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Airb
a
g
syste
m
- the e lectronic contro
l
modu le and external side
impact sensors
-
the two side airbags located in the sides of the
front backrests
-
the a irbag warning light in the inst rument
clus-
ter.
The airbag system is monito red elect ronically to
make certa in that it is functioning properly at all
times. Each time you t urn on the ignit ion, the air-
bag system ind icator light will come on for a few
seconds (self diagnostics).
The side a irbag system supplements
the safety
be lts and can help to reduce the risk of injury to
the driver's and front passenger's upper torso on
the side of the vehicle that is struck in a side col-
lision. The airbag deploys on ly in side impacts
and only when the vehicle acceleration registered
by the control unit is high enough. If this rate is
below the reference value programmed into the
control unit, the side a irbags will not be tr ig-
gered, even though the car may be badly dam-
aged as a result of the collision. It is not possib le
to define an airbag triggering range that w
ill
cov-
er every poss ible 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 im-
pacting object, the ang le of impact, vehicle
speed, etc.
¢
page 147, Important safety in-
structions on the side airbag system
.
Aside from their normal safety function, safety
belts work to help keep the driver or front pas-
senger in pos it ion in the event of a s ide collision
so that the side a irbags can provide 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 s ide airbag system can only
he lp to protect you if you are wearing your safety
be lt and wearing it properly. This is another rea-
son why you should always wear
your
safety
be lts, not just because the law req uires you to do
so
¢
page 121, General information.
It is important to remember that whi le the sup-
plemental side a irbag system is des igned to re-
duce the like lihood of se rious injuries, other inju-
146
ries, for example, swelling, bruis ing, and minor
abrasions can also be associated with deployed
side a irbags
.
Remember too, s ide a irbags
will
de-
ploy only once and only in certain kinds of acci-
dents - your safety belts are always there to offer
protect ion.
Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the lack of
vehicle damage are not necessar ily an ind ication
of over-sens itive or fa iled airbag activat ion. In
some collisions, both front and side airbags may
inflate
.
Remember too, that a irbags w ill deploy
only once and only in certai
n
kinds of collisions
-
you
r
safety be lts are always there to offe
r
protec-
tion in those accidents in wh ich airbags are no
t
supposed to deploy or when they have already
deployed
.
The side airbag system will not deploy:
-
when the ign it io
n
is tu rned off
- in side collisions whe
n
the acceleration meas-
ured by the sensor is too low
- in front -end coll is ions
-
in rear-end collisions
-
in rollovers
.
In some types of accidents the front ai rbags, side
curtain airbags and side a irbags may be triggered
together.
A
WARNING
-
Safety belts and the airbag system will only
provide protect ion when occupants are in
the proper seat ing pos ition¢
page 147.
- If the airbag ind icator light
¢
page 19
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer
.
It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup-
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
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