Audi A6 Typ 4G: Important information
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a collision.
The physical principles of what happens when your vehicle is in a crash apply also to children. But unlike adults and teenagers, their muscles and bones are not fully developed. In many respects children are at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than adults.
Because children's bodies are not fully developed, they require restraint systems especially designed for their size, weight, and body structure.
Many countries and all states of the United States and provinces of Canada have laws requiring the use of approved child restraint systems for infants and small children.
In a frontal crash at a speed of 20-35 mph (30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-pound (6 kg) infant will be more than 20 times the weight of the child. This means the weight of the child would suddenly be more than 260 pounds (120 kg). Under these conditions, only an appropriate child restraint properly used can reduce the risk of serious injury. Child restraints, like adult safety belts, must be used properly to be effective. Used improperly, they can increase the risk of serious injury in an accident.
All children, especially those 12 years and younger must always ride in the back seat properly restrained for their age and size. If you must install a child restraint on the front passenger seat in exceptional circumstances, be sure to read and heed the important information and warnings. Infants and other children who are properly restrained in an appropriate child restraint that is for their size and age can benefit from the protection that supplemental side airbags provide in some kinds of crashes.
For more information please see information provided by the:
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), currently at : http://www.safercar.gov (for the USA)
- Transport Canada Information Centre, currently at: http://www.tc.gc.ca (for Canada)
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's instructions in order to be sure the seat is right for your child's size. Please be sure to read and heed all of the important information and WARNINGS about child safety, Advanced Airbags, and the installation of child restraints in this chapter.
There is a lot you need to know about the Advanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they work when infants and children in child restraints are on the front passenger seat. Because of the large amount of important information, we cannot repeat it all here. We urge you to read the detailed information in this owner's manual about airbags and the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the very important information about transporting children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they are extremely important for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children.
WARNING
- Accident statistics have shown that children are generally safer in the rear seat area than in the front seating position. Always restrain any child age 12 and under in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restrained child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the vehicle
during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or improperly restrained child is also at greater risk of injury or death through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable child restraint properly installed and used at one of the rear seating positions provides the highest degree of protection for infants and small children in most accident situations.
WARNING
Children on the front seat of any car even with Advanced Airbags can be seriously injured or even killed when an airbag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be killed if the front airbag inflates.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety seat or infant carrier with great force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center armrest, or door.
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child safety seat on the front passenger seat in exceptional circumstances and the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on, immediately install the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspected immediately by your Audi dealer.
WARNING
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the front passenger seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag and cause serious personal injury to the child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety
and well-being require the following special
precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-facing seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front passenger seat with a front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child seat or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a properly attached top tether strap if the child restraint manufacturer's instructions require the top tether strap to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint up against or very near the instrument panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper anchorage to the adjustment position that permits proper installation in accordance with the child restraint manufacturer's instructions.
- Always move the front passenger seat to the highest position in the up and down adjustment range and move it back to the rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft adjustment range, as far away from the airbag as possible, before installing the forward-facing child restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper anchorage is behind the child restraint and not next to or in front of the child restraint so that the safety belt will be properly positioned.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a laptop, CD player, electronic games device, power inverter or seat heater for child seats). These may influence the electrical capacitance measured by the capacitive passenger detection system and can also fly around in an accident and cause serious personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, electronic games device, power inverter or seat heater for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12- volt socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or otherwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restraint system on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or other liquids on the front passenger seat cushion.
- Always make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on and stays on all the time whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on, immediately install the forward-facing child seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in place even if a child is not sitting in it. A loose child seat can fly around during a sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child restraint in a vehicle.
Tips
Always replace child restraints that were installed in a vehicle during a crash. Damage to a child restraint that is not visible could cause it to fail in another collision situation.
