Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class Owner's Manual page 53

Safety
Occupant safety
G
Risk of injury
A malfunction has occurred if the 1
warning lamp:
does not come on when you switch on
the ignition
does not go out after a few seconds
when the engine is running
comes on again
Individual systems could be activated inad-
vertently or may not be triggered at all in the
event of an accident with a high rate of vehi-
cle deceleration. If this happens, have the
SRS system checked and repaired immedi-
ately at a qualified specialist workshop
which has the necessary specialist know-
ledge and tools to carry out the work
required.
Mercedes-Benz recommends that you use a
Mercedes-Benz Service Centre for this pur-
pose. In particular, work relevant to safety
or on safety-related systems must be car-
ried out at a qualified specialist workshop.
50
Triggering of belt tensioners, belt force
limiters and airbags
In the event of a collision, the sensor in the
airbag control unit evaluates important
physical data, such as duration, direction
and rate of vehicle deceleration or acceler-
ation. Based on this evaluation and pre-
emptively, the belt tensioners are the first
to be triggered by the airbag control unit in
a collision with longitudinal deceleration as
a function of the rate of vehicle decelera-
tion.
The front airbags are not triggered unless a
second activation threshold is reached, i.e.
an even higher rate of vehicle deceleration
in the longitudinal direction is exceeded.
i
The front airbag on the front-passenger side
is only triggered if:
the front-passenger seat occupancy sensor
has detected that the seat is occupied
the PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF warning lamp
on the centre console is not lit ( page 64)
The belt tensioners are only activated if the seat
belt buckle tongue is correctly engaged in the
seat belt buckle.
Criteria for the activation of belt
tensioners and airbags
To determine whether it is necessary to
activate a belt tensioner or airbag, the air-
bag control unit evaluates the duration and
direction of vehicle deceleration or accel-
eration during the initial phase of the colli-
sion.
The activation thresholds for the belt ten-
sioners and the airbags are variable and
are adapted in accordance with the rate of
vehicle deceleration. This process is pre-
emptive in nature as airbag deployment
must take place during the impact and not
at the end of the collision.