138 Airb ag sys t e m
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* passeng-
er's upper torso and head on the side of the
vehicle that is struck in a side collision. The
airbag dep loys only in side impacts and only
when the vehicle acceleration registered by
the contro l unit is high enough. If th is rate is
below the refe rence value programmed into
the contro l unit, the side airbags will not be
tr iggered, even though the car may be badly
damaged as a result of the collision.
It is not
possible to define an airbag triggering range
that will cover every possible angle of impact,
since the circumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and another. Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard
or soft) of the impacting object, the angle of
impact, veh icle speed, etc.
q page 139, Im-
portant safety instructions on the side airbag
system.
Aside from the ir 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. Rathe r, 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 be lt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you sho uld always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re-
qu ires you to do so
<=')page 113, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental side airbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injur ies,
other injuries, for example, swell ing, bruising,
and minor abras ions can also be associated
with deployed side airbags. Remember too,
side airbags will deploy on ly once and on ly in
cer tain kinds of accidents - your safety belts
are always there to offer protection .
Vehicle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack
of vehicle damage are not necessar ily an ind i-
cation of over-sensitive or failed airbag activa-
tion . In
some collisions, both front and side
airbags may inflate . Remember too, that air-
bags will deploy only once and only in certain
kinds of collisions - your safety belts are al-
ways there to offer protection in those acci-
dents in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed .
The side airbag system will not deploy:
- when the ignit ion is turned off
- in side collisions when the acceleration
measured by the sensor is too low
- in front -end collisions
- in rear -end collisions
- in rollove rs.
In some types of accidents the front airbags,
side curtain airbags and side airbags may be
t rigge red togethe r.
&, WARNING
- Safety belts and the air bag system will
only provide prot ection when occupants
are in t he proper seating position
¢page 139.
- If the airbag ind icator light comes on
when the vehicle is being used, have the
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer. The airbag may
not work properly when the vehicle ac-
celeration in a side coll ision is high
enough to activate the airbag.
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