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The airbag system is monitored electronica lly
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times. Each time you turn on the igni-
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics) .
The side airbag system supp lements the safe-
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in-
jury to the driver's and front passenger's up-
per torso and head injuries on the side of the
ve hicle that is st ruck in a side collision . The
airbag deploys in s ide impacts and only when
the veh icle acce lerat ion registered by the con-
trol un it is high enough. If this rate is below
the refe rence value programmed into the con-
trol un it, the side a irbags will not be trig-
gered, even though the car may be bad ly dam -
aged as a result of the collision . It is not pos -
sib le to define an airbag tr igger ing range that
will cover every poss ible angle of impact,
since the circumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anothe r. Important
factors include, fo r example, the nature (hard
or soft) of the impacting object, the angle of
impa ct, veh icle speed, etc. ¢
page 130, Im-
portant safety instru ctions on the side airbag
system .
Aside from the ir normal safety function, safe-
ty belts wor k to he lp keep t he d river or front
passenger in posi ti on in the event of a side
coll ision so that the side a irbags can provide
protection.
The airbag sys t em is
not
a subs t itute for your
safety be lt . Rathe r, it is pa rt of the overall oc-
cupant res t raint system in your veh icle . Al-
ways remember that the side airbag system
can only he lp to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wear ing it properly. This
is another reason why you sho uld always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re-
qu ires you to do so ¢
page 103, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental s ide a irbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injur ies,
other injuries, for example, swell ing, bruising,
and minor abras ions can also be assoc iated
with deployed s ide a irbags . Remem ber too,
A irbag sys tem
129
side airbags will dep loy only once and only in
certain kinds of accidents - your safety belts
are always the re to offer protection.
Vehicle damage, repair costs or even t he lack
of vehicle damage are not necessarily an indi-
cation of over-sensitive or failed airbag activa-
tion . In some coll isions, both front and side
airbags may inflate. Remember too, that air-
bags will deploy only once a nd only in certain
kinds of col lisions -your safety be lts a re al-
ways the re to offe r protection in those acc i-
dents in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have a lready deployed .
The side airbag system will not deploy:
- when the ignit io n is turned off
- in side collisions when the acceleration
meas ured by the sensor is too low
- in rear-end collisions
- in rollove rs.
In some types of accidents the front airbags
and side a irbag s may be t riggere d t oge t her.
A_
WARNING
- Safety belts and t he airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating position
¢page 130.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on
when the vehicle is being used, have the
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer. The airbag may
not work properly when the vehicle ac-
celeration in a side collis ion is high
e nough to activate t he a irbag.
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