Mercedes-Benz MERCEDIES-BENZ Automobile User Manual


 
52
Self-Test BabySmart™ Without
Special Child Seat installed
After turning key in steering lock to
position 1 or 2, the indicator
lamp located on center console comes
on for approx. 6 seconds.
If the lamp should not come on or is
continuously lit, the system is not
functioning. You must see an authorized
Mercedes-Benz dealer before using any
child seat.
BabySmart™ is a trademark of Siemens
Automotive Corp.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
The term Supplemental Restraint
System means that airbags are
intended as a supplement to seat belts.
Airbags alone cannot protect as well as
airbags plus seat belts in impacts for
which the airbags were designed to
operate, and do not afford any
protection whatsoever in crashes for
which the system is not designed to
deploy.
The SRS uses two crash severity levels
(thresholds) to activate either the ETR
or airbag or both. Activation depends
on the direction and severity of the
impact, exceeding the thresholds and
fastening of the seat belt.
Seat belt fastened
first threshold exceeded:
ETR activates
second threshold exceeded:
airbag also activates
Seat belt not fastened
first threshold exceeded:
airbag activates, but not ETR
Driver and front passenger systems
operate independently from each other.
Emergency Tensioning
Retractor (ETR)
The seat belts for the front seats are
equipped with emergency tensioning
retractors. These tensioning retractors are
located in each belt's inertia reel and
become operationally ready with the key
in steering lock position 1 or 2.
The emergency tensioning retractors are
designed to activate only when the seat
belts are fastened during frontal and
front-angled impacts exceeding the first
threshold of the SRS. They remove slack
from the belts in such a way that the seat
belts fit more snugly against the body
restricting its forward movement as
much as possible.
In cases of other frontal impacts, roll-
overs, certain side impacts, rear
collisions, or other accidents without
frontal forces, the emergency tensioning
retractors will not be activated. The
driver and passengers will then be
protected by the fastened seat belts and
inertia reel in the usual manner.
For seat belt and emergency tensioning
retractor safety guidelines see Safety
Guidelines in Index.