2011 Mercedes R-Class Owner's Manual - Page 60

58 Occupant safety or Rthe vehicle is stationary and a door is open Rthe belt tongue is engaged in the buckle on Safety i For more information on the 7 seat belt warning lamp, see "Indicator and warning lamps in the instrument cluster, seat belt" (Y page 237). Emergency Tensioning Devices and seat belt force limiters The seat belts for the following seats are equipped with ETDs and belt force limiters: Rdriver's Rthe and front-passenger seat outer seats in the second row Rthe seats in the third row ! If the front-passenger seat is not occupied, do not engage the seat belt tongue in the buckle on the frontpassenger seat. Otherwise, the Emergency Tensioning Device could be triggered in the event of an accident. The belt tensioners tighten the seat belts in an accident, pulling them close against the body. ETDs do not correct incorrect seat positions or incorrectly fastened seat belts. ETDs do not pull vehicle occupants back towards the backrest. Seat belt force limiters, when activated, are employed to help reduce the force exerted by the seat belts on occupants during a crash. The front belt force limiters are synchronized with the front air bags, which take on a part of the deceleration force. Thus, the force exerted on the occupant is distributed over a greater area. The belt tensioners can only be activated when: Rthe ignition is switched on Rthe restraint systems are operational; see "SRS warning lamp" (Y page 36) each of the three-point seat belts in the front Rthe front-passenger seat is occupied and the belt tongue is engaged in the buckle on the front-passenger side. The ETDs on the outside seats in the second row and on the seats in the third row are triggered independently of the lock status of the seat belts. The ETDs are triggered depending on the type and severity of an accident: Rin the event of a head-on or rear-end collision if the vehicle decelerates or accelerates rapidly in a longitudinal direction during the initial stages of the impact Rin the event of a side impact if the vehicle is subjected to high lateral acceleration/ deceleration. Rin certain situations if the vehicle overturns and the system determines that it can provide additional protection. If the air bags are deployed, you will hear a bang and a small amount of powder may also be released. Only in rare cases will the bang affect your hearing. The powder that is released generally does not constitute a health hazard. The + SRS warning lamp lights up. G Warning Pyrotechnic ETDs that were activated must be replaced. For your safety, when disposing of the pyrotechnic ETDs always follow our safety instructions. These instructions are available from any authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. The PRE-SAFE® system is equipped with electrically resettable seat belt tensioners that do not need replacing after deployment.