Mercedes-Benz E-class 1997 Special Settings - Manual (Page 23)

48
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 electronic 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
impacts exceeding the first threshold of
the SRS and in rear impacts exceeding
a preset security level. 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,
angled impacts, roll-overs, certain side
impacts, or other accidents without
sufficient frontal or rear impact 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.