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 dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly¢
page 85,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 86,
"" Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 95,
""Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect children
r::::> page 122.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger are not
seated properly . Therefore in order to help the
airbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenger to s it properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supplemental protec-
tion in certain frontal collisions
r::::> page 85,
Proper occupant seating positions.
For details
on the operation of the seat adjustment con-
trols ¢
page 49.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained
r::::> page 122.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen-
ger can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your Audi work to-
gether as a system.
Proper seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do its
job. If you have a physical impairment or con-
Airbag system 101
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the pedals, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your authorized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re-
lations at 1-800-822-2834 for poss ible modi-
fications to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener -
ator will fill the a irbags, break open the pad-
ded covers, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru-
ment pane l and the front passenger. The air-
bags will deflate immediately after deploy-
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield again without inter-
ruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc-
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and passenger from
hitting parts of the inside the vehicle while re-
ducing the fo rces acting on the occ upa nt 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 the 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
electronic 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 result of the collision . Vehicle damage, re-
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is not necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that will cover every possible kind and ..,.
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