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Sa f e ty belts
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in-
jured or killed. Always wear your safety bel ts!
Fig. 152 A dr iver not wear ing a safety belt is violently
thrown forwa rd
Fig. 1 53 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will f ly
fo rward and strike t he d river
Unbe lted occupants are not able to resist the tre-
mendous fo rces of impact by holding t igh t or
b racing themselves. Wit ho ut t he benefit of safe-
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering whee l, in-
strument panel, windsh ield, or whatever else is
in the way ¢ fig. 152. This impact with the veh i-
cle interior has all the energy they had just be-
fore the crash .
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents . Although your Audi is
equ ipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants , in-
cluding the dr iver, must wear safety belts cor-
rectly in o rder to minimize the risk of severe in-
jury or deat h in a crash.
184
Remember too, that a irbags will dep loy only
once and that your safety be lts are always there
to offer protection in those acc idents in which
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbe lted occupants can
also be thrown out of the vehicle where even
more severe or fata l injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety be lts correctly. Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢
fig . 153 . In a fronta l col lision they will be
th rown forward vio lently, whe re they can hit and
injure t he dr iver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision. It's simply
not true!
Fig. 154 Driver is correctly restrained in a sudden braking
maneuver.
Safety be lts used properly can make a big differ-
ence. Safety be lt s help to keep passe ngers in
their seats, g radually reduce energy leve ls ap -
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri-
ous injuries. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of be ing thrown out of t he vehicle.
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of be ing slowed down more
gently or "soft ly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety featu res engi-
neered into today 's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinet ic energy over a longer period of t ime, the
safe ty belts make the fo rces on the body more
"tole rab le" and less likely to ca use injury.
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