2003 Mercedes SL-Class Owner's Manual - Page 55

Safety and Security Occupant safety i Airbags are designed to activate only in certain frontal impacts (front air bags, driver-side kneebag), side impacts (head-thorax airbags) which exceed preset thresholds. Only during these types of impacts, if of sufficient severity to meet the deployment threshold, will they provide their supplemental protection. The driver and passengers should always wear their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible for the airbags to provide their intended supplemental protection. In cases of other frontal impacts, angled impacts, roll-overs, other side impacts, rear collisions, or other accidents and impacts below air bag deployment thresholds, the airbags will not be activated. The driver and passenger will then be protected to the extent possible by a properly fastened seat belt. We caution you not to rely on the presence of the airbags in order to avoid wearing your seat belt. Your vehicle was originally equipped with airbags which are designed to activate in certain impacts exceeding a preset threshold to reduce the potential and severity of injury. It is important to your safety and that of your passenger that you replace deployed airbags and repair any malfunctioning airbags to ensure that the vehicle will continue to provide supplemental crash protection for occupants. Safety guidelines for the seat belt, emergency tensioning device and airbag Warning! G Damaged seat belts or belts that were highly stressed in an accident must be replaced and their anchoring points must also be checked. Only use belts installed or supplied by an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. Airbags and ETDs (Emergency Tensioning Devices) are designed to function on a one-time-only basis. An airbag or ETD that was activated must be replaced. 55