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M
position in a fronta
l
collision so that the airbags
can provide supp lemental protection.
The airbag system is not a s ubst itute for your
safety belt. Rathe
r,
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 wear ing your safety belt
and wearing it properly.
This
is why you should al-
ways wear your safety belt, not just because the
law requ ires you to do so
c::>
page 124, General
in-
formation
.
Remember too, airbags will deploy only once and
only in certain kinds of accidents - you
r
safety
be lts are a lways there to offer protection in those
accidents in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed, for
examp le when yo ur vehicle str ikes or is struck by
anothe
r
after the first collision
.
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
not a substitute for the safety belt
.
The airbag
sys
t
em works most effective ly when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety bel
t
s correctly
.
It is important to remember that whi le the sup-
plemental knee a irbag sys tem is designed to re-
d uce
t
he likelihood of serious inj uries
,
ot
her inju-
ries, for examp le, swe lling, bruising, and mino
r
abrasions and friction burns can a lso occur when
an airbag inf lates.
The knee airbag system basically
consists
of:
-
The elec
tr
onic control mod ule
-
Two inflatab le airbags (airbag and gas genera-
tor), one for the dr
iver
and one fo
r
the front
passenge
r
-
The airbag ind icator light in the instrument
pane
l
The knee airbag system will not deploy:
-
when
t
he ign
it
ion is
t
urned
off
- in frontal collis ions when the dece lerat ion
measured by the control unit is too low
-
in side collisions
6
-
in rear -end collisions
LL
00
-
in rollovers
rl
I.O
"'
N
"'
rl
Ai
r
b
ag
sy stem
-
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
c::>
page 140.
-
If the airbag indicator light
c::>
page 19
comes w hen the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer. It is possib le 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 veh icles: wit
h
knee
airbags
The risk of injury to the leg area can be reduced
by fully deployed knee airbags.
Fig. 1 52
Inflated
airbags
prot
ect
ing in a fro ntal co llision
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front passen-
ger dep loy in certain but not all fronta
l
collisions
.
If
t
he front a irbags dep loy, the knee a irbags also
deploy in fronta
l
collisions when the dep loyment
threshold stored in the control unit is met.
When the system deploys, the a irbags fill with a
propellan
t
gas, and inf late
bet
ween the lower
part
of
the instr ument pane
l
and the driver and
the lowe
r
part of the instr ument pane
l
and the
front passenger
c::>
page 140, fig. 149
.
Although they are not a soft
pillow,
they can
cus hion the impact and in this way they can help
to reduce the risk of injury to the lower extremi-
ties.
1111>
147
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