Air Bags; Belt Warning For The Driver And Front Passenger - Mercedes-Benz C-Class Operator's Manual

Occupant safety
48
Belt warning for the driver and front
passenger
The 7 seat belt warning lamp in the instru-
ment cluster is a reminder that all occupants
must fasten their seat belts. It may light up
continuously or flash. In addition, there may
be a warning tone.
Regardless of whether the driver's and front-
passenger seat belts have already been fas-
tened, the 7 seat belt warning lamp lights
up for six seconds each time the engine is
started. If, after six seconds, the driver or
front-passenger seat belt has not been fas-
tened and the doors are closed, the 7 seat
belt warning lamp lights up. As soon as the
driver's and front-passenger seat belts are
fastened or a front door is opened again, the
7 seat belt warning lamp goes out.
If the driver's seat belt is not fastened after
the engine is started, an additional warning
tone will sound. This warning tone stops after
six seconds or when the driver's seat belt is
fastened.
If the vehicle's speed exceeds 15 mph
(25 km/h) once and the driver's and front-
passenger seat belts are not fastened, a
warning tone sounds. A warning tone also
sounds with increasing intensity for
60 seconds or until the driver or front
passenger have fastened their seat belts.
If the driver or front passenger unfasten their
seat belts during the journey, the seat belt
warning is activated again.
i For more information on the 7 seat
belt warning lamp, see "Warning and indi-
cator lamps in the instrument cluster, seat
belts" ( page 284).
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Air bags

Introduction
The installation point of an air bag can be rec-
ognized by the AIR BAG symbol.
An air bag complements the correctly fas-
tened seat belt. It is no substitute for the seat
belt. The air bag provides additional protec-
tion in applicable accident situations.
Not all air bags are deployed in an accident.
The different air bag systems function inde-
pendently from one another (
However, no system available today can com-
pletely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
It is also not possible to rule out a risk of injury
caused by an air bag due to the high speed at
which the air bag must be deployed.
Important safety notes
G WARNING
If you do not sit in the correct seat position,
the air bag cannot protect as intended and
could even cause additional injury when
deployed. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
To avoid hazardous situations, always make
sure that all of the vehicle's occupants:
have fastened their seat belts correctly,
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including pregnant women
are sitting correctly and maintain the great-
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est possible distance to the air bags
follow the following instructions
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Always make sure that there are no objects
between the air bag and the vehicle's occu-
pants.
Adjust the seats properly before beginning
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your journey. Always make sure that the
seat is in an almost upright position. The
center of the head restraint must support
the head at about eye level.
Move the driver's and front-passenger
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seats as far back as possible. The driver's
seat position must allow the vehicle to be
driven safely.
Only hold the steering wheel on the out-
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side. This allows the air bag to be fully
deployed.
Always lean against the backrest while driv-
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ing. Do not lean forwards or lean against
the door or side window. You may other-
page 56).
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