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The safety belt buck le for the driver and front
seat passenger have switches that tell the air-
bag control mod ule if the safety belt is being
used or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the knee airbag will deploy at a slightly higher
rate of deceleration than if the belt is not be -
ing used. Therefo re, in a pa rtic ular collision, it
is poss ible that an airbag will not deploy at a
seating position whe re the safety belt is being
used but will inflate at the position whe re the
safety be lt is not being used .
Remembe r too, airbags will deploy only once
and on ly in certain kinds of accidents - your
safety be lt s are a lways t here t o offer pro t ec-
t ion in those accidents in which airbags are
not supposed to deploy or when they have a l-
ready deployed, fo r example when your vehi-
cle strikes or is struck by another after the
f irst coll is ion.
This is just one of t he reasons why an airbag is
not a substitute for the safety belt . The airbag
system works most effective ly when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety belts correctly .
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re-
duce the likelihood of serio us injuries, other
inj uries, for example, swel ling, bruising, and
minor abrasions can also be associated with
a irbags .
The knee airbag system basically consists
of:
- The electronic control modu le
- Two inflatable airbags (airbag and gas gen-
erator), one for the driver and one for the
front passenger
- The airbag indicator light in the instrument
panel
The knee airbag system will not deploy :
- when the ignition is turned
off
- in fron t- end collisions when the dece lerat ion
measured by the control unit is too low
- in s ide collisions
- in rear-end collisions
- in rollovers
A irbag system
131
- in the event of a system mal function (warn -
ing/indicator light illuminated)
r=> p oge 16 .
A
WARNING
- Safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating position
r=>poge 124 .
- If
the ai rbag ind icator light comes when
the vehicle is be ing used, have the sys-
tem inspected immediate ly by your au-
thori zed Audi deal er. The airbag may not
wo rk properly when the vehicle a ccele ra-
tion in a side collision is high enough t o
dep loy t he airbag. See also
c=:>
page 16.
How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area is reduced by
fully deployed knee airbags.
Fig. 124 Inflated airbags protec t ing in a fronta l colli-
sion
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the a irbags for the driver and front pas-
senger are dep loyed in certa in but not a ll
fron t al coll is io ns .
If the front a irbags dep loy, the knee a irbags
also dep loy in fronta l collisions above ace r-
ta in seve rity.
When the system is dep loyed, the a irbags
start to fill with a propellant gas, and inflate
betwee n the lower pa rt of the instrument
panel and the driver and the lowe r part of the
inst rume nt pa nel a nd the fron t passenger
r=> p age 124, fig . 121.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in th is way they can
Ill>
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