Table of contents
driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Pr oper occupant seating positions . . . . . . . 4
P eda l area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S tow ing luggag e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
R eporti ng safety defects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
General no te s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Why safe ty belts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . 15
Safety bel ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
ofe ty belt prelensioners . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . 25
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
I m port ant thing s to know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Fr ont airbag system - the basics . . . . . . . . . 31
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Monitoring th e Advanced Airbag Sys te m . 39
Side airbag s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Side Cur tain Prot ect ion™ airbags . . . . . . . . 48
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chi ld Se als . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
I ns talling child res tra int with a safety belt 60
A dd itional I nfo rmati on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
L ow er anchorages (Canada veh icl es: lower
universa l anchorage bars} . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7
In stalling a CRS using th e "LATCH " system 69
Where con I g el additional informa tion
about chi ld restraints and their use? 70
Alphabetical index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Table of contents
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Safe driving
Gene ral notes
Dear Vo lkswagen Driver
Plea se remembe r -safety first!
This booklet conta in s impo rtan t informa
tio n, tip s, suggest ions and wa rnings wh ic h
you sh ou ld r ead an d heed fo r your own
safety, the safety of your passen ge rs and
o th ers .
WARNING
Alwa ys make sure th at yo u follow the sugges
ti ons and heed the WARN INGS in thi s Boo klet.
Safety equipmen t
WARNING (continued)
It 's in your interes t an d in th e int erest of a ll
yo ur p ass enge rs.
• Addit io nal imp orta nt information that
need to know fo r yo ur own safety a nd the
safe ty of yo ur passengers and oth ers is in
other Booklet s of your Owner' s Lit erature .
• Thi s Owne r's Lit erature must alw ays re
m ain with your Volkswagen w hen eve r you
l e nd or se ll your vehicl e so that thi s imp ortan t
informa tion will always be ava ilable to the
driver and
The safe ty feat ures are part of the occu.pan t rest raint system and work togeth er to
help re duce the risk of injury in accident
Yo ur safe ty and the sa fety of your pa ssenge rs
s hou ldn 't b e left to ch ance. Adva nce s in t ech
n o logy have ma de a va riety of fea tur es ava ilable
to h elp reduc e the risk of injur y in a n acc id ent.
The follow ing is a listin g of ju st a few of the safe ty
fea tures in your Volk swage n:
• sophi sti cate d safe ty be lts for a ll sea ting posi
tion s,
• saf ety be lt fo rce lim iters for t he front scats
a nd out boa rd rear seating pos itio ns.
• safe ty belt pre te nsion ers for the fro nt o ut
board seati n g posi tions, for th e outboard re ar
sea tin g pos itio ns in com binatio n with optio nal
r ea r sid e air ba gs.
• safe ty belt heig h t adju stm ent for th e front
sea ts,
• fron t airbags.
• sid e airbags for th e fro nt sea ts,
• Sid e Curt ain
airbag s.
2 Safe driving
• LATCH a nchora ges fo r child r estra in ts (in
Ca nada , the t erm s "to p tet her" w ith "lowe r uni
versal a nch orage s'' (or ''lowe r uni versal a n
c h orage bars" are use d
to desc ribed th e sys te m
• head restraints for eac h se ating position , ano
• adju stab le s teer ing co lumn .
T hese indi vidual safety fea tur es, can work to
ge ther as
sys tem to help protec t yo u and your
pa sse nge rs in a w ide ra nge of accid ent s. T hese
feature s ca n't wo rk as a syste m i f th ey are not a l
ways co rrec tly adjusted a nd correc tly use d!
Th is Booklet pro vid es imp ortant inform atio n
about
t h ese fe atur es are important, h ow
t h ey work to help prot ect yo u and your pa sse n
ge rs and how they mu st b e ad justed and use d to
ge t th e grea test ben efit and red uce th e lik eli
hoo d of inj ur y. T he Book le t a lso co nta in s im po r
WA HN INGS that you and your passengers
mus t a lw ays rea d and h eed in orde r to help re-
du ce the risk of per sona l injur y.
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
the
u pp er edge of the r estrain! is le ve l
the
top of your head , but no lower
e ye
l evel and so ii is as clos e to
back of your
h ead as possib le
3 and 4. A lways
raise
head re strain! for the rear center
se alin g position whenever the se at i s oc
cupied.
A dju sti ng head 3. 1 and Equipme nt", c hapt er "Se ats and storag e."
LD, WARNING
Driving without head restraint s or with im
prop erl y adju sted head re str aint s in crea ses
th e risk of serious injuries in a colli sion. To
h elp reduce the risk of injury: Fi
g. 4 Correctly adjusted head restra int viewed
from the side
WARN ING (continued)
• Always drive with the head restraints in
p la ce and properl y adjusted.
• Every person in the vehicl e must ha ve a
properly adjusted head restraint.
• Always make sur e each person in the ve
hicle properly adjusts their head restraint.
Each head re straint mu st be adjusted ac
cording to occupants' size so that th e upper
e d ge is as eve n with the top of the person's
h ead , but no lower than eye leve l a nd so it is as
clo se to the back of to th e head a s possible.
• Never attempt to adjust head res traint
while drivin g. If yo u have dri ven off and must
adju st the dri ver headre st for any reason, first
s top the vehicle safely before attempting to
adjust the head re straint .
• Childr en mu st a lways be properly re
s trained in a child restraint that i s ap propriat e
for their age and siz e
51, "Chi ld
safe ty".
Safe driving 7
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Active head restraints for the front seats
During a rea r e nd collisio n the passenge rs
in th e vehicle are pressed against th e sea t
back rest. The res ultin g pressu re th at the
body exe rts aga in st th e bac kres t ac tivates
t h e ac tive head rest raint s in the front seats .
Th e front hea d res train ts wi ll mo ve fo r
w ard and upwa rd at the sa me tim e to help
r e duce the risk o f n eck injuri es.
WARNING
Driving without hea d re stra ints or with im
properl y ad justed head r estraint s in creases
th e risk or seriou s injuri es in a collision . To
help reduce th e risk or injury:
• Always drive
th e hea d r estra ints in
place and prop erl y a dju sted. Remember that
th e rear center he ad r estraint is not h eight ad
ju stabl e and that it mu st be rai sed up all th e
w ay w hen eve r the center rear seat is occ upied .
• Every per son in the vehicle must have a
properly adjuste d head restraint.
• Always make su re each perso n in the ve
hicl e prop erl y adju sts th eir head r estraint.
WA RNING (continue d)
Eac h head restraint mu st be adju ste d ac
cord ing to oc cupants ' size so that the upper
edge is as eve n with the top or the person' s
h ead, but no lo wer than eye level and so it is as
clo se to th e back or to the h ead as possibl e.
• Nev er attempt to adjust head res traint
whil e dri vin g. Ir you have driven
and must
adju st the driver h eadr est any reaso n, stop the vehicl e attempting to
adju st the hea d re straint.
• Children mu st always b e properl y re
strained in a c hild restraint that is appropriat e
their age a nd size 5 1, " C hild
Tips
The acti ve head res train ts ca n also ac tivate
w hen p assenger push es up agains t th e ba ck
r es t wi th en ough force exa mpl e yourse lf ju st into th e seat abr uptly) or if th e
h ea d res train t is push ed from behind. This is
n orm al and will not da m age th e head res traint.
I t w ill go back t o its o riginal pos itio n rig h t
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant rest raint system ca n on ly redu ce th e risk of if v eh icle
pa nts ar e prop erly sea ted .
Improp er se atin g po siti ons ca n cause se
r io us injur y or deat h. Safe ty belts ca n on ly
wo rk whe n th ey are prop erl y pos ition ed
o n th e body . Impr oper seati ng posit ions
r e du ce the e ffect ive ne ss of sa fe ty belt s a nd
w ill eve n inc rease the ris k or injury and
d ea th by m ov ing t he sa fety belt to criti cal
a reas of the body. Imp roper seating posi
ti ons a ls o in crease the risk of seriou s injur y
and d eath when a n airb ag de plo ys and
s trikes an occ upant who is not in the
prop er sea ting po sition.
driver is res pon
s ibl e for the sa fe ty of all vehicl e occ upant s
a nd especiall y for childr en. There for e:
8 Safe driving
-Never a llow anyone to ass um e an im
proper seating pos it ion when th e ve hicl e is
bei ng
lists onl y so me or the pos itions
that will increase the risk or ser io us injury and
d ea th. Our h ope is
th ese ex amples will help
mak e you more awa re of sea ting po siti ons that
ar e da ngero us.
Therefore, whenever the vehic le is moving:
• neve r sta nd up in the vehicle
• neve r stand on the seats
• neve r kneel on th e seats
• neve r rid e with the seat back recl ined
• never lie clown on th e re ar sea t
Safety belts
General not es
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety b elt s correctly saves lives!
Fig . 5 Occ upan ts wear ing safety belts
This Bookl et explain s why safet y belt s are
nece ssary, ho w the y work and how to ad
ju st and wear them correc tly.
Number of seats
Yo ur vehicl e has a tota l of five se ating position s: in the fro nt and three in th e rear. Each
sea tin g p ositio n ha s a sa fety b elt.
WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of seriou s per sona l
injury and d eat h.
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
- Read all the information th at follows
and heed all of th e in struction s and warn
in gs in thi s booklet.
WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of seriou s personal
injury and death.
• Safety belts are t he sin gle mo st efTec tive
means available to reduce the risk of se rious
injur y and death in automobile accidents.
your protection and that of your passengers,
a lwa ys corre ctl y wear safety belts when the ve
hicle is moving =;fig. 5.
• Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired per sons mu st
use safe ty belts.
l..ik eall vehicle occupant s, they arc more likely
to be seriou sly injur ed if the y do not wear
safety bel ts. The best way to protect
fet us is to
protect the mother -throughout the entire
pregnancy.
WAR NING (con tinued)
• Never strap more than one person, in
cluding small children, into any belt. It is espe
cially dangerous to pla ce a sa fety belt over a
c hild sittin g on yo ur lap.
• Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than ther e arc safe ty belt s available.
• Be sure eve ryone riding in the vehicle is
properly res train ed with a separat e safety belt
or child restraint.
Safety belts 13
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
WARN ING (continued)
• Neve r strap m ore than one perso n, in
cluding small ch ildr en, into belt.
• Neve r p lace a safety belt over a child sitting
o n your lap.
• Always keep fee t in the foot we ll in front of
th e scat w hile th e ve hicl e is being driven.
• Neve r let a n y perso n r ide with feet on the
instrument panel or sticking out th e window
or on th e sca t.
• Never remove a safety be lt whil e th e ve
hicle i s mo ving. Do ing so w ill increase yo ur
ri sk of being injur ed or kill ed.
• Neve r wear be lts twi sted.
• Never wear bel ts over rigid o r breakable
ob jects in or on your clothing, su ch as eye
glasses, pen s, keys, etc., as these may cause in
jur y.
• Neve r allo w sa fet y belts to become dam
aged by being caugh t in door or sea t hardware.
• Neve r wear t he s hou lder part of the be lt
und er you r ar m or otherwi se ou t of posi tion.
• Severa l layers of heavy clothing may inter
fere w ith correc t position ing of belt s and re
duce the overa ll eff ect ive ness of t he sys tem.
18 Safety belt s
WARNING (continued)
• Alwa ys keep b elt buckles free of a nyt hing
that may prevent th e buckl e from latc hing se
cure ly.
• Never use comfor t clips or dev ices that
crea te slac k in the sh ould er bel t. Howeve r,
s pecial clips may be required for the correc t
u se of some child restraint systems.
• Torn o r frayed safety belt s can tear a nd
damag ed belt hardw are can break in a colli
s ion. In spect belts reg ularl y. lf webb ing, bind
in gs, buckl es, or retractors are damaged, h ave
b elt s rep laced by an authorized Volkswage n
dealer or qualifi ed worksho p.
• Safety be lts that have been worn and
l oaded in an accident must b e re pl ace d w ith
the correct re placement safety belt by a n au
t h orized Volkswage n dea le r. Replacement
may be necessary even if damage canno t be
clea rly see n. Anchorages t hat were loaded
mu st a lso be inspecte d.
• Neve r remove, modify, disassembl e, or try
t o repa ir th e safe ty belts yourse lf.
• Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
m ay not work co rrectl y and can impair the
fun ction o f th e in erti a ree l
3.4 "Ti ps
an d Adv ice", c hap te r "C lea nin g and
Pro tect ion."
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Child restraints on the front seat some important things to know
- Be sure lo read the import ant informa
tion and hea d th e WARNINGS for impor
tant detai ls abou t ch ildr en and Advanced
Airbags
5 1.
Ev en though your ve hicl e is equipp ed wi th an
Ad vanced A irbag S yste m , mak e certain all
chi ldren, e spec iall y thos e 12 years and youn ger,
a lwa ys ride in the back se at prop erly restrain ed
fo r th eir age a nd size. The airbag on the pa s
s e nger side mak es th e front sea t a pote ntially
dangerou s pla ce fo r a ch ild to ride. Th e front sea t
i s not the safest pla ce for
chil d in forward
faci ng c hild sea t. It can be very dangerou s
p la c e fo r an in fa nt or a child in a re a rward -facing
s ea t.
Th e Ad vanc ed Airbag System in yo ur vehi cle ha s
b ee n ce rtified
com ply wi th th e Requi re m en ts
of United Fed era l Moto r Ve hicl e Sta nd ard 208 as applica ble at the time your ve
hicl e was manufactured .
Th e S tandard req uires th e fro nt airbag on the
pa ssenge r sid e
be turn ed off ("s upp re ss e d" ) if
a ch ild up to about one year of ag e restra ined in
on e of th e re ar-fa cin g or forward -faci ng infa nt
r es tra int s liste d in Federal Motor Ve hicle Safety
Sta nda rd 208 with whi ch th e Advan ced Ai rbag
S ys te m in your vehi cle wa s certifi ed has bee n in
stalled o n the front pass en ger se at. For a lis ting
o f th e child res traint s th at were u sed to ce rt ify
c omp lia nce w ith th e US Saf ety S tanda rd
53 .
Th e PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght in th e in
st rum ent panel tells you when th e fro nt Ad
v a nce d Airbag on the passen ger sid e has been
turned off by the ele ctro nic cont rol
The PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light:
• will stay on if th e fro nt p ass eng er seat i s not
oc cupied,
• will stay on if t here is a small child or ch ild re
s tra int on th e front passe ng er sea t,
• go off if th e front passe nge r is occ u
pied by an ad ult as re g is te red by th e w eigh t
s e n sing mat
39, "Mon itor ing the Ad
va nce d Airbag S yste m ".
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes on
wh en th e con trol unit detec ts a tota l wei gh t on the
pa
ssen ger sea t th at requ ires th e front
a ir bag to be turned off.
I f the tota l w eig ht on the fron t pa sse nger seat is
mor e th an
of a typical I year- old chil d le ss than the weight of a sma ll ad ult , th e front
a ir bag on the passenger side ca n dep loy (th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light do es not co me
o n ). If t he PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
no t come o n, t he fron t airb ag o n the pas se nger
s id e has not bee n tu rn ed off by the e lectro nic
c ont ro l u ni t and can dep loy if th e co ntro l u nit
s ens es an impact th at meet s th e cond ition s
sto re d in its m em ory.
For exampl e, the air b ag may dep loy if:
• a small ch ild that i s heavie r
a ryp ic al I
y ea r-old c hild is o n th e front passenger seat (r e
gard less of wh eth er th e child is in on e of the
c hild seats liste d
53), or
• a chil d who ha s outgrown c hild res tra int s is
on the front pa ssenger sea t.
I f th e fro nt pa ssenger airbag i s turn ed off,
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ig ht s up in the in
s tru ment clu ste r and stays on.
Th e fr on t a irbag on the pass e nger sid e will de
plo y if th e PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght does
co me o n an d stay o n even if a small ad ult or
te enager, o r a pa sse nger w ho is s itt in g up
right with th ei r back against a no n-re clin ed
back res t w ith th eir fe et on the ve hicle floor in
fr ont of t he se at is on the front passeng er se at
4 , " Proper occupant sea tin g pos itio ns" .
If th e front p assenger air bag deplo ys , th e Fe dera l
Standard r equir es th e airb ag to m eet th e "low
deplo ym en t cri te ri a to re duc e th e ris k of in
ju ry throu gh int era ction with the airbag .
risk" dep loy men t oc cu rs in t hos e tak e place lower d ecelerat ion s as defined in
the e le ctron ic c ontro l uni t 39, "PAS
SENG ER BAG OFF l ight".
Alway s re m ember ,
child seat or infant carr ie r
i nsta lle d on front se at may be struck and
kn ocke d o ut of position b y the rapid ly inflat ing
pa sseng er's airbag in a frontal co llis ion. The
a irb ag co uld g re a tly red uce the eff ect ive ness of
th e c hild res traint a nd even se ri ou sly inj ur e th e
ch ild dur ing in flat ion. .,_
Airbag system 29
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Fo r thi s reaso n, a n d becaus e th e ba ck sea t is the
sa fest place for childr en -whe n properl y re
s train ed accordi ng to thei r age and size - we
s trongl y re comm end that childr en always sit in
th e ba ck seat
51, "C hild safety" .
WARNING
A child in a rca nvar d-fa cin g child scat in
s talled o n front passeng er sca t w ill be seri
ous ly injured and can be kil le d if th e front
airbag inflat es -even w ith a n Advanced A irbag
Syste m.
• The inflating a irbag w ill hit the c hild sc at
or infant carrie r wit h grea t for ce and
will smash the c hild sea t a nd chil d aga inst the
backre st, ce nter arm rest, doo r or roo f.
• A lways insta ll rear-faci ng c hild scats on the
rea r sc at.
• If yo u mu st insta ll a rea rwa rd facin g child
se at on the front passenger scat because of ex
cep tional circum stan ces an d the PASS ENGER
AIR BA G OFF light docs not come on and sta y
o n , imm ediate ly in sta ll th e rea r-fa cing child
sca t in a rear seating pos ition and have the
a irb ag sys te m in spe cte d by yo ur Volkswage n
d ea le r.
WARNING
A n imp roperly in sta lled chi ld re straint can in
t er fer e wi th th e airbag as it deplo ys an d ser i
o usly injur e or eve n kill the child -even with
an Advanced Airb ag Syste m . If , in excep tio nal
ci rc um sta nces, you mu st in sta ll a fo nvar d
faci ng ch ild restrain t on th e front p assenge r's
sca t:
• Forward -facing child scats in stalled o n the
fr ont pa ssenger's scat may interfe re w ith the
de ploy men t o f th e a irbag an d ca use se rious
per so nal inju ry to th e child.
• Always mak e sure the fon vard -faci ng sca t
h as been d esig ned an d
by its manu
facture r fo r u se on front scat w ith a pa s
senge r fr ont and side ai rbag.
• Alwa ys care fully fo llo w the manufact ure r's
in stru ctions provid ed w ith th e chil d se at or
ca rri er.
30 Airbag syste m
WARN ING (cont inued)
• Never put the forward -facin g child re
s tra int up against or very near th e in strum ent
p anel.
• Always move the pass enger scat int o its re
ar mos t pos it ion in th e sea t's fore a nd aft ad
ju stm en t ra nge, as far away from the airbag as
po ssible before installin g th e fon va rd -facing
c h ild restraint. The backrest must b e ad juste d
t o an upright pos ition.
• Always make sur e tha t nothin g pr even ts
th e front passe nge r's sca t from being mo ved
to
r ear most pos ition in its fore a nd ad
ju stm ent ran ge.
• Neve r place a dditional items on th e sca t
that can in crease th e to tal weigh t regis tere d by
the weig ht-se nsing mat and can ca use inju ry
in a cras h.
• Make sure th at the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ligh t co mes on and stay s on all th e tim e
w henever the ignitio n is sw itch ed on.
• If th e PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light doe s
n ot co me on and stay on, imm edi atel y in sta ll
th e for ward- facing child seat in a rea r se ating
po sition a nd have the airb ag syste m insp ec ted
b y you r Vo lkswagen dea ler.
WARNING
To re du ce the ri sk of serious inju ry, mak e sure
th at the PASS ENGE R AIR BAG OFF light is on
w heneve r a c hild res tra int is in stalled on th e
fro nt pass enger seat and the ig ni tio n i s
s witc hed on.
• If th e PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht docs
not sta y on, p erform th e ch ec ks desc ribed
39, "Mo nitor ing th e Adv anced A irbag
Sys tem".
• Ta ke the child re stra int off the front pas
s e n ger sea t and in stall it pro perl y at on e of the
rear seat po siti ons if th e PA SSE NG ER AIR BAG
OFF lig ht d ocs no t stay o n.
•
th e airbag system inspe cted by yo ur
Vo lkswage n dealer imme diately
• J\lways carefu lly fo llow i nstru cti ons from
c hild restraint manufactur ers w hen insta llin g
ch ild