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Airbag
system
position in a frontal collision so that the airbags
can provide supplemental
protection.
The airbag system is not a substitute for your
safety belt. Rather,
it
is part of the overall occu-
pant restraint system in your vehicle. Always re-
member that the airbag system can only help to
protect you if you are wearing your safety belt
and wearing
it
properly
.
This is why you should
always wear your safety belt, not just because
the law requires you to do so
c::>
page 121,
Gener-
al information.
Remember too, airbags will deploy only once and
only in certain kinds of accidents - your safety
belts are always there to offer protection in those
accidents
in
which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed, for
example when your vehicle strikes or is struck by
another
after the first collision.
This
is
just one of the
reasons
why an airbag
is
not a substitute for the safety belt. The airbag
system works most effectively when used with
the
safety belts.
Therefore
,
always wear your
safety belts correctly.
It
is important to remember that while the sup-
plemental
knee
airbag system is designed
to
re-
duce
the likelihood
of serious
injuries,
other inju-
ries, for example, swelling,
bruising,
and minor
abrasions and friction burns can also occur when
an airbag inflates
.
The knee airbag system basically consists of:
- The
electronic control module
-
Two inflatable airbags (airbag and gas genera-
tor),
one for
the driver
and one for the front
passenger
- The
airbag indicator light
in
the instrument
panel
The knee airbag system will not deploy:
-
when
t
he ignition is turned off
-
in frontal collisions when the deceleration
measured by the control unit is too
low
-
in side collisions
-
in
rear-end
collisions
- in
rollovers
144
- in
the
event of a system malfunction (warning/
indicator light is on)
c::>
page 19
.
A
WARNING
-
Safety belts and the airbag system can only
provide protection when occupants are in
the proper seating
position
r::;>
page 13 7.
- If the airbag indicator light
c::>
page 19
comes when the vehicle is
being
used, have
the system
inspected immediately
by your
authorized Audi dealer. It is
possible
that
the
airbag will inflate when it is not sup-
posed
to,
or will not inflate when
it
should.
How knee airbags work
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The risk of injury to the leg area can be reduced
by fully deployed knee airbags.
Fig. 136
Inflated airbags prot
ectin
g
in
a frontal collis
ion
The knee airbag system
has
been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front passen-
ger deploy in certain but not all frontal collisions.
If
the
front airbags
deploy, the
knee airbags
also
deploy
in
frontal collisions when the deployment
threshold stored
in
the control unit is met.
When the
system
deploys, the
airbags fill with a
propellant
gas, and
inflate
between
the lower
part
of the instrument
panel
and the
driver
and
the lower part of the instrument
panel
and the
front
passenger
c::>
page 13 7, fig. 133.
Although they
are not
a soft pillow, they can
cushion
the
impact and in this way they can help
to
reduce
the risk of injury to the
lower
extremi-
ties.
..
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