Mercedes-Benz E 320 1994 Owner's Manual page 46

• According to accident sta­
tistics, children are safer
when properly restrained in
the rear seating positions
than in the front seating
positions.
• Children too big for child
restraint systems should
ride in rear seats using reg­
ular seat belts. Position
shoulder belt across chest
and shoulder, not face or
neck. A booster seat may
be necessary to achieve
proper belt positioning.
• Adjust the front passenger
seat as far as possible rear­
ward from the dashboard
when a child restraint is
installed.
44
Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS)
The SRS uses two crash severity
levels (thresholds) to activate
either the ETR or airbag or both.
Activation depends on the direc­
tion and severity of the impact,
exceeding the thresholds and
fastening of the seat belt.
Seat belt fastened
• first threshold exceeded:
ETR activates
• second threshold exceeded:
airbag also activates
Seat belt not fastened
• first threshold exceeded:
airbag activates, but not ETR
Driver and front passenger
systems operate independently
from each other.
Emergency Tensioning
Retractor (ETR)
The seat belts for the front seats
are equipped with emergency ten­
sioning retractors. These tension­
ing retractors are located in each
belt's inertia reel and become
operationally ready with the key in
steering lock position 1or 2.
The emergency tensioning re­
tractors are designed to activate
only when the seat belts are
fastened during frontal and front­
angled impacts exceeding the first
threshold ot the SRS. They re­
move slack from the belts in such
a way that the seat belts fit more
snugly against the body restricting
its forward movement as much as
possible.
In cases of other frontal impacts,
roll-overs, certain side impacts,
rear collisions, or other accidents
without frontal forces, the emer­
gency tensioning retractors will not
be activated. The driver and
passengers will then be protected
by the fastened seat belts and
inertia reel in the usual manner.
For seat belt and emergency ten­
sioning retractor safety guidelines
see Safety Guidelines in Index.