Mercedes-Benz 2001 M-Class, Operator'S Manual

Page: 52 / 466

six seconds or when the driver's seat belt is
fastened.
If the vehicle's speed exceeds 15 mph
(25 km/h) once and the driver's and front-
passenger seat belts are not fastened, a
warning tone sounds. A warning tone also
sounds with increasing intensity for
60 seconds or until the driver or front
passenger have fastened their seat belts.
If the driver or front passenger unfasten their
seat belts during the journey, the seat belt
warning is activated again.
i
For more information on the 7 seat
belt warning lamp, see "Warning and indi-
cator lamps in the instrument cluster, seat
belts" (
Y
page 318).
Air bags
Introduction
The installation point of an air bag can be rec-
ognized by the AIR BAG symbol.
An air bag complements the correctly fas-
tened seat belt. It is no substitute for the seat
belt. The air bag provides additional protec-
tion in applicable accident situations.
Not all air bags are deployed in an accident.
The different air bag systems function inde-
pendently from one another (
Y
page 58).
However, no system available today can com-
pletely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
It is also not possible to rule out a risk of injury
caused by an air bag due to the high speed at
which the air bag must be deployed.
Important safety notes
G WARNING
If you do not sit in the correct seat position,
the air bag cannot protect as intended and
could even cause additional injury when
deployed. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
To avoid hazardous situations, always make
sure that all of the vehicle's occupants:
R
have fastened their seat belts correctly,
including pregnant women
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are sitting correctly and maintain the great-
est possible distance to the air bags
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follow the following instructions
Always make sure that there are no objects
between the air bag and the vehicle's occu-
pants.
R
Adjust the seats properly before beginning
your journey. Always make sure that the
seat is in an almost upright position. The
center of the head restraint must support
the head at about eye level.
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Move the driver's and front-passenger
seats as far back as possible. The driver's
seat position must allow the vehicle to be
driven safely.
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Only hold the steering wheel on the out-
side. This allows the air bag to be fully
deployed.
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Always lean against the backrest while driv-
ing. Do not lean forwards or lean against
the door or side window. You may other-
wise be in the deployment area of the air
bags.
R
Always keep your feet in the footwell in
front of the seat. Do not put your feet on the
dashboard, for example. Your feet may oth-
erwise be in the deployment area of the air
bag.
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For this reason, always secure persons less
than 5 ft (1.50 m) tall in suitable restraint
systems. Up to this height, the seat belt
cannot be worn correctly.
If a child is traveling in your vehicle, also
observe the following notes:
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Always secure children under 12 years of
age and less than 5 ft (1.50 m) in height in
suitable child restraint systems.
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Child restraint systems should be installed
on the rear seats.
50
Occupant safety
Saf
ety