2007 Mercedes S-Class Owner's Manual - Page 48

Safety and Security Occupant safety Warning! G Accident research shows that the safest place for children in an automobile is in the rear seat. It should be noted that with respect to both front and rear side impact air bags there is a possibility for a side impact air bag related injury if occupants, especially children, are not properly seated or restrained when next to a side impact air bag which needs to deploy rapidly in a side impact in order to do its job. To help avoid the possibility of injury, please follow these guidelines: (1) 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. (2) Always wear seat belts properly. i Air bags are designed to deploy only in certain frontal impacts (front air bags), and in 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 events will they provide their supplemental protection. The driver and passengers should always wear their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible for air bags to provide their supplemental protection. In case of other types of impacts and impacts below air bag deployment thresholds, air bags will not deploy. The driver and passenger will then be protected to the extent possible by a properly fastened seat belt. A properly fastened seat belt is also needed to provide the best possible protection in a rollover. We caution you not to rely on the presence of the air bags in order to avoid wearing your seat belt. 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 pyrotechnic emergency tensioning devices (ETDs) are designed to function on a one-time-only basis. An air bag or ETD that is deployed must be replaced. PRE-SAFE® has electrically operated reversible pre-tensioners in addition to the pyrotechnic ETDs. Do not pass belts over sharp edges. They could tear. Do not make any modification that could change the effectiveness of the belts. 47