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142
Airb a g sys t e m
Airbag
system
Important
things
to
know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al-
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen-
gers, before driving off, always:
• Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 125,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 54 ,
• Wear safety be lts properly
¢ page 137,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int t o protect children ¢
page 166.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment,
the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec-
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions ¢
page 125,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con-
trols ¢
page 54.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen-
ge rs can and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins t alled in your Audi work to-
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver side can do it s
job. If you have a physical impa irment or con-
dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls, spec ial
modifications to your vehicle may be necessa-
ry.
Contact your a uthorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
.
When t he airbag system dep loys, a gas gener-
ator will f ill the airbags, break open the pad-
ded covers, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru -
ment pane l and the front passenger. The air-
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy-
ment so that the front occupants can see
th rough the w indshield aga in without inter-
ruption .
All of th is take s place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the a irbags have dep loyed . The airbags also
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc-
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas-
senger from hitting parts of the inside the ve-
hicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash. In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and uppe r body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t rigge ring of the a irbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
elect ron ic cont ro l unit. If t his rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con-
trol unit, the airbags will not be trigge red ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a resu lt of the collision . Vehicle damage, re-
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is not necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possib le kind and .,.
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