warning AUDI TT ROADSTER 2015 Manual Online

Pregnant women must also be properly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
F ig. 108 Safety belt pos itio n during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer's body
¢ page 104.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rect ly
¢ page 59, General recommenda­
tions .
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in upright pos it ion and securely
latched in place before using the belt .
.. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest and pelvis¢
fig. 108,
¢.&, .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ page 103, fig . 106.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
de nt.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap po rtion of the safety belt as low as
poss ible across the pe lv is and be low the
rounding of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS and
other impor tan t in forma tion¢ .&.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page
104.
Safety belts 105
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle hos stopped .
Fig . 1 09 Releas ing the tongue from t he buck le
.. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 109. T he be lt tongue will spring out
of the buckle ¢ .&, .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is mov ing . Doing so will increase your
risk of being inj ured or k illed.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seating pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety be lts and will even
increase the risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas of the
body. Improper seating positions a lso in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag dep loys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seati ng posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chil­
dren. Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢ .&, .
~

106 Safety belts
_& WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu-
pants are cor rect ly restrained and stay in
a correct seating posit ion whenever the
vehicle is be ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c::>page 102.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front and side collisions above a particular
severity , safety belts in use are tensioned au ­
tomatically .
The safe ty belts are equippe d with safety be lt
pretensioners. The sys tem is activated by sen ­
sors in front and side collisions of great se­
verity. This tightens the belt and takes up belt
slack
c::> .&. in Service and disposal of safety
belt pretensioner on page 106.
Tak ing up the
slack helps to reduce forward occupant move­
ment during a co llision .
(D Tips
The safety be lt pretensioner can only be
activated once.
- In m inor frontal and side coll isions, in
rear-end collisions, in a rollover and in
accidents involving very little impact
fo rce , the safety belt pretens io ner are
not act ivated.
- When the safety be lt pretensioner is ac­
tivated, a fine dust is released . This is
no rma l and is not caused by a fi re in the
vehicle.
- The rel eva nt safety requirements must
be obse rved when t he vehicle or compo­
nen ts of the system are scr ap ped . A
q ualified dea le rship is famili ar wi th
these re gulations and w ill be pleased to
p ass on the informat io n to you. - Be sure to observe all safety, env
iron ­
menta l and other regu lations if the ve hi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticu larly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this service fo r you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
T he safety belt pretens ioners a re parts o f the
safety belts on your Audi . Insta lling, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli­
s io n.
There are some important t hings yo u have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness o f
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis­
ca rded components do not cause injury o r pol­
l u te the environment .
_& WARNING
-Improper care, serv ic ing and repair p roce-
dur es ca n increase the risk of pe rsonal in­
jur y and death by prevent ing a safety belt
pr etensioner from activ at ing w hen neede d
or ac tiva ting i t unexpectedly:
- T he belt pretensione r system can be a ct i­
vated only once . If be lt pre tensioners
have been activated , the system m ust be
replaced .
- Never repair, adjus t, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems incl uding safety belt
p retens ioners cannot be repaired. Spe ­
cial procedures are require d for removal,
installation and disposa l of th is system.
- For any wo rk on the safety belt system,
we strong ly recommend t hat you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re­ pa ir manua l, train ing and special eq uip­
ment necessary.

angle of impact that will always trigger the
airbags, since the circumstances will vary con­
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
A lwa ys
rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
¢ page 100.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to held you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w il l also receive serio us inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk o f injury when an air ­
bag inflates, a lways wear safety belts
proper ly ¢
page 103, Safety belts .
Airbag sys tem 109
-If ch ildren are not prope rly restrained,
they may be severely injured or killed
when an airbag inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats properly.
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer ing whee l or the instrument panel
¢ page 92, Proper occupant seating po­
sitions.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
help prevent serious in ju ries to the legs
a nd hips if the airbag inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and i nstalled by a trai ned
technician who has the ne cessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash.
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air ­
bags to be installed in you r vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be s ure to read the important in forma tion
and head the WARNINGS for important de ­
tails about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
¢ page 129.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a pote ntially dange rous place for a
c hi ld to ride . The front seat is not the safest
pla ce for a child in a fo rward-facing child safe ­
ty seat.
It can be a very d angerous place for a n
infant or a chi ld in a rearwa rd -fa cing seat.
The Advanced A irbag System in you r vehicle
has been ce rtified to comply wit h the Require­
ments of United States Fede ral Motor Vehicle
1111>
•
•

110 Airbag sys te m
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
pressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward -facing infant restra ints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard¢
page 131.
The PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel tells you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS ­
SENGER AIR BA G OFF
light w ill come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
¢ page 118, Monitor ­
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSEN GER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off .
If the tota l weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old
child but less than the weight of a small
adult, t he front airbag on the passenger s ide
can dep loy (the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come o n). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
l igh t does not come on , the
front airbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic control unit
and can dep loy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the conditions stored in its
memory .
For example , the airb ag ma y depl oy if :
- a small ch ild tha t is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
¢ page 131), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
t h e instr ument pane l and stays on.
T he front airbag on the passenge r side may
not dep loy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing upright w ith their back against a
non-recl ined backrest w it h their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat¢
page 92, Proper seating po ­
sition for the driver .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requ ires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce
the risk of injury th rough interact ion w ith the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that ta ke pla ce at lower dece le rat io ns
as de fined in t he electronic control uni t
¢ page 119, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
ca rrier in stalled on the fron t seat may be
stru ck and knoc ked out of posit ion by the rap­
idly in flat ing passenger 's airbag in a fronta l
collision. The a irbag co uld great ly red uce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously in jure the chi ld during inflation .
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
van ced A irbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrie r with great
for ce and will smash the child safety seat
a nd child ag ai nst t he backrest, door or
roof.

-Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
unless the
PAS SEN GER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on. If the PA S­
SEN GER AIR BA G OFF
light does not
com e on an d stay on th e inflating airbag
will hit the child safety seat or inf ant ca r­
rier with great force and will smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof . Have the airbag
system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer .
- Forward-facing chi ld safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat may in­
terfere with the deployment of the air­ bag and cause serious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing
seat has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjus tment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible be fore installing
the forward -facing child restraint. The
backrest m ust be adjusted to an upright
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will be d isplayed whenever a ch ild re­
st raint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ig nit io n is switched on.
A irbag system 11 1
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
c> page 118, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
-Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling ch ild restra ints .
A WARNING
--=
If, in except ional circumstances, you must
install a forward o r rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously inj ure o r even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manu fact ur­
er 's ins truc tions p rov ided with the chi ld
safety seat or carrier .
- Never p lace ad dition al items on the seat
that can increase the total weight reg is ­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can cause injury in a crash.
•
•

112 Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig . 110 Locat ion of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 111 Locatio n of front passenger 's ai rbag: in t he in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured . The safety belts
for the front seats have "pretensioners" that
help to take slack out of the belt system. The
pretensioners are also activated by the elec·
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing
wheel hub ¢
fig. 110 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
¢
fig . 111. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the detailed information abo
ut airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature .
P lease be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in­
fants and small children .
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protect ion.
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that eve rybody in your ve­
h icle is p roperly restrained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pec ially infants and sma ll children, w ill re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
l ed by be ing too close to the airbag when
i t inflates .
- Al tho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n
off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
b le situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
in accordance with the "low risk" option
under the U.S . Federal Standa rd if a child
that is heav ie r th an the typical one-year
old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
and the other condi tions for a irbag de­
p loyment are met .
- F or its own safe ty, a child sho uld always
ride properly restrained for its age and
size .
Advanced front airbag system
-
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United ..,_

114 Airbag sys te m
- a small adu lt or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the vehicle floor in front
of the seat is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
duce the risk of in jury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those cr ashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
Q page 118 .
Always rem ember : Please be sure to read the
impor tant informa tion in the sections tha t
follow and be sure to heed all of the WARN ­
INGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the r isk of injury when an airbag
inf lates , a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it whe n it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
Q page 108.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front a irbag when a rearward -fac ing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­ l u te ly guarantee that deployment is im ­
poss ible in a ll conce ivable situations th at
may happen d uring the useful life of your
vehicle. -
The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child aga inst the backrest, door, or
roof.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan­
ces and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and s tay on have
the airbag system inspecte d by your Audi
dealer.
A WARNING
--=
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward- facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
wit h a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing chi ld re ­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before install ing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an up right
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on a nd stays o n all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenge r seat in yo ur vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it . These parts i nclude the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­ ets, and more. The funct ion of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the electron ic control unit when the ignition is on .
The cont rol unit monito rs the Advanced A ir­
bag System and turns the airbag indicato r
li ght on w hen a malfun ct io n in t he system

components is detected . The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
deta il below . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced A irbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash.
The f ront Ad vanc ed Airb ag S ystem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measu re ve hicle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
c rash sensors for front and side impacts.
T he contro l unit "decides" whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash sensors . The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
pretensioners should be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for
the driver ins ide the steer ing wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in­
side the instr ument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The information registered is sent continu­
ously to the electron ic control unit to regu­
late dep loyment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An a irbag monitoring system and indicator
li ght in the instrument cluster
¢page 118.
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment pane l
¢page 119, fig. 113 and te lls
you when the front Adv anced Airbag on the
passenge r side has been turned off.
- A senso r below the safety belt latch for the
front seat passenger to me asure the tension
on the safety belt . The tens ion on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat help the control unit
"dec ide" whether the front airbag for the
Airbag system 11 5
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
¢ page 109, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
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 unit .
.&, WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from wor king
properly.
- Improper repai r or d isassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat must
be pe rformed by qualified and p roperly
trained workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger o r
driver seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Neve r d isassemble o r remove parts from
the seat or disconnec t wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in you r pockets
or place t hem on the seat. If the weight­
sens ing ma t in the passenge r seat is
punctured it cannot work properly .
- Neve r carry things on you r 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 co ntrol
un it.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts o f the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­ ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement
upholstery that have not been specifica l­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing chi ld
Ill>
•
•

116 Airbag sys te m
res traints or occupants on the fr ont pas­
senger seat and prevent the sid e airbag
in t he seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on t he front passenger
seat . The add itional padd ing will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately reg istering the ch ild restra int
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­ ing properly .
- If you mus t use a child restra int on the
front passenger seat and the ch ild re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re ­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certa in that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
st raint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat .
- If the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, 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 s upplement the protection of ­
fered by the front three-point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustab le head restra ints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a w ide range of acc ident and
crash situat ions . Be sure to read the impo r­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS i n this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activat ion of the safety be lt preten­
sione rs depend on t he dece le rat ion meas ured
by the c rash senso rs and regis tered by the
e lectronic control un it . Crash severity depends
on speed and dece leration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle o r object involved
in the crash. When the e
lectronic contro l unit registe rs a
low severity cras h and the safety belt is being
u sed, the airbag will not dep loy.
If the sa fety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
followed by the second stage after a much lat­ er t ime in t he crash sequence.
If the electron ic contro l unit registers a crash
of medium severity, the first stage of the air­
bag deploys followed by the second stage at a
much later time in the crash sequence -re ­
gardless of whether the safety belt is be ing
u sed or not . In higher sever ity c rashes as reg­
i ste red by the elec tronic con tro l un it, bo th the
first and se con d stages dep loy almost at the
same t ime.
On the passeng er side, rega rdless of safety
belt use, t he a irbag w ill be tu rned off if the
we ight on the passenger seat is less th an the
amount programmed in the e lectronic control
u nit . The front airbag on the passenge r side
will a lso be turned off if one of the child safe ­
ty seats that has been certified under Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogni zed on the seat . The
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light comes on and stays on to tell
yo u when the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenge r side has been turned off
¢ page 109, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know .
.&_ WARNING ~
To reduce the risk of in ju ry when an a irba g
inflates , always wear safety be lts p roperly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forw ard ,
sitt ing s ideways or o ut o f position in any
way, your risk of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
f lates - even with an Advanced A irbag
¢page 108.

More important things to know about
front a irbags
F ig. 112 Inflated front airba gs
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos it ion
so that airbags can u nfold prope rly and pro­
v ide supp lemental protection in a fronta l co l­
lision .
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protect io n for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the fron t seat passenger whe n:
- safety belts are wor n prope rly,
- the seats have been posit ioned so tha t the
occupant is proper ly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dan­
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inflates .
When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up most ly of a
powder used to lubr icate the airbags as they
deploy. It cou ld i rritate s kin .
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re ­
duce the likelihood of serious i njuries, other
inj uries, fo r example swell ing, bru isi ng a nd
minor abrasions, ca n also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the a rms
or the lower pa rts of the body. Front airbags
only s upplement the t hree point safety be lts
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
A irba g sy stem 11 7
deceleration is high eno ugh to deploy the air­
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy :
-if t he ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occu rs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llis ions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash dece leration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic con tro l unit .
The front pa ssenger airbag will also not
deploy:
- when the front passenge r seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys ­
tem ind icates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be tu rned off by th e
elec tronic con trol un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
li ght comes on and st ays o n).
&_ WARNING ~
Si tti ng in the wrong pos ition can inc rease
the r isk of se rious in ju ry in crashes.
- To reduce t he ris k of injury when the air­
ba gs inflate, the drive r and passenge rs
must always s it in an upr ight position,
m ust not lean against or place any part
of their body too close to the area whe re
the airbags a re located.
- Occupants who are unbe lted, out of posi­
tion or too close to the airbag can be se­ rious ly injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with g reat force in the blink of an eye
~page 109 .
&_ WARNING
-
A child in a rearwar d-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on th e front passe nger seat
will be ser ious ly injured a nd ca n be killed if
the front ai rb ag inflate s - even wi th an Ad-
vanced Ai rbag Sys tem.
Ill-