Mercedes-Benz 2008 C-Class Operator's Manual page 50

intensity for a maximum of 60 seconds
or until the driver's and the front
passenger's seat belt are fastened.
If you and/or your front passenger
release the seat belt during driving, the
seat belt telltale < starts flashing
and a warning chime sounds as
described before.
If the driver's or the front passenger's
seat belt remains unfastened after
60 seconds, the warning chime stops
sounding, the seat belt telltale <
stops flashing but continues to be
illuminated.
After a vehicle standstill, the warning
chime reactivates and the seat belt
telltale < flashes again when the
vehicle speed exceeds 15 mph
(25 km/h).
The seat belt telltale < will only go out
if both the driver's and the front passen-
ger's seat belt (with the front passenger
seat occupied) are fastened, or the vehicle
is standing still and a front door is opened.
For more information, see "Practical hints"
( page 380).
Emergency tensioning device (ETD),
seat belt force limiter
The seat belts are equipped with Emergen-
cy Tensioning Devices (ETDs) and seat belt
force limiters.
The ETD is designed to activate in the
following cases:
in frontal or rear-end impacts exceed-
ing the system deployment threshold
in certain vehicle rollovers
if the restraint systems are operational
and functioning correctly,
see = indicator lamp ( page 382)
i
The ETDs for the front seats will only acti-
vate if the front seat belt is fastened (latch plate
properly inserted into buckle).
The ETDs for the rear seats will activate with or
without the respective seat belt fastened.
Safety and Security
Occupant safety
In an impact, the ETDs remove slack from
the seat belts in such a way that the seat
belts fit more snugly against the body. Seat
belt force limiters, when activated, are em-
ployed to help reduce the peak force exert-
ed by the seat belts on occupants during a
crash.
i
ETDs do not correct an incorrect seat posi-
tion or incorrectly worn seat belts.
ETDs do not pull occupants back toward the
backrest.
Warning!
A pyrotechnic Emergency Tensioning Device
(ETD) that was activated must be replaced.
When disposing of the pyrotechnic Emer-
gency Tensioning Device (ETD), our safety
instructions must be followed. These are
available at an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
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