2005 Mercedes SLK-Class Owner's Manual - Page 66

Safety and Security Occupant safety i Air bags are designed to activate only in certain frontal impacts (front air bags, kneebags), or side impacts (head-thorax air bags) which exceed preset thresholds. Only during these types of impacts, if of sufficient severity to meet the deployment thresholds, will they provide their supplemental protection. The driver and passenger should always wear their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible for the air bags to provide their supplemental protection. In cases of other frontal impacts, angled impacts, roll-overs, other side impacts, rear collisions, or other accidents, the air bags will not be activated. The driver and the passenger will then be protected by the fastened seat belts. We caution you not to rely on the presence of the air bags in order to avoid wearing your seat belt. Your vehicle was originally equipped with air bags that 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 passengers that you replace deployed air bags and repair any malfunctioning air bags to make sure the vehicle will continue to provide supplemental crash protection for occupants. Safety guidelines for the seat belt, emergency tensioning device and air bag 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. Air bags and emergency tensioning devices (ETDs) are designed to function on a one-time only basis. An air bag or ETD that was activated must be replaced. No modifications of any kind may be made to any components or wiring of the SRS. This includes changing or removing any component or part of the SRS, the installation of additional trim material, badges etc. over the steering wheel hub, passenger air bag cover, door trim panels, or door frame trims, 66