interior in certain side impacts and vehicle roll-
overs .
The side curta in a irbag system supplements the
safety be lts and can he lp to reduce t he risk of in-
jury for occupants' heads and upper torso on the
side of th e vehicle that is struck in a side colli-
sion. The side curtain airbag inflates in side im-
pacts and only when the vehicle acceleration reg-
ist ered by the control un it is high enough . If this
rate is below the reference value programmed in-
to the control un it, the s ide curta in a irbag will
not be tr iggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collis ion. It is
not poss ible to define an airbag tr iggering ra nge
that will cover every poss ible angle of impa ct,
since the circumstances will vary considerab ly be-
tween one collision and another. Important fac-
tors include , for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the impacting object, the ang le of im-
pact, vehicle speed, etc .
¢ page 292 , How side
curtain airbags work .
Aside from their no rmal safety function, safety
be lts work to help keep the driver or front pas-
senger in posit ion in the event of a collision so
that the side curtain airbags can provide protec-
tion .
The airbag system is not a subst itute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall occu-
pant restraint system in your veh icle . Always re-
membe r that the airbag system can only help to
protect you if you a re wea ring your safety belt
and wear ing it properly . This is anot he r reason
why you should always wea r your safety be lt s,
not ju st because the law requires you t o do so
¢ page 260, General notes.
It is important to remember that wh ile the side
curta in a irbag system is des igned t o he lp red uce
the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other injuries,
for example, swe lling, bruising, friction burns
and minor abrasions can also be associated with
these airbags upon deployment . Remember too,
these airbags will deploy only once and only in
certa in kinds of acc idents - your safety belts are
::li always there to offer protection .
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Airbag sys t e m
The side curtain airbag syst em basically
consists of :
- The e lectronic control module and externa l side
impact sensors
- The side curtain airbags above the front and
rear side windows with ejection mitigation fea -
tures
- The airbag indicator light in the instrument
pane l
The airbag system is mon itored electro nica lly to
make certain it is functioning properly at a ll
times. Each time you switch on t he ignition, the
airbag system ind icato r light will come on for a
few seconds (se lf d iagnostics) .
The side curtain airbag is not activated:
- if t he ignition is sw itched off,
- in side collisions whe n the ac cele ration meas-
ured by the sensor is too low,
- in rea r-end collis ions.
_&. WARNING
- Safety bel t s an d t he airbag system will only
provide protect ion when occupants are in
the proper seating position
¢ page 59,
Front seats.
- If t he ai rbag ind icator light ¢ page 26
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer.
It is possib le that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup-
posed to, or w ill not inflate w hen it should .
291
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