In order for the correctly worn seat belt to pro‐
vide the intended level of protection, each vehicle
occupant must observe the following information:
R
The seat belt must not be twisted and must fit
tightly and snugly across the body.
R
The seat belt must be routed across the cen‐
ter of the shoulder and as low down across
the hips as possible.
R
The shoulder section of the seat belt should
not touch your neck nor be routed under your
arm or behind your back.
R
Avoid wearing bulky clothing, e.g. a winter
coat.
R
Push the lap belt down as far as possible
across your hips and pull tight with the shoul‐
der section of the belt. Never route the lap
belt across your abdomen.
Pregnant women must also take particular
care with this.
R
Never route the seat belt across sharp, poin‐
ted, abrasive or fragile objects.
R
Only one person should use each seat belt at
any one time. Infants and children must never
travel sitting on the lap of a vehicle occupant.
R
Never secure objects with a seat belt if the
seat belt is being used by one of the vehicle's
occupants. Always observe the instructions
for loading the vehicle when securing objects,
luggage or loads (
/
page 166).
Also ensure that no objects, e.g. a cushion,
are ever placed between a person and the
seat.
The seat belts on the following seats are equip‐
ped with a special seat belt retractor:
R
Co-driver seat
R
Rear seats
Activate or deactivate the special seat belt retrac‐
tor of the seat belt (
/
page 36).
If children are traveling in the vehicle, always
observe the instructions and safety notes on
"Children in the vehicle" (
/
page 34).
Limitations of the protection provided by the
seat belt
&
WARNING Risk of injury or death due to
an incorrect seat position
The seat belt does not offer the intended level
of protection if you have not moved the seat
backrest to an almost vertical position.
In particular, you could slip beneath the seat‐
belt and become injured.
#
Adjust the seat properly before begin‐
ning your journey.
#
Always ensure that the seat backrest is
in an almost vertical position and that
the shoulder belt is routed across the
center of your shoulder.
&
WARNING Risk of injury or death when
additional restraint systems are not used
for persons with a smaller stature
Persons under 5 ft (1.50 m ) tall cannot wear
the seat belt correctly without a suitable addi‐
tional restraint system.
#
Always secure persons under 5 ft
(1.50 m) tall in a suitable restraint sys‐
tem.
&
WARNING Risk of injury or death due to
damaged or modified seat belts
Seat belts cannot provide protection in the
following situations:
R
The seat belt is damaged, has been modi‐
fied, is extremely dirty, bleached or dyed
R
The seat belt buckle is damaged or
extremely dirty
R
Modifications have been made to the
Emergency Tensioning Device, seat belt
anchorage or seat belt retractor
Seat belts may sustain non-visible damage in
an accident, e.g. due to glass splinters.
Modified or damaged seat belts could tear or
fail in the event of an accident, for example.
Modified Emergency Tensioning Devices
could accidentally trigger or fail to function as
intended.
#
Never modify the seat belt system, for
example the seat belt, seat belt buckle,
26 Occupant safety
