122 Airb ag sys t e m
Airbag system
Important things to
know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al-
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen-
gers, before driving off, always:
• Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 104,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 62,
• Wear safety belts properly ¢ page 116,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children ¢
page 143.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to help the
airbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec-
tion in certain frontal collisions ¢
page 104.
For detai ls on the operation of the seat ad-
justment contro ls
¢ page 63.
It 's especially important that children are
properly restrained ¢
page 143.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen-
gers can and must do to help the individual
safety features installed in your Audi work to-
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the drive r side can do its
job. If you have a physical impa irment or con-
dition that prevents you from sitt ing proper ly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
other qualified workshop, or call Audi Cus-
tomer CARE at 1-800-822-2834 for possible
modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener-
ator will fill the airbags, break open the pad -
ded covers, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the driver and between the instru-
ment pane l and t he front passenger. The air-
bags will defla te immed iately after dep loy-
me nt so that the front occupants can see
t hrough the windshie ld again witho ut inter -
ruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye , so
fast that many peop le don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc-
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas-
senger from hitting parts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces act ing on the
occupant dur ing 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 arms or the lower parts of t he
body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece leration rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con-
trol unit , the airbags will not be triggered ,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a resu lt of the collision . Vehicle damage, re-
pair costs or even t he lack of vehicle damage
is not necessari ly an indica tion of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary considerably
betwee n one collision and ano ther, it is not .,.
To Next Page
Loading...
