light ly¢
fig. 66 .
68
Rear window defogger
The L ED in the button tu rns on when the funct ion
i s sw itched on:
- ~ Manual climate contro l system ¢
page 65,
fig. 63
- ~ utomatic climate control system¢ page 66,
fig . 64 .
If the rear window defogger is activated when
the ignit ion is switched on, the battery manage­
ment determines based on the battery charge if
i t is possible to turn on . Otherw ise, the rear win­
dow defogge r funct ions w ith the eng ine runni ng
and swit ches off automat ically afte r approxi­
mately 10 -20 m inu tes, depending o n the ou t­
s ide temperature .
To p revent the rear window defogger from
swi tching off automatically, p re ss and hold t he
~ or~ button fo r more than two seconds. Th is
rema ins stored up to approximately 1 5 minutes
after turning off the ignition .
Seat heating
Applies to vehicles: with seat heating
The seat heat ing has three leve ls. The LED in the
button indicates the selected heat level.
Manua l climate control system ¢
page 65, fig. 63
and automatic climate control system ¢ page 66,
fig. 64.
.. To swi tch the seat heat ing on, press the~ but­
ton once.
.. To switch to a lowe r leve l, p ress the ~ button
aga in.
.. To switch the seat heating off, press the~ but-
ton repeatedly unti l the LED turns off.
The seat heating switches automatically from
setting 3 to setting 2 after 10 minutes .
When seat heating should not be switched
on
Do not turn the seat heating on under t he fo llow­
ing circumstances:
- The seat is unoccupied .
- The se at is covered wit h a seat cover.
- The seat is covered with a child seat.

Driving safety
Driving safety
Basics
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safe ty first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instructions and warnings that you need to
read and observe for your own safety, the safety
of your passengers and others. We have summar­ ized here what you need to know about safety
belts, airbags, child restraints as well as child
safety. Your safety is for us
priority number 1. Al­
ways observe the information and warnings in
this section - for your own safety as well as that
of your passengers .
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the fea­
tures described in this sections may be standard
equipment on some models, or may be optional
equipment on others. If you are not sure, ask
your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in­
structions and heed the WARNINGS in this
Manual.
It is in your interest and in the in­
terest of your passengers.
- Always keep the complete Owner's Litera­
ture in your Audi when you lend or sell your
vehicle so that this important information
will always be available to the driver and
passengers.
-
- Always keep the Owner's literature handy so
that you can find it easily if you have ques­
tions .
- Always adjust your speed to the weather
traffic and conditions. Follow the speed lim­
its .
- Always drive in such a way that you can stop
your vehicle safely.
- Always adjust your speed to the general
flow of traffic. Follow the speed limits.
130 ·
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant re­
straint system and work together to help reduce the risk of injury in a wide variety of accident sit­
uations.
Your safety and the safety of your passengers
should not be left to chance. Advances in tech­
nology have made a variety of features available
to help reduce the risk of injury in an accident.
The following is a list of just a few of the safety
features in your Audi:
- sophisticated safety belts for driver and all pas-
senger seating positions,
- safety belt pretensioners,
- safety belt force limiters for the front seats,
- safety belt height adjustment systems for the
front seats,
- front airbags,
- knee airbags for the front seats*
- side airbags in the front seats and outer rear
seats*,
- side curtain airbags with ejection mitigation
features,
- special LATCH anchorages for child restraints,
- head restraints for each seating position,
- adjustable steering column .
- pre sense basic* (preventative passenger pro- tection)
These individual safety features, can work to­ gether as a system to help protect you and your
passengers in a wide range of accidents . These
features cannot work as a system if they are not
always correctly adjusted and correctly used .
Safety is everybody's responsibility!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occupant
safety always depends on the informed and care­
ful driver .
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers,
before driving always:
.. Make sure that all lights and signals are operat ­
ing correctly .
.. Make sure that the tire pressure is correct. ..,.

Driving safety
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Applies to veh icles: w ith a dju stable head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an impor­
tant part of your vehicle 's occupant restraint sys­
tem and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in
accident situations .
Fig. 114 Head restraint: viewed from the front
The head restraints must be correctly adjusted to
achieve the best protection.
"Ad just the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head. If
that is not possible, try to adjust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible¢
fig. 114 . Move the head restraint so
that it is as close to the back of the head as
possible.
" If there is a passenger on the rear center seat­
ing position, slide the center head restraint up­
ward at least to the next notch.
Adjusting head restraints
c:;, page 56.
A WARNING
All seats are equipped with head restraints.
Driving without head restraints or with head
restraints that are not properly adjusted in­
creases the risk of serious or fatal neck injury
dramatically. To help reduce the risk of injury:
- Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted.
- Every person in the vehicle must have a
properly adjusted head restraint.
- Always make sure each person in the vehicle
properly adjusts their head restraint. Adjust
the head restraint so the upper edge is as
even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possible, try to adjust the head
134
-
restraint so that it is as close to this position
as possible. Move the head restraint so that
it is as close to the back of the head as pos­
sible .
- Never attempt to adjust head restraint
while driving. If you have driven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any rea­
son, first stop the vehicle safely before at­
tempting to adjust the head restraint.
- Children must always be properly restrained
in a child restraint that is appropriate for
their age and size¢
page 172.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce
the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are properly
seated.
Improper seating positions can cause serious in­
jury or death . Safety belts can only work when
they are properly positioned on the body . Im­
proper seating positions reduce the effectiveness
of safety belts and will even increase the risk of
injury and death by moving the safety belt to crit­
ical areas of the body. Improper seating positions
also increase the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seat ing position. A driver
is respons ible for the safety of all vehicle occu­
pants and especially for children . Therefore:
" Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being used
9& .
The following bulletins list only some sample po­
sitions that will increase the risk of serious injury
and death . Our hope is that these examples will
make you more aware of seating positions that
are dangerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is moving:
-never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- never kneel on the seats
- never ride with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument panel

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.
~

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 ..,.

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 .,.