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about the same height in the instrument pan -
e l underneath the g love compartme nt.
The knee a irbag offers add itiona l protect io n
to the driver's and passenger 's knees and up-
per and lower thigh areas and supp lements
the protection by the safety be lts .
If the front airbags deploy , the knee airbags
a lso d eploy in fronta l collisions when t he de -
ployment thresho ld stored in the control unit
is met ¢
page 120, More important things to
know about front airbags.
In addition to their normal safety function,
safety be lts he lp keep the d river or front pas-
senger in position in a frontal col lisio n so that
the airbags can prov ide supplementa l protec -
tion .
The airbag system is not a substitute for yo ur
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overall oc-
cupant 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 wear ing it properly . This
is w hy you should always wear you r safety
be lt, not just because the law requires you to
do so ¢
page 103, General notes .
The safety belt buck le for the dr iver and front
seat passenger have switches that tell the a ir-
bag control module if the safety belt is being
used or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the knee airbag will deploy at a slig htly highe r
rate of decelera t ion than if the bel t is not be -
ing used . Therefore, in a partic ula r collision, it
is possible that an airbag will not deploy at a
seating position where the safety belt is being
used but will inflate at the position where the
safety belt is not be ing used.
Remembe r too, airbags will deploy only once
and only in certain kinds of accidents - your
safety be lts are always there to offer protec-
tion in those acc idents in which airbags are
not supposed to deploy or when they have a l-
ready deployed, for example whe n your vehi-
cle strikes or is struck by anothe r after the
first coll ision.
A irbag sys tem
127
This is ju st one of the reasons why an airbag is
not a substitute for t he safety be lt. The airbag
system works most effect ively when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety belts correct ly.
It is important to remember that wh ile the
suppleme nta l knee airbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of ser ious injuries,
other injur ies, for example, swelling, bru is ing,
minor ab rasions a nd friction burns can a lso
occur when an a irbag inflates.
The knee airbag system basically consists
of:
- The e lectronic control module
- Two inflatable a irbags (airbag and gas gen-
erator), one for the driver and one for the
front passenger
- The a irbag indicator light in t he instrument
panel
The knee airbag syst em will not depl oy:
- when the ignitio n is tu rned off
- in frontal collisions when t he decelera t ion
meas ured by the cont rol unit is too low
- in side collisions
- in rea r-end collisions
- in rollove rs
- in the event of a system malfunction (warn -
ing/ind icator light is on)
¢ page 16.
A
WARNING
- Safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide prote ction when occupa nts
a re in t he proper se ating position
~page 120.
- If the airbag ind icator light comes when
the vehicle is be ing used, have the sys-
tem inspected immediate ly by your au -
thorized Audi dealer.
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