belt MERCEDES-BENZ R350 2006 W251 User Guide

70 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyIn this section you will learn the most im-
portant facts about the restraint systems
of the vehicle.
The restraint systems are

Seat belts (
page 77)


Child restraints (
page 90)


Lower anchors and tethers for children
(LATCH) (
page 92)
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with


Air bags (
page 71)


Air bag control unit (with crash
sensors)


Emergency tensioning device (ETD) for
seat belts (
page 80)Advanced air bag system components with


Front passenger air bag off indicator
lamp (
page 89)


Front passenger seat with Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(page 85)
As independent systems, their protective
functions work in conjunction with each
other.The SRS system conducts a self-test when
the ignition is switched on and in regular
intervals while the engine is running. This
facilitates early detection of malfunctions.
The
1
indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster (page 24) comes on when the
ignition is switched on and goes out no
later than a few seconds after the engine
was started.
The SRS components are in operational
readiness if the
1
indicator lamp is not
lit when the engine is running.
A malfunction in the system has been
detected if the
1
indicator lamp:


fails to go out no later than approxi-
mately 4 seconds after the engine was
started


does not come on at all


comes on after the engine was started
or while driving
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and
restraint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 82).

72 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyWarning!
G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
air bags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and front passenger to always be in a
properly seated position and to wear their
respective seat belt.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the seat backrest.
Fasten your seat belt and make sure it is
properly positioned on your body
(page 50).
Since the air bag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating and hands
on steering wheel position will help to keep
you at a safe distance from the air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the air bag can be seriously
injured or killed by an air bag as it inflates
with great force in the blink of an eye:


Sit properly belted in a nearly upright
position with your back against the seat
backrest.


Adjust the driver seat as far as possible
rearward, still permitting proper opera-
tion of vehicle controls. The distance
from the center of the driver’s breast-
bone to the center of the air bag cover
on the steering wheel must be at least
10 inches (25 cm) or more. You should
be able to accomplish this by a combina-
tion of adjustments to the seat and
steering wheel. If you have any prob-
lems, please see an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.


Do not lean your head or chest close to
the steering wheel or dashboard.


Keep hands on the outside of steering
wheel rim. Placing hands and arms in-
side the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand / arm injury
when driver’s front air bag inflates.


Adjust the front passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.


Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the air bag be triggered. Always sit near-
ly upright, properly use the seat belts
and use an appropriately sized infant or
toddler restraint or booster seat recom-
mended for the size and weight of the
child.
Failure to follow these instructions can re-
sult in severe injuries to you or other occu-
pants.
If you sell your vehicle, it is important that
you make the buyer aware of this safety
information. Be sure to give the buyer this
Operator’s Manual.

73 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat.
It should be noted that with respect to both,
front side impact air bags or the rear side
impact air bags*, there is a possibility for a
side impact air bag related injury if occu-
pants, especially children, are not properly
seated or restrained when next to a side im-
pact air bag which needs to deploy rapidly in
a side impact in order to do its job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury, please
follow these guidelines:
(1) Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the side impact air bag be activated.
(2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use
the seat belts and for children 12 years
old and under, use an appropriately
sized infant or toddler restraint or
booster seat recommended for the size
and weight of the child.
(3) Always wear seat belts properly.
If you believe that, even with the use of
these guidelines, it would be safer for your
rear seat occupants to have the rear seat
mounted side impact air bags deactivated,
then deactivation can be accomplished
upon your written request to do so at an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Light Truck
Center at an additional cost.
Please contact your local authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center or call
our Customer Assistance Center at
1-800-FOR-MERCedes (1-800-367-6372)
for details.
iAir bags are designed to activate only
in certain frontal impacts (front air
bags), side impacts (side impact and
head protection window curtain air
bags) which exceed preset thresholds,
and in certain rollovers (head protec-
tion window curtain air bags). Only dur-
ing these events will they provide their
supplemental protection.
The driver and passengers should
always wear their seat belts. Otherwise
it is not possible for air bags to provide
their supplemental protection.
In case of other types of impacts and
impacts below air bag deployment
thresholds, air bags will not deploy. The
driver and passenger will then be pro-
tected to the extent possible by a prop-
erly fastened seat belt. A properly
fastened seat belt is also needed to
provide the best possible protection in
a rollover.

74 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
emergency tensioning device and
air bag We caution you not to rely on the
presence of the air bags in order to
avoid wearing your seat belt.
It is important to your safety and that of
your passengers that you replace de-
ployed air bags and repair any malfunc-
tioning air bags to make sure the
vehicle will continue to provide supple-
mental crash protection for occupants.Warning!
G


Damaged seat belts or belts that were
highly stressed in an accident must be
replaced and their anchoring points
must also be checked. Use only belts in-
stalled or supplied by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.


Air bags and pyrotechnic emergency
tensioning devices (ETDs) are designed
to function on a one-time-only basis. An
air bag or ETD that is deployed must be
replaced. PRE-SAFE
®* has electrically
operated reversible pre-tensioners in
addition to the pyrotechnic ETDs.


Do not pass belts over sharp edges.
They could tear.


Do not make any modification that could
change the effectiveness of the belts.


Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this
may severely weaken them. In a crash
they may not be able to provide ade-
quate protection.


No modifications of any kind may be
made to any components or wiring of
the SRS. This includes changing or
removing any component or part of the
SRS, the installation of additional trim
material, badges, etc. over the steering
wheel hub, front passenger front air bag
cover, outboard sides of the front seat
backrests, door trim panels, or door
frame trims, and installation of addition-
al electrical / electronic equipment on or
near SRS components and wiring. Keep
area between air bags and occupants
free from objects (e.g. packages, purs-
es, umbrellas, etc.).


Do not hang items such as coat hangers
from the coat hooks or handles over the
door. These items may turn into projec-
tiles and cause head and other injuries
when curtain air bag is deployed.


Air bag system components will be hot
after an air bag has inflated. Do not
touch.

76 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
The air bags will not deploy in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment thresholds. You will then be protec-
ted by the fastened seat belts.
The passenger front air bag will only be
deployed if:

the system, based on OCS weight sen-
sor readings, senses that the front
passenger seat is occupied


the 59indicator lamp in
the center console is not lit
(page 89)


the impact exceeds a preset deploy-
ment thresholdSide impact air bags, window curtain
air bags
1Front side impact air bag
2Window curtain air bag
3Rear side impact air bag*
The side impact air bags and window
curtain air bags are deployed:


on the impacted side of the vehicle


in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold


independently of the front air bags
iThe front air bags in this vehicle have
been designed to inflate in two stages.
This allows the air bag to have different
rates of inflation that are based on the
rate of relevant vehicle deceleration as
assessed by the air bag control unit.
On the front passenger-side, the front
air bag deployment is additionally influ-
enced by the passenger’s weight cate-
gory as identified by the Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(page 85).
The lighter the front passenger side oc-
cupant, the higher the vehicle deceler-
ation rate required for the second
stage inflation of the air bag.

77 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
In addition, the window curtain air bags2
are deployed in certain vehicle rollovers.
The front passenger side impact air bag
will not deploy if the OCS senses that the
front passenger seat is empty and the front
passenger seat belt is not fastened (latch
plate is not inserted into the buckle). With
an empty front passenger seat and the
seat belt fastened (latch plate properly in-
serted into buckle) the front passenger
side impact air bag will deploy indepen-
dently of the empty seat.
The side impact air bags and window cur-
tain air bags are not deployed in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment threshold.
Seat belts
When the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale< illuminates for a maximum of
6 seconds and a warning chime sounds to
remind you and your passengers to fasten
your seat belts.
If after these 6 seconds, the driver’s or the
front passenger’s seat belt (with the front
passenger seat occupied) are not fastened
with all doors closed,

and the vehicle speed does not exceed
15 mph (25 km/h), the seat belt
telltale< remains illuminated for as
long as either the driver’s or front
passenger’s seat belt is not fastened


and the vehicle speed exceeds
15 mph (25 km/h), the seat belt
telltale< starts flashing and a
warning chime sounds with increasing
intensity until both the driver’s and
front passenger’s seat belt are fas-
tened, or for a maximum of 60 seconds
from the time the vehicle speed exceeded 15 mph (25 km/h) if either
the driver’s or front passenger’s seat
belt remains unfastened.
If the driver’s or front passenger’s seat
belt remains unfastened after
60 seconds, the seat belt telltale<
stops flashing and the warning chime
stops sounding. The seat belt
telltale< then continues to be illu-
minated for as long as either the driv-
er’s or front passenger’s seat belt are
not fastened.
The seat belt telltale< will only go out
if both the driver’s and the front passen-
ger’s seat belt (with the front passenger
seat occupied) are fastened, or the vehicle
is standing still and a front door is opened.
For more information, see “Practical hints”
(
page 410).

78 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyAlways wear your seat belt. All vehicle
occupants always need to have their seat
belts fastened and wear them properly.
In addition, applicable motor vehicle safety
laws require you to wear seat belts. Even
where this is not the case, we strongly
recommend that all vehicle occupants
have their seat belts fastened and wear
them properly.
For more information, see “Fastening the
seat belts” (
page 50).
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and re-
straint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 82).
Warning!
G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure all of your passengers
are properly restrained, even those sitting in
the rear and pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and po-
sition your seat belt greatly increases your
risk of injuries and their likely severity in an
accident. You and your passengers should
always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are properly wearing
your seat belt. Air bags can only protect as
they are designed if the occupants are prop-
erly wearing their seat belts.
Warning!
G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
backrest in an excessively reclined position
as this can be dangerous. You could slide
under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the belt would apply force at the ab-
domen or neck. That could cause serious or
even fatal injuries. The seat backrest and
seat belt provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and the
belt is properly positioned on the body.Warning!
G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Make
sure everyone riding in the vehicle is cor-
rectly restrained with a separate seat belt.
Never use a seat belt for more than one per-
son at a time.

79 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Damaged seat belts or belts that were highly
stressed in an accident must be replaced
and their anchoring points must also be
checked.
Only use seat belts which have been ap-
proved by Mercedes-Benz.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to unintended activation
of the ETDs or to failure.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
Have all work carried out only by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.
Warning!
G
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this sec-
tion, as that could result in serious inju-
ries in case of an accident.


Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts help
reduce the likelihood of and potential
severity of injuries in accidents, includ-
ing rollovers. The integrated restraint
system includes SRS (driver air bag, pas-
senger front air bag, side impact air
bags, head protection window curtain
air bags for side windows) and ETD (seat
belt emergency tensioning device). The
system is designed to enhance the pro-
tection offered to properly belted occu-
pants in certain frontal (front air bags
and ETD) and side (side impact, window
curtain air bags and ETD) impacts which
exceed preset deployment thresholds
and in certain rollovers (window curtain
air bags and ETD).


Never wear the shoulder belt under your
arm, against your neck or off your shoul-
der. In a frontal crash, your body would
move too far forward. That would in-
crease the chance of head and neck in-
juries. The belt would also apply too
much force to the ribs or abdomen,
which could severely injure internal or-
gans such as your liver or spleen.


Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eyeglasses, pens, SmartKeys, etc., as
these might cause injuries.


Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips and not across the abdo-
men. If the belt is positioned across your
abdomen, it could cause serious injuries
in a crash.


Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at time. Do not fasten a seat belt
around a person and another person or
other objects.


80 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
Emergency tensioning device (ETD),
seat belt force limiter
The seat belts for the front and rear seats
are equipped with emergency tensioning
devices and belt force limiters.
The ETD is designed to activate in the
following cases:

in frontal or rear-end impacts exceed-
ing a preset severity level


in certain vehicle rollovers


if the restraint systems are operational
and functioning correctly, see
1indicator lamp (
page 411)In an impact, emergency tensioning
devices remove slack from the belts in
such a way that the seat belts fit more
snugly against the body. Belt force limiters
reduce the force exerted by the seat belts
on occupants during a crash.


Belts should not be worn twisted. In a
crash, you would not have the full width
of the belt to distribute impact forces.
The twisted belt against your body could
cause injuries.


Pregnant women should also use a
lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion
should be positioned as low as possible
on the hips to avoid any possible pres-
sure on the abdomen.


Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.


When using a seat belt to secure infant
or toddler restraints or children in
booster seats, always follow the child
seat manufacturer's instructions.
iThe ETDs for the front seats will only
activate if the respective front seat belt
is fastened (latch plate properly insert-
ed into buckle).
The ETDs for the rear seats will activate
with or without the respective seat belt
fastened.
Warning!
G
A pyrotechnic emergency tensioning device
(ETD) that was activated must be replaced.
When disposing of the pyrotechnic emer-
gency tensioning device, our safety instruc-
tions must be followed. These are available
at your authorized Mercedes-Benz Light
Truck Center.
PRE-SAFE
®* has electrically operated
reversible pre-tensioners that do not require
replacement after activation.


81 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Preventive occupant safety* (PRE-SAFE
®)
Your vehicle automatically takes preven-
tive measures to better protect the occu-
pants in the following hazardous
situations:


You execute an emergency braking
maneuver and the Brake Assist System
(page 99) is activated.


The PRE-SAFE
® system detects a criti-
cal driving dynamics situation.In such cases, the following systems are
automatically activated:


The front seat belts are pre-tensioned
electrically.


Vehicles with front passenger seat
memory function*:
If the OCS senses that the front pas-
senger seat is occupied and the seat is
in an unfavorable position, it will be
adjusted to a better position.


Vehicles with tilt/sliding sunroof*:
The tilt/sliding sunroof closes if the
vehicle is in a severe skid or is spin-
ning.
If the seat belts do not release:

Adjust the backrest or seat slightly to
the rear until the seat belt tension is
diminished.
The locking mechanism releases.
Warning!
G
The PRE-SAFE
® system is intended to re-
duce the effects of an accident on properly
seat-belted vehicle occupants. Despite
having the PRE-SAFE
® system in your vehi-
cle, the possibility of injuries occurring as a
result of an accident cannot be totally elimi-
nated. Therefore you should always drive
carefully and adjust your driving to the pre-
vailing road, weather, and traffic conditions.
iIf the closing procedure of the
tilt/sliding sunroof* is blocked, the
tilt/sliding sunroof* will stop and open
slightly.
iThe PRE-SAFE
® system is activated in
the previously described circumstanc-
es only at speeds exceeding 22 mph
(35 km / h).
When the driving dynamic situation has
passed without an accident occurring,
the pre-tensioning on the seat belts is
deactivated.
You can then adjust the seats and the
tilt/sliding sunroof* to their previous
position.