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182
Airb a g sys tem
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, a lways:
• Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢ page 164,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=; p age 75,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 176,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
straint t o protect children ¢ page 203.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental
airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenger to sit prope rly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment,
the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec-
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions ¢ page 164,
Proper occupant seating positions. For detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con-
t rols ¢ page 75.
It's especially important that children are
properly restrained ¢ page 203.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen-
ge rs 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 side can do its
job. If you have a physical impa irment or con-
dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals , or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System ,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re-
lations at 1-800-822-2834
fo r poss ible modi-
ficat ions to your veh icle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener -
ator will fill the a irbags, break open t he pad-
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steering
whee l and t he dr iver and between the instru-
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir-
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy-
ment so that the front occupants can see
t hrough the windshie ld again witho ut inter-
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld 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 drive r and front seat pas-
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing t he forces acting on the
occupant during 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 lerat ion rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If t his rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con -
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Vehicle damage, re-
pair costs or even the lack of vehicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-
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