1 5 0 S a fet y belt s
occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what-
ever else is in the way
c::> fig . 170. This imp act
with the vehicle inter ior has all the energy
t hey had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags a lone for protection.
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
addit ional protection. Airbags are not sup-
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al-
though your Audi is equipped with a irbags, a ll
ve hicle occupants, including the dr iver, must
wear safety belts correctly in order to min i-
mize the risk of severe inju ry or death in a
crash.
Remembe r too, that airbags will deploy o nly
once and that your safety belts are always
there to offer protec t ion in t hose a ccidents in
which airbags a re not supposed to deploy or
when they have a lready deployed . Unbelted
occupants can also be thrown out of the vehi -
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur.
It is also impo rtan t for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen -
gers in the rea r seats endanger not on ly them-
selves but a lso the driver and othe r passen -
gers ~
fig. 171. In a frontal collision they will
be t hrown forward violent ly, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas-
se nger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision. It's simply
not true!
Fig. 172 Driver is corr ectly rest rain ed in a sudden brak-
ing man euver
Safety be lts used properly can make a big dif-
ference . Safety belts help to keep passengers
in the ir seats, gradua lly reduce energy levels
applied to the body in an accident, and help
prevent the uncontrolled movement tha t can
cause serious injuries . In addition, safety be lts
reduce t he danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to t he car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "g ive" in
the safety be lts, crush zon es and other safety
fea t ures engineered int o today 's vehicles. By
"absorbing " the kinetic energy over a longer
period of t i me, the safety belts make t he
forces on the body more "tolerable" and less
likely to cause injury.
Althoug h t hese examples are based on a fron-
ta l collision, sa fety belts can a lso substantia l-
ly red uce the risk of injury in other kinds of
crashes . So, whether you're on a long trip or
j ust going to the corner store , a lways buckle
up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta-
t istics show t hat vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of be ing
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety be lts a lso
grea t ly increases the ability of the supplemen-
ta l airbags to do the ir job in a collision . For
t his reason, wearing a safe ty belt is legally re-
quired in most countr ies including much of
t he United States and Canada.
Althoug h your Audi is equippe d wit h a irbags,
yo u still have t o wear the safety be lts provid-
ed. Front airbags , for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions . The front air-
bags are not activated in a ll frontal coll is ions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is not enough decelera t ion
t hrough impact to the fro nt of the veh icle .
The same goes for the othe r a irbag systems in
you r Audi. So, always wea r your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your veh icle is
properly restr a ined!
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