instrument panel AUDI S8 2014 User Guide

158 Airbag system
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" option
under the U.S . Federal Standard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways 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 applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes .
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration 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 over­
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle .
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you , if you are sitting up­
right, wearing your safety 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 vehicle has been certified to meet the "low risk" re­
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite- ria
are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, for example, by being too
close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
¢ page 179, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­ strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 179,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­ senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re­
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward­
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires the front airbag to be turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the control
unit and can deploy if the control unit senses ..,_

160 Airbag sys te m
- Always make su re the forward-facing
seat has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front a nd side airbag .
- Never put the forward- facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lli ng
the fo rward-facing chi ld restraint. The
b ackres t must be adjusted to an upr igh t
posit ion.
- Make su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light co m es on and s tays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and more . The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mo nitors the Advanced Air­
bag Sys tem and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a ma lfunction in the system
components is detected . The function of the
ai rbag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l below. Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged . Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced A irbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a cra sh .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
- Crash senso rs in the front of the veh icle that
measu re ve hicle ac celera tion/de ce le ra ti on
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System abo ut the severity of the crash . -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The control un it "decides" whether to fi re
the front a irbags based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
un it also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the inst rument panel for
the front passenger .
- A we ight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
padding of the front passenge r seat cushion
that measures the total weight o n the seat.
The info rma tion reg iste red is sent continu­
ously to the elec troni c control un it to regu­
la te deployment o f the front Advanced Air ­
bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitor ing sys tem and indicator
light in t he instr ument cluster ¢
page 164.
-A sensor in each front se at regis ters the dis ­
t ance between the respec tive seat and the
steering whee l o r instrument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent continuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 164, fig. 168 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passe nger side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passe nger to measure the tension
on t he safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by t he
weight-sens ing mat he lp the control uni t
"de cide" whe ther the front airbag fo r the
front passenge r seat should be turned off or
not ~
page 155 , Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv ­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or not and transmits this information to the
electronic control un it .

& WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
-
Airbag system 161
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depending on the
distance between the respective front seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel as registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
Iii>'
•
•

electronic control unit (the PA SS ENGE R AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright posit ion,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi ­
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blin k of an eye
¢page 155.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child sea t in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat
o r infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild 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 facing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rea r-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Aud i deale r.
A WARNING
Objects be tween you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of in jury in a crash by in ­
terfering with the way the air bag unfolds
or by being pushed into you as the a irbag
inflates.
-
A irbag system 163
-Never hold things in you r hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air­
bags during braking or other sudden ma­
neuvers and become dangerous projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the a irbags inf late.
- Never place or attach accesso ries o r oth ­
er objects (such as cup holders, te le­
phone b rac kets, large, heavy or bulky ob ­
jects) on the doors, ove r o r near the are a
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those areas and yo urself. These
objects could cause in ju ry in a c rash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuver. Objects near the air­ bags can become projectiles and cause
i nj ury, partic ula rly when the seat is re­
clined.
A WARNING
T he fine dus t create d when airbag s deploy
can cause breathing prob lems fo r people
with a history of as thma or ot her breat h­
ing cond itions.
- T o reduce the ri sk of breath ing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air r ight
away by getting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, wash your hands and face with mild soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your
eyes, or into any c uts or scratches .
-If the resi due should get into your eyes,
f lush them with water.
•
•

164 Airbag system
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Cl! (USA models)/!f (Canada models)
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light.
The Advanced Airbag System (including the
electronic control unit, sensor circuits and sys­
tem wiring) is monitored continuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Each time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitoring
indicator light
I (USA mode ls)/ fll (Canada
models) will come on for a few seconds (self
d iagnost ics).
The system must be inspected when the
indicator light
I (USA models)/E,I
(Canada models):
-does not come on when the ignition is
switched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you have switched on the ignition, or
- comes on while driving.
If an airbag system malfunct ion is dete cted,
the indicator light will first start flashing to
catch the driver's attention and then stay on
continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately.
If a malfunction occurs that turns the front
airbag on the passenger side
off, the PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light
c::> page 18
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by your authorized Audi dealer. It is pos- sible
that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 168 Sect io n from the instrument pane l: PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF lig ht
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the center of the instrument panel
c::>fig . 168 .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger s ide has been
turned
off by the electron ic control unit. Each
t ime you switch on the ign it ion, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few
seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- w ill go out if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on
if the ignition is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-facing child restraint has been in-
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
liJI,

166 Airbag sys te m
- a safety be lt extender has not been left in
the safety be lt latch for the front passenger
seat .
I n addi tion to the
P A SS ENGER AIR BA G OFF
light in the center of the instrument panel ,
the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON will briefly appear
in the instrument cluster display . Th is is to in­
form the driver of the current front passenger
a irbag status .
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light
c:> page 18
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have t he system inspected immediate ly
by you r authorized Aud i dea le r.
It is pos­
s ible that the a irbag will inflate when it
is not s upposed to, or w ill not inflate
w hen it sho uld.
A WARNING
If the front air bag infla tes, a c hild wi tho ut
a chil d restra int, or in a rearward-fac ing
child safety seat, or in a forward-facing
child rest raint that has not been prope rly
installed will be serious ly injured and can
be killed.
- Even though your ve hicle is equipped
with an Advanced Airbag System, make certain that all children, especially 12
years and younger, a lways ride on the
back seat properly restra ined fo r the ir
age and size .
- Always insta ll forward or rea r-facing
child seats on the rea r seat -even w ith
an Advanced Airbag System.
- If you must install a rearward-fac ing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except io na l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
does not appe ar and stay on, imme diate- ly insta
ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
- A t ight tether or other strap on a rear­
ward-facing child restraint attached to
the front passenger seat can put too
much p ressu re on the weight-sensing
mat in the seat and reg iste r mor e we ight
than is actually on the seat. The heavie r
weight regis tered can make the sys tem
wo rk as though an adult we re on the seat
and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it
m ust be suppressed causing serious or
even fata l injury to t he chi ld .
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you
m ust install a forward-facing c hild re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al ­
ways move the seat into its rearmost po­ sition in the seat's fore and aft ad just­
ment range, as far away from the a irbag
as poss ible. The backrest mus t be ad just­
ed to an upright pos ition. Make su re that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and st ays o n all the time when ­
eve r the ignit ion is swit ched on .
A WARNING
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go o ut when an a dult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make sure the
adu lt is properly seated and restra ined at
one of the rear seat ing pos itions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dealer before transporting
a nyo ne on the front passenger seat .
(D Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­
senger seat detects an empty seat, the
front airbag on the passenger side will be
turned off, and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light will stay on.
Repair , care and disposal of the airbags
Pa rts of the airbag system are installed at
many different places on your Aud i. Insta lling, ..,.

removing, servicing or rep airing a part in an
area of the vehicle can damage a part of an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a co llision.
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impa ired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol ­
lute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag from deploy ing when needed o r deploying
an airbag unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the
steering wheel horn pad or airbag cover
or the instr ument pane l or modify them
in any way.
- Never attach any objects such as cup
holders or telephone mountings to the
surfaces covering the airbag units.
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument
pane l, use only a soft, dry cloth or one
moistened with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners cou ld damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness or strength of the
material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
- Never repa ir, adjust, or change any parts
of the airbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, front seats or electrical sys­
tem (including the installation of audio
equipment, cellular telephones and CB
radios, etc.) must be performed by a
qualified technician who has the training
and special equipment necessa ry.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your
authorized Aud i dealer or qualified wo rk­
shop.
- Never mod ify the front bumper or parts
of the veh icle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate witho ut interference:
Airbag system 167
-Never install seat covers or replace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags i nflate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side a ir­
bag module must always be repaired
i mmediately by an author ized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can be activated only
once. After an airbag has inflated, it must be replaced by an authorized Aud i
dea ler or qualified technician who has
the technical information, training and
specia l equipment necessary .
- The airbag sys tem can be deployed only
once. After an airbag has been deployed,
it must be replaced with new replace­
ment parts designed and approved espe­
cially for your Audi model version. Re­
placement of complete airbag systems
or airbag components must be per­
formed by qualified workshops only. Make sure that any airbag serv ice action
is entered in your Audi Warranty
& Main­
tenance booklet under
AIRBAG REPLACE­
MENT RECORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents,
the alte rnator and starter a re separated
from the vehicle battery with a pyrotech­
nic circuit interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic c ircuit inter­
rupter must only be performed by a
qualified dea ler - risk of an accident!
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter
i s scrapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classif ied as Perchlorate
Material - special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc .ca. gov/hazard o u sw a ste/ per­
ch lorate. When the veh icle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules ..,.
•
•

168 Airbag system
and safety belts with pretensioners are
scrapped, al l applicable laws and regula·
tions must be observed. Your authorized
Audi dea ler is familiar with these require·
ments and we recommend that you have
your dealer perform this service for you .
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem performs in a crash. For example, using
tire-rim combinations not approved by Audi, lowering the vehicle, chang ing the stiffness of
the suspension, including the spring s, suspen­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
sensors and sent to the electronic control
unit . Some suspension changes can, for exam­
ple, increase the force levels measured by the
sensors and make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in which it would not deploy if the
changes had not been made. Other kinds of
changes may reduce the force levels meas ­
ured by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploying when it should.
The sensors in the safety belt buckle for the
driver and front passenger seat tell the elec­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high­
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe ­
ty belt is not being used . Therefore, in a par­
ticular collision, it is possible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seating position where the
safety belt is being used but will inflate at the
position where the safety belt is not being
used . It is important that nothing interfere
with the safety belt buckles so that the sen­
sors can send the correct information about
safety belt use to the electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension includ­
ing use of unapproved tire-rim combina­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per-formance and increase the risk of serious
personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspension components
that do not have the same performance
characteristics as the components origi­ nally installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
A WARNING
--
Items stored between the safety belt buckle and the center console can cause
the sensors in the buckle to send the
wrong information to the e lectronic con­
trol module and prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from working properly.
- Always make sure that nothing can inter­
fere with the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed .
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
The knee airbag system con provide supple­
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants.
Fig. 169 Driver 's knee airbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument
panel underneath the steering wheel
¢ fig . 169, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan­
el underneath the glove compartment.
The knee airbag offers additional protection
to the driver's and passenger's knees and up­
per and lowe r th igh areas and supplements
the protection provided by the safety belts. ..,.

1 7 0 Airbag system
How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area can be re­
duced by fully inflated knee airbags.
Fig . 170 Inflated airbags protect ing in a frontal coll i­
sio n
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the a irbags for the driver and front pas­
senger deploy in certain but not all frontal
collis ions ..
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags
also deploy i n frontal collisions when the de­
ployment threshold stored in the control unit
is met .
When the system deploys, the airbags fill
with a propellant gas, and inflate between the
lower part of the instrument panel and the
driver and the lower part of the instrument
panel and the front passenger
9 page 162,
fig. 167.
Although they a re not a soft pillow, they can
"cush ion " the impact and in this way they can
he lp to reduce the risk of injury to the lower
extremities.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed . T he ai rbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and it is im ­
po rtan t for occupant sa fety that not hing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Fu lly inflated airbags in combination with
properly worn safety bel ts slow down and lim­
it the oc cupant's forwa rd movement and help
to reduce the risk of injury. Important safety instructions on the
knee airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints
. Al­
ways wear safety belts correctly and ride in a
proper seating position.
The re is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and do to he lp the sa fety belts and
airbags to prov ide supplemen ta l protect ion.
A WARNING ~
An inflat ing knee a irbag can cause serio us
i njury . Wearing safety belts incorrectly and
improper seating positions increase the
risk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect
you properly if you a re seated too close
to any of the airbag locations. When ad­
justing their seat pos itions, it is impor­
tant that both the driver and the front
passenger keep the ir upper bod ies and
knees at the following m inimum safe
d istances:
- at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
chest and the steering wheel/instru­
ment panel.
- at least 4 inches (10 cm) between the
knees and the lower part of the instru­
ment panel.
- The risk of personal injury increases if
you lean forward or to the side, or if the
seat is improperly positioned and you are not wearing your safety belt . The risk in­
creases even more should the a irbag de­
p loy .
- Always make s ure that the knee airbag
can inf late without inte rfe rence. Objects
between yo u and the airbag can increase
the risk of injury in an accident by inter ­
fering w ith the way the airbag deploys or
by being pushed into you as the airbag
deploys.
- Never let anybody, espec ia lly children
o r anima ls ride in the footwell in front

of the passenger seat. If the airbag de­
ploys, this can result in serious or fatal
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop­
ping bags, for example) can interfere
with or prevent proper deployment of
the airbag. Small objects can be
thrown through the vehicle if the air­ bag deploys and injure you or your pas­
sengers.
- Make sure there are no cracks, deep
scratches or other damage in the area of
the instrument panel where the knee air­
bags are located.
- If children are incorrectly seated, their
risk of injury increases in a collision
¢ page 177, Child Safety.
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants.
---
Fig. 171 Side airbag location in the driver's seat
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests
¢fig. 171 and the rear
backrest facing the doors. They are identified
bytheword "AIRBAG".
The side airbag system basically consists of:
-the electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- the two side airbags located in the sides of
the front backrests
- two rear side airbags
Airbag system 1 71
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluster.
The airbag system is monitored electronically
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times. Each time you switch on the igni­
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side airbag system supplements the safe­
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in­
jury to the driver's, front and rear passenger's
upper torso on the side of the vehicle that is
struck in a side collision. The airbag deploys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
acceleration registered by the control unit is
high enough.
If this rate is below the refer­
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re­
sult of the collision.
It is not possible to de­
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover every possible angle of impact, since the cir­
cumstances will vary considerably between
one collision and another. Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc. ¢
page 173, Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system.
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a side
collision so that the side airbags can provide
protection.
The airbag system is
not a substitute for your
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overall oc­
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. Al­
ways remember that the side airbag system
can only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­
quires you to do so¢
page 145, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supplemental side airbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injuries,
other injuries, for example, swelling, bruising,
IIJ>,