198 Airbag syst em
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 on the side of the vehicle that
is struck in a side collision . The airbag deploys
only in s ide impacts and on ly when the veh icle
acceleration registered by the control un it is
high enough .
If this rate is below the refer-
ence va lue programmed into the control u nit,
the side airbags will not be triggered , even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re-
sult of the collision . It is not possible to de -
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover
every possible angle of impact, since the cir-
cumstances will vary considerably between
one collision and another. Important fac t ors
include, for examp le, the nature (hard or soft)
of t he impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehi cle speed, etc.
9 page 199, Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system.
Aside from the ir normal safety function, safe -
ty belts work to help keep t he driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a side
coll isio n so that the side a irbags can provide
protec t ion .
The airbag system is
not a substitute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is pa rt of the overall oc-
cupa nt res t raint system in your ve hicle. Al-
ways remember t hat the side airbag system
can only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you sho uld a lways wear
your safety belts, not just beca use the law re-
quires you to do so
9 page 173, General
notes.
It is important to remember that whi le the
supp lemental s ide a irbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injur ies,
other injuries, for example, swelling, bruising,
a nd minor abras io ns can also be associated
with deployed side a irbags . Remember too,
side airbags will deploy on ly once and on ly in
cer tain kinds of accidents - your safety belts
are always t here t o offer protect io n.
Vehicle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack
of vehicle damage are not necessar ily an indi-
cation of over -sensitive or failed airbag activa-
t ion. In some coll isions, both front and side
airbags may inflate . Remember too, that air-
bags will deploy only once and on ly in certain
kinds of collisions - yo ur safety be lts are al-
ways there to offer protection in those acci-
dents in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have al ready deployed .
The side airbag system will not deploy:
- when the ignit ion is t urned off
- in side collisions when the acce leration
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,
s ide curtain airbags and s ide a irbags may be
t rigge red togethe r.
A WARNING
- Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide pro te ct ion when occup an ts
are in t he proper sea t ing posi t ion
9 page 199.
- If t he a irbag ind icator light 9 page 16
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system ins pected immediately
by your authorized Audi dealer. It is pos-
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should .
How supplemental side airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re-
duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu-
pants who are properly restrained.
Fig. 213 Inflated side airbags on left side of vehicle,
rear side airbag opt iona l equipment
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