Useful Information - Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2011 Owner's Manual

Occupant safety
42

Useful information

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This Owner's Manual describes all models
and all standard and optional equipment
available to your vehicle at the time of pub-
lication of the Owner's Manual. Country-
specific deviations are possible. Please
note that your vehicle may not be equipped
with all features described. This also
applies to safety-relevant systems and
functions.
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Please read the information on qualified
specialist workshops (
Occupant safety
Important safety notes
The seat belts, together with SRS (Supple-
mental Restraint System), are complemen-
tary, co-ordinated restraint systems
( page 43). They reduce the risk of injury
Y
in specific, pre-defined types of accident sit-
uations and thereby increase occupant
safety. However, seat belts and airbags gen-
erally do not protect against objects pene-
trating the vehicle from the outside.
To ensure that the restraint systems can
deliver their full potential protection, make
sure that:
the seat and head restraint are adjusted
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properly ( page 104).
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the seat belt has been fastened properly
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( page 51).
Y
the airbags can inflate unrestricted if
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deployed ( page 44).
Y
the steering wheel is adjusted properly
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( page 104).
Y
the restraint systems have not been modi-
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fied.
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An airbag increases the protection of
vehicle occupants wearing a seat belt.
However, airbags are only an additional
restraint system which complements, but
does not replace, the seat belt. All vehicle
page 25).
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occupants must wear their seat belt cor-
rectly at all times, even if the vehicle is
equipped with airbags. The airbags are not
deployed in all types of accidents. For
example, if the protective capacity of cor-
rectly fastened seat belts is not increased
by deploying the airbags, the airbags will
not deploy. Airbag deployment only pro-
vides increased protection if the seat belt
is worn correctly because:
the seat belt helps to keep the vehicle
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occupant in the best position in relation
to the airbag.
in a head-on collision, for example, the
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seat belt prevents the vehicle occupant
from being propelled towards the point
of impact. It can thus reduce the risk of
injury.
In accidents in which an airbag is deployed,
it provides increased protection only if the
seat belt is worn correctly.
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WARNING
If service work is not carried out correctly, the
operating safety of your vehicle may be affec-
ted. This could cause you to lose control of
your vehicle and cause an accident. More-
over, the safety systems may no longer be
able to protect you or others as they are
designed to do.
Always have service work carried out at a
qualified specialist workshop.
G
WARNING
Modifications to or work performed incor-
rectly on the following parts can result in the
restraint systems not functioning as intended:
the restraint system, consisting of seat
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belts and their anchorage points, belt ten-
sioners, belt force limiters and airbags
the wiring
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networked electronic systems
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Airbags and belt tensioners could fail to
deploy or be triggered in an accident despite
the deceleration force being sufficient to trig-
ger the systems, or could be triggered unin-