Audi Q5: Booster seats and safety belts

Properly used booster seats can help protect children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4 ft. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.

Fig. 177 Rear seat: child properly restrained in a booster seat

The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4 ft. 9 in. (57 inches/ 1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs. (36 kg). Booster seats raise these children up so that the safety belt will pass property over the stronger parts of their bodies and the safety belt can help protect them in a crash.

• Do not use the convertible locking retractor when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain a child on a booster seat.
• The shoulder belt must lie as close to the center of the child's collar bone as possible and must lie flat and snug on the upper body. It must never lie across the throat or neck. The lap belt must lie across the pelvis and never across the stomach or abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
• If you must transport an older child in a booster seat on the front passenger seat, you can use the safety belt height adjustment to help adjust the shoulder portion properly.
• Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat.

Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs. or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety seats designed for their age and weight. Experts say that the skeletal structure, particularly the pelvis, of these children is not fully developed, and they must not use the vehicle safety belts without a suitable child restraint.

It is usually best to put these children in appropriate booster seats. Be sure the booster seat meets all applicable safety standards.

Booster seats raise the seating position of the child and reposition both the lap and shoulder parts of the safety belt so that they pass across the child's body in the right places. The routing of the belt over the child's body is very important for the child's protection, whether or not a booster seat is used. Children age 12 and under must always ride in the rear seat.

Children who are at least 4 ft. 9 in. (57 inches/ 1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle s three point lap and shoulder belts. Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's safety belt alone to restrain any child, regardless of how big the child is. Always remember that children do not have the pronounced pelvic structure required for the proper function of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point lap and shoulder belts. The child's safety absolutely requires that a lap belt portion of the safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over the child's stomach or abdomen.

In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink of an eye and with considerable force. In order to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it will be there to protect the occupant as the occupant moves forward into the airbag.

A vehicle occupant who is out of position and too close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating airbag. When an occupant is too close, he or she will be struck violently and will receive serious or possibly even fatal injury.

In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is important that all vehicle occupants, especially any children, who must be in the front seat because of exceptional circumstances, be properly restrained and as far away from the airbag as possible. By keeping room between the child's body and the front of the passenger compartment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro vide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions.

WARNING

Not using a booster seat, using the booster seat improperly, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety belt improperly increases the risk of serious personal injury and death in a collision or other emergency situation. To help reduce the risk of serious personal injury and/or death:

• The shoulder belt must lie as close to the center of the child's collar bone as possible and must lie flat and snug on the upper body. It must never lie across the throat or neck. The lap belt must lie across the pelvis and never across the stomach or abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
• Failure to properly route safety belts over a child's body will cause severe injuries in an accident or other emergency situation.
• The rear side of the child safety seat should be positioned as close as possible to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Adjust or remove the rear seat head restraint if it is difficult to install the child seat with the head restraint in place. Install the head restraint again immediately once the child seat is removed. Driving without head restraints or with head restraints that are not properly adjusted increases the risk of serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
• Children on the front seat of any car, even with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously injured or even kilted when an airbag inflates.
• Never let a child stand or kneel on any seat, for example the front seat.
• Never let a child ride in the cargo area of your vehicle.
• Always remember that a child leaning forward, sitting sideways or out of position in any way during an accident can be struck by a deploying airbag. This will result in serious personal injury or death.
• If you must install a booster seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must come on and stay on, whenever the ignition is switched on.
• If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on, perform the checks described.
• Take the child restraint off the front passenger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not stay on whenever the ignition is switched on.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child restrained in a vehicle is being used.

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