2006 Mercedes CLS-Class Owner's Manual - Page 68

Safety and Security Occupant safety (2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use the seat belts and for children 12 years old and under, use an appropriately sized infant or toddler restraint or booster seat recommended for the size and weight of the child. (3) Always wear seat belts properly. If you believe that, even with the use of these guidelines, it would be safer for your rear seat occupants to have the rear mounted side impact air bags deactivated, then deactivation can be accomplished upon your written request to do so at your authorized Mercedes-Benz Center at an additional cost. Please contact your local authorized Mercedes-Benz Center or call our Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes (1-800-367-6372) for details. i Air bags are designed to activate only in certain frontal impacts (front air bags), side impacts (side impact and head protection window curtain air bags) which exceed preset thresholds and in certain rollovers (head protection window curtain air bags). 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, rollovers, 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. 67