Seat belts

Important safety notes

WARNING

Always fasten your seat belt before driving off.

Always make sure all of your passengers are properly restrained. You and your passengers should always wear seat belts.

Failure to wear and properly fasten and position your seat belt greatly increases your risk of injuries and their likely severity in an accident.

If you are ever in an accident, your injuries can be considerably more severe without your seat belt properly buckled. Without your seat belt buckled, you are much more likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be seriously injured or killed.

In the same crash, the possibility of injury or death is lessened if you are properly wearing your seat belt. The air bags can only protect as intended if the occupants are properly wearing their seat belts.

WARNING

Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat backrest in an excessively reclined position as this can be dangerous. You could slide under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide under it, the seat belt would apply force at the abdomen or neck. That could cause serious or even fatal injuries. The seat backrest and seat belt provide the best restraint when the wearer is in a position that is as upright as possible and the seat belt is properly positioned on the body.

WARNING

Never let more people ride in the vehicle than there are seat belts available. Make sure everyone riding in the vehicle is correctly restrained with a separate seat belt. Never use a seat belt for more than one person at a time.

WARNING

Always have damaged seat belts or seat belts that have been subjected to a load in an accident replaced and the anchorages checked.

Only use seat belts that have been approved by Mercedes-Benz.

Never tamper with seat belts. This can result in the unintended deployment of the Emergency Tensioning Devices or the failure to deploy when necessary.

Do not bleach or dye seat belts, as this may severely weaken them. In the event of a collision, they may be unable to provide adequate protection.

Have all work carried out only by qualified technicians. Consult a qualified specialist workshop.

The use of seat belts and infant and child restraint systems is required by law in:

• all 50 states • U.S. territories • the District of Columbia • all Canadian provinces Even where this is not required by law, all vehicle occupants should correctly fasten their seat belts before starting the journey.

See "Children in the vehicle"   for further information on infants and children traveling in the vehicle as well as on child restraint systems.

Correct use of the seat belts

WARNING

USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

• Seat belts can only work when used properly. Never wear seat belts in any other way than as described in this section, as that could result in serious injuries in the event of an accident.

• Each occupant should wear their seat belt at all times, because seat belts help reduce the likelihood of and potential severity of injuries in accidents, including rollovers.

The integrated restraint system includes SRS (driver front air bag, driver's side knee bag, front-passenger front air bag, side impact air bags, window curtain air bags for the side windows), Emergency Tensioning Devices, seat belt force limiters, and front seat knee bolsters.

The system is designed to enhance the protection offered to properly belted occupants in certain frontal (front air bags, driver's side knee bag and ETDs) and side (side impact air bags, window curtain air bags, and ETDs) impacts which exceed preset deployment thresholds and in certain rollovers (window curtain air bags and ETDs).

• Never wear the shoulder belt under your arm, across your neck or off your shoulder.

In a frontal crash, your body would move too far forward. That would increase the chance of head and neck injuries. The seat belt would also apply too much force to the ribs or abdomen, which could severely injure internal organs such as your liver or spleen.

Adjust the seat belt so that the shoulder section is located as close as possible to the middle of the shoulder. It should not touch the neck. Never pass the shoulder portion of the seat belt under your arm. For this purpose, you can adjust the height of the seat belt outlet.

• Position the lap belt as low as possible on your hips and not across the abdomen. If the lap belt is positioned across your abdomen, it could cause serious injuries in a crash.

• Never wear seat belts over rigid or breakable objects in or on your clothing, such as eyeglasses, pens, keys etc., as these might cause injuries.

• Make sure the seat belt is always fitted snugly. Take special care of this when wearing loose clothing.

• Never use a seat belt for more than one person at a time. Do not fasten a seat belt around a person and another person or other objects at the same time.

• Seat belts should not be worn twisted. In a crash, you would not have the full width of the seat belt to distribute impact forces.

The twisted seat belt against your body could cause injuries.

• Pregnant women should also always use a lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion should be positioned as low as possible on the hips to avoid any possible pressure on the abdomen.

• Place the seat backrest in a position that is as upright as possible.

• Check your seat belt during travel to make sure it is properly positioned.

• Never place your feet on the instrument panel, dashboard, or on the seat. Always keep both feet on the floor in front of the seat.

• When using a seat belt to secure infant restraints, toddler restraints, or children in booster seats, always follow the child seat manufacturer's instructions.

WARNING

Do not pass seat belts over sharp edges. They could tear.

Do not allow the seat belt to get caught in the door or in the seat adjustment mechanism.

This could damage the seat belt.

Never attempt to make modifications to seat belts. This could impair the effectiveness of the seat belts.

Fastening seat belts

WARNING

According to accident statistics, children are safer when properly restrained on the rear seats than on the front-passenger seat. Thus, we strongly recommend that children be placed in the rear seat whenever possible.

Regardless of seating position, children 12 years old and under must be seated and properly secured in an appropriately sized child restraint system or booster seat recommended for the size and weight of the child. For additional information, see the "Children in the vehicle" section.

A child's risk of serious or fatal injuries is significantly increased if the child restraints are not properly secured in the vehicle and/ or the child is not properly secured in the child restraint.

■ Adjust the seat and move the backrest to an almost vertical position  .

■ Pull the seat belt smoothly through belt sash guide 1.

■ Without twisting it, guide the shoulder section of the seat belt across the middle of your shoulder and the lap section across your pelvis.

■ Engage belt tongue 2 in buckle 3.

Seat-belt adjustment: if necessary, the driver's and front-passenger seat belts automatically adjust to the upper body  .

■ If necessary, adjust the seat belt to the appropriate height  .

■ If necessary, pull upwards on the shoulder section of the seat belt to tighten the belt across your body.

All seat belts except the driver's seat belt are equipped with a special seat belt retractor to securely fasten child restraint systems in the vehicle. Further information can be found under "Special seat belt retractor"  .

For more information about releasing the seat belt with release button 4, see "Releasing seat belts"  .

Seat belt adjustment

The seat-belt adjustment function adjusts the driver's and front-passenger seat belt to the upper body of the occupants.

The belt strap is tightened slightly when: • you engage the belt tongue in the belt buckle and you then turn the SmartKey to position 2 in the ignition lock.

• the SmartKey is in position 2 in the ignition lock and you then engage the belt tongue in the buckle.

The seat-belt adjustment will apply a retraction force if any slack is detected between the occupant and the seat belt. Do not hold on to the seat belt tightly while it is adjusting. You can switch the seat-belt adjustment on and off in the on-board computer  .

The seat-belt adjustment is an integral part of the PRE-SAFE® convenience function. More information about PRE-SAFE® can be found under "PRE-SAFE® (preventative occupant protection)"  .

Belt height adjustment

You can adjust the seat belt height on the front seats. Adjust the belt to a height that allows the upper part of the seat belt to be routed across the center of your shoulder.

■ To raise: slide the belt sash guide upwards.

The belt sash guide engages in various positions.

■ To lower: press and hold belt sash guide release 1.

■ Slide the belt sash guide downwards.

■ Release belt sash guide release 1 and make sure that the belt sash guide has engaged.

Releasing seat belts

Make sure that the seat belt is fully rolled up. Otherwise, the seat belt or belt tongue will be trapped in the door or in the seat mechanism. This could damage the door, the door trim panel and the seat belt.

Damaged seat belts can no longer fulfill their protective function and must be replaced. Visit a qualified specialist workshop.

1 Belt sash guide
2 Seat belt tongue
3 Buckle
4 Release button
■ Press release button ? and guide belt tongue ; back towards belt sash guide : .

Belt warning for the driver and front passenger

Regardless of whether the driver's and frontpassenger seat belts have already been fastened, the seat belt warning
lamp lights up for six seconds each time the engine is started. It then goes out if the driver and the front passenger have already fastened their seat belts.

If the driver's seat belt is not fastened when the engine is started, an additional warning tone will sound. This warning tone stops after a maximum of six seconds or once the driver's seat belt is fastened.

If after six seconds, the driver or front passenger have not fastened their seat belts and the doors are closed:

• the seat belt warning lamp
remains lit as long as the driver's or front-passenger's seat belt is not fastened and
• if a vehicle speed of 15 mph (25 km/h) is exceeded, the seat belt warning
lamp begins to flash. A warning tone also sounds with increasing intensity for a maximum of 60 seconds or until the driver or front passenger have fastened their seat belts.

If the driver/front passenger unfasten their seat belt while the vehicle is in motion, the seat belt warning lamp lights up
and a warning tone sounds again.

The warning tone ceases even if the driver or front-passenger seat belt has still not been fastened after 60 seconds. The seat
belt warning lamp stops flashing but remains illuminated.

After the vehicle comes to a standstill, the warning tone is reactivated and the seat belt warning lamp flashes again if the
vehicle speed again exceeds 15 mph (25 km/h).

The seat belt warning lamp only
goes out if:
• both the driver and the front passenger have fastened their seat belts.

or
• the vehicle is stationary and a door is open.

For more information on the seat
belt warning lamp, see "Warning and indicator lamps in the instrument cluster, seat belts"  .

Emergency Tensioning Devices, seat belt force limiters

WARNING

Pyrotechnic Emergency Tensioning Devices that have been deployed must be renewed.

For your safety, when disposing of Emergency Tensioning Devices, always observe the safety instructions. These are available from any authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.

The PRE-SAFE® system has electrically operated reversible pre-tensioners that do not require replacement after activation.

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.

■ In order to ensure that the pyrotechnic Emergency Tensioning Devices have not been triggered, always have the seat belts checked after an accident.

If the Emergency Tensioning Devices have been triggered, they must be replaced.

The seat belts on the following seats have Emergency Tensioning Devices and belt force limiters:
• driver's and front-passenger seat • the outer seats in the second row • the seats in the third row The ETDs tighten the seat belts in an accident, pulling them close against the body.

The ETDs do not correct incorrect seat positions or incorrectly fastened seat belts.

The ETDs do not pull vehicle occupants back towards the backrest.

If the seat belt is also equipped with a seat belt force limiter and this is triggered, the force exerted by the seat belt on the vehicle occupant is reduced.

The belt force limiters for the front seats are synchronized with the front air bags, which take on a part of the deceleration force. This results in the force exerted on the occupant being distributed over a greater area.

The ETDs can only be activated when:

• the ignition is switched on.

• the restraint systems are operational; see "SRS warning lamp"  .

• the belt tongue is engaged in the buckle on each of the lap-shoulder belts in the front.

The belt tensioners 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: • if, in the event of a head-on or rear-end collision, the vehicle decelerates or accelerates rapidly in a longitudinal direction during the initial stages of the impact
• if, in the event of a side impact, on the side opposite the impact the vehicle decelerates or accelerates rapidly in a lateral direction
• if, in certain situations where the vehicle overturns, the system determines that it can provide additional protection If the ETDs 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.