Occupant Safety; Restraint System - Mercedes-Benz Vito Operating Instructions Manual

Safety

Occupant safety

Occupant safety
Restraint systems
This section will familiarise you with the
2
most important features of the restraint
systems in your vehicle. In the event of an
accident, your vehicle may collide with an-
other object, e.g. another vehicle. This
may cause your vehicle to accelerate or
decelerate suddenly. During this accelera-
tion or deceleration, the vehicle occupants
are always thrown towards the force of
the impact. This means that there is a risk
of vehicle occupants being injured on the
vehicle interior or on parts of the vehicle.
The purpose of supplementary restraint
systems, i.e. principally the seat belts sup-
plemented by belt tensioners, belt force
limiters and airbags where necessary, is to
minimise this risk of injury. However, seat
belts and airbags are generally unable to
prevent injuries caused by objects pene-
trating the vehicle from the outside.
The most important restraint systems are:
I Seat belts
I Restraint systems for children, as they
are the most effective means to restrict
36
occupant movement in the event of an
accident
Additional protection is provided by:
I The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) consisting of:
1 warning lamp
I
I Belt tensioners
I Belt force limiters
I Airbag system
i
An airbag increases the degree of protec-
tion afforded to a vehicle occupant who is
wearing a seat belt and is therefore supplemen-
tal to the seat belt. All vehicle occupants must
wear their seat belt correctly at all times, even
if the vehicle is equipped with airbags. This is
because – on the one hand – airbags are not
deployed in all types of accident, as in some
situations airbag deployment would not in-
crease the protection afforded to vehicle occu-
pants, provided they are wearing their seat belt
correctly.
On the other hand, airbag deployment only pro-
vides increased protection if the seat belt is
worn correctly, because:
Nur fuer internen Gebrauch
the seat belt helps to keep the vehicle oc-
I
cupant in the best position in relation to the
airbag
for example, in a head-on collision, the seat
I
belt can more adequately prevent the occu-
pant from being propelled towards the force
of the impact, and is thus better suited to
prevent injury
Thus, in accident situations where an airbag is
deployed, it only provides protection in addition
to the seat belt if the seat belt is being worn
correctly.
G
Risk of injury
Modifications to or work performed incor-
rectly on restraint systems (seat belts, an-
chorages, belt tensioners, belt force limiters
or airbags) or their wiring, as well as work
on other networked electronic systems,
may prevent the restraint systems from
working correctly. Airbags and belt ten-
sioners could fail, e.g. in the event of an ac-
cident, the deceleration force of which
would normally be sufficient to trigger the
systems, or could be triggered unintention-
ally. Never carry out any modifications on
the restraint systems. Never tamper with
electronic components and their software.