2006 Mercedes SL-Class Owner's Manual - Page 69

Safety and Security Occupant safety i Airbags are designed to activate only in certain frontal impacts (front airbags, driver-side knee bag) and 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 airbag 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. 68