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The side curtain airbags a re located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ¢
fig. 148.
They are ident ified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshie ld
frame and the center roof pillar.
The side curtain airbag system supp lements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the
risk of inju ry for occupants ' heads and upper
t orso on the side of the vehicle that is struck
in a side collision . The side curta in a irbag in-
flates in s ide impacts and only when the veh i-
cle acce le rat ion reg istered by the contro l unit
is high enoug h. If th is rate is below the refer -
ence va lue programmed into the control un it,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re-
sult of the collision .
It
is not possible to de-
fine an a irbag triggering range that will cover
every possible angle of impact, since the cir-
cumstances will vary considerably between
one collision and another . Important factors
include, for examp le, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the ang le of impact ,
ve hicle speed, et c. ¢
page
164,
How side cur-
tain airbags work.
Aside from the ir normal safety function, safe-
ty belts work to he lp keep the driver or front
passenger in posit ion in the event of a colli-
sion so that the side curtai n airbags can pro-
vide protection.
The airbag system is not a subst itute for your
safety belt. Rathe r, it is pa rt of the overall oc-
cupa nt restraint system in your veh icle. Al-
ways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you shou ld a lways wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re-
qu ires you to do so ¢
page 134, General
notes .
It is important to remember that while the
side curta in a irbag system is designed to he lp
reduce t he likelihood of serious injuries, other
injuries, for example, swelling, bruising, and
minor abrasions can also be associated with
these airbags. Remembe r too, these a irbags
will dep loy only once and only in certain kinds
A irbag sys tem
163
of accidents - your safety belts are always
there to offer protection.
The side curtain airbag system basically
consists of:
- The e lectronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- The side curtain airbags above t he front and
rear side windows
- The a irbag ind icator light in t he instr ument
panel
The airbag system is mon itored e lectronically
to make ce rtain it is functioning prope rly at all
times. Each time you t urn on the ignit ion, t he
airbag system ind icator light will come on for
a few seconds (self diagnostics) .
The side curtain airbag is not activated :
- if the ignition is turned off,
- in side collisions whe n the acceleration
measured by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers.
A
WARNING
- Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating position
¢
page 53, Seats and storage .
- If the airbag ind icator light ¢
page 20
comes when the veh icle is being used,
have t he system inspected immediately
by your au t hori zed Audi dealer.
It
is pos-
sible tha t the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should.
•
•
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