Audi A3 2016 Owner's Manual page 186

Airb a g syste m
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop -
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen-
ge rs, before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 167,
"' Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 58 ,
"' Wear safety belts properly ¢
page 178 ,
"' Always prope rly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 209 .
In a coll isio n, airbags mus t inflate within the
blink of an eye and wit h considerab le force . The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all t imes.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collisions
¢ page 167, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment con t rols
¢ page 58.
It's especially important that children are proper -
ly restra ined ¢
page 209 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind ividual safety fea-
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
184
reaching the peda ls, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad-
vanced Airbag System, please contact your a u-
thori zed Audi dea ler or qua lified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov-
ers, and infla t e between t he steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
t he front passenger . The a irbags will deflate im-
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc-
cupants can see t hrough the windsh ie ld again
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even rea lize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags a lso infla t e
with a g reat deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant 's forward move-
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting pa rts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the fo rces
acting on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and uppe r body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower pa rts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system de-
pends on the veh icle decelerat ion rate caused by
t he coll isio n a nd regis t ered by t he ele ctroni c con -
tro l unit . If t his rat e is be low t he refe rence value
programmed int o t he contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even tho ugh the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the collision. Vehi-
cle damage, rep a ir costs or even the lack of vehi-
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary cons iderab ly
between one collision and another, it is not possi -
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always t rigger t he a irbags . Important
factors include, for examp le, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
imp act , vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will .,.