Reporting Safety Defects - Audi A8 2016 Owner's Manual

Driving safety
- Never leave your vehicle unattended espe-
cially with the rear lid left open. A child
could crawl into the vehicle through the lug-
gage compartment and close the rear lid be-
coming trapped and unable to get out . Be-
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious
personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the vehi-
cle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must al-
ways be properly restrained in one of the ve-
hicle's seating positions.
- Air circulation helps to reduce window fog-
ging . Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel, on the left
side of the luggage compartment. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure label is lo-
cated on the driver's side B·pillar. The tire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
tire inflation pressures for the vehicle at its
maximum capacity weight and the tires that
were on your vehicle at the t ime it was man-
ufactured. For recommended tire pressures
for normal load conditions, please see chap-
ter ¢
page 247.
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure luggage and other items .
Use the tie-dow ns to secure your cargo properly
¢
page 135, Loading the luggage compartment .
In a coll ision, the laws of physics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause serious in-
jury . Items in the vehicle possess energy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the
item. Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed of
30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10 -lb
(4 .5 kg) object are about 20 times the normal
136
weight of the item. This means that the weight
of the item would suddenly be about
200 lbs. (90 kg) . You can imagine the injuries
that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying freely through
the passenger compartment cou ld cause in a col-
lision like th is.
A
WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used to
secure items to tie-downs can fail during hard
braking or in a collision and cause serious per-
sonal injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help prevent
items from shifting or flying forward as dan-
gerous missiles.
- Never attach a child safety seat tether strap
to a tie-down.
-
Reporting Safety Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause a
crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately in-
form the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) in
addition to notifying Audi of
America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com-
plaints, it may open an investiga-
tion, and if it finds that a safety
defects exists in a group of
vehicles, it may order a recall and
remedy campaign. However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in
individual problems between you,
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