Audi A6 Typ 4G: Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Advanced Airbag System" in compliance with United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has been certified to meet the "low-risk" requirements for 3- and 6-year old children on the passenger side and small adults on the driver side.
The low risk deployment criteria are intended to reduce the risk of injury through interaction with the airbag that can occur, for example, by being too close to the steering wheel and instrument panel when the airbag inflates. In addition, the system has been certified to comply with the "suppression" requirements of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up to 12 months who are restrained on the front passenger seat in child restraints that are listed in the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all children, especially those 12 years and younger, should always ride in the back seat properly restrained for their age and size. The airbag on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the safest place for a child in a forward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very dangerous place for an infant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a capacitive passenger detection system in the front passenger seat cushion that can detect the presence of a baby or a child in a child restraint system on this seat.
The capacitive passenger detection system registers the changes that result in an electrical field when a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket are on the front passenger seat. The change in the measured capacitance due to the presence of a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket on the front passenger seat is related to the child restraint system resting on the seat. The measured capacitance of a child restraint system varies depending on the type of system and specific make and model.
The electrical capacitance of the various types, makes, and models of child restraints specified by the U.S.National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the relevant safety standard are stored in the Advanced Airbag System control unit together with the capacitances typical of infants and a 1-year old child. When a child restraint is used on the front passenger seat with a typical 1 year-old infant, the Advanced Airbag System compares the capacitance measured by the capacitive passenger detection system with the data stored in the electronic control unit.
