do not provide protectio n for the arms and lower body parts. is important to remember that th e
supple m ental airbag system is designed to reduce the likelihood of serious in juries. However, it is poss ibl e that d ep lo ye d airbag may cause other injurie s such as swelling, bruising, friction burns, and abrasio ns.
A irba gs inflat e in
the blink of an eye, so fast that many people don't eve n realize th a t the airbags
h ave dep loyed. The a irbags will deflate ate ly after deployment s o that th e front occupants can see th roug h the windshield again without terruption.
A ir
bags inflat e with a grea t deal of fo rce. Airbags can cause serious in juries when they infl ate and hit those who are sittin g too close, are out of
mental protection durin g certain kinds of frontal
collisio ns page 67, Safety belts.
Make s
ure that nothing is in the way of the airbags when th ey deploy. For example, items on your lap or o n th e seat could be pushed into yo ur body or fly dangero usly through the passenger ment w he n the ai rbag inflates and cause serio us personal injury.
T he areas outlined in red (dolled lines) and fig. 59 and fig. ind icate the airbag deployment zone. Never place o r aLtach
accessories or other o bjects (such as cup hold ers, telephone bracke ts, note pads, large, heavy or bulky objects) on the doors, on the w indshie ld, over or near the area marked in red (dotted lin es) .
Physical impairm ents and airbags
If yo u have a physica l impairment o r condition that prevents yo u f rom sitting properly o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly fastened
a n d reach ing the pe dal s, special modifications to
your ve hicle may be necess ary. The safety belt and airbagcan only provide optimum p rotection if you
are seated correct ly and can reach the p ed als.
thorized Volkswagen Service Facility or call the
te red by the electron ic control unit. seve rity
depends on speed and decele rati on as well as the mass and stiffn ess of the ve hicle or object in vo lved
in the cras h.
The front airbag s will not inflat e in sid e or rear lisio ns, in roll overs or if the ig niti on is swi tc h ed off .
T he front airbags will not inflate in all frontal sions. The trigger ing of th e a irbag system depends on th e ve hicle dece le rat ion rat e caused by the lisio n and registered by the electr onic control unit. If th is rat e is below the refer ence va lue grammed the control unit, th e a irba gs will not be trigge red, even though the vehicle may be badly damaged as a resu lt of the collision. Vehicl e
damage, repair costs or even the lack of ve hicl e damage is not necessarily an ind ication of whether
a n airbagshould inflat e or not. It is not possib le to
defi ne a range of vehicl e speeds w ill cove r
every possibl e kind and angle of impact that will
a lways trigger the airbag s, s ince th e c ircumstances
will vary con sid erably between one collis ion and a not her. Important facto rs include, for example , the nature (hard or soft) o f the objec t that the hicl e hit s, the angle of impact, ve hicle speed , etc.
When a n airbag deploys, fine dust i s released. This
i s normal and is not caused by fire in the ve hicle.
T hi s d ust is made up mostly of a powder used to
lub ricate the airbags as
s ions when the veh icle deceleration is high enough to depl oy the airbags. Airbags onl y deploy
once, and o nl y i n certain kinds of collisions. safet y belts are always there to offer protectio n in
th ose situ ation s in which airbags are no t s upposed to dep loy, or when they have already deployed; fo r example, when your vehicl e strikes or is st ru ck by
anothe r ve hicle after an initial coll is ion.
is just one o f the reasons w hy a n air bag is supplementary restraint and is not a substitute for a safe ty belt . The airbag syste m wo rks most
The air bags are pan of the overall passive vehicl e safe ty sys tem. The airbag system works most cie ntly when used with properly safety be lts and a proper seatin g posit ion
84 85
first r ea d and note th e int roduc tory information and h ee d th e on page242 .
Opening the engine hood
Befo re you open th e hood, make sure that the
w ind shi eld wiper arm s are res tin g on the w ind
fig. 14 9 . The engine hood is re
l ease d from its latc h by a
the seco ndary hoo d rele ase leve r fig. (arrow) and
th e hoo d dow n to overcome the res ista nce of th e g as-pressure
L et th e engine hood drop into th e hood latch do not press on it afterw ard!
If th e hoo d do es not close compl ete ly, o pe n it aga in and close it properly.
W h
en the ho od is properly clo sed, you ca n see that
it fits flu sh with th e oth er bod y parts. The indi cato r
light in the instrument clu ster will go out
Secondary hood release in th e radia tor
grille .
If
the h ood is not clos ed properly , it could fly up and block your view while you are driving. This can lead to a crash and serious pe rs onal injuries.
After clo sing the e n gine hood, ch eck that the hood releas e le ver is properly l a tc hed into the hood lat ch. The engine hood must be flush with the surrounding auto body parts.
If you ever notic e that tl1e hood latch is not properl y secu re d when the vehicl e is moving,
s top at once and close it.
Nev er le t anyone get in the way of the hood when closing it.
N ote
Make sure the windshield wiper arms are
resting on the winds hi eld before you open tJ1e hood. Otherwi se, the windshield wipers and the hood may be damaged.
Always put the windshield wiper arms down against the windshield before driving the vehicle.
