• never up again st th e in strument panel
• neve r sit on the ed ge of t he sea t
• never sit sideway s
• neve r lean out the wi ndow
• never put your feet o ut the w indow
• never put your fee t o n th e in strument panel
• never rest yo ur f eet on the
cu shi on or
back of the se at
• never rid e in th e footwe ll
Pedal area
Pedals
Booklet 2 .1 Safety first
• never ride in th e lu ggage comp artment.
WARNING
Improper seating position s in crease the risk of
se rious personal injury and death whenever a
ve hicle is bein g used.
• Alway s mak e sure that all vehicl e occu
pant s stay in a proper seat ing position and arc
properly re strained wheneve r the vehicl e is
be ing used
The pedals must always be free to move and mu st neve r be inte1f ered with by a
floor mat or any other object .
Make sure that a ll pedals move freel y w ith out in
t e rf er enc e and that nothing pre vents them from
r e turnin g to th eir orig inal po siti ons.
Onl y use floo r mat s th at l eav e the pedal area free
a nti can
sec ured with floor faste n ers.
l fa brak e cir cuit fai ls, in cre ase d brake pedal
t ra ve l is re qu ire d to b ring th e ve hicle to a full
Floor mats on the driver side
WARNING
Pedal s that cannot mov e fre ely can cause loss
of vehicle contro l a nd increase the risk of se
riou s inj ury.
• Neve r p lace any ob jects in the driver' s foot
we ll. An object cou ld get into the pedal area
and interfe re wit h pedal function. In case o f
s udden braking or an accident, you wo uld not
be abl e to brake or accelera te!
• Always make sure that nothing can fa ll or
mov e into the d river's foo t we ll.
Always floor mats that can be securely attached to floor mat fasteners and
do not int e,f ere
free movement of th e peda ls.
Mak e su re that the floor mat s are prop
e rl y sec ured and can not mo ve and inter
fe re w ith th e
Use onl y flo or m ats that leave the pedal area unand that fi rmly secured so that
th ey ca nnot slip out o f po sition . Prop erly se
c urin g th e floor ma ts w ill pre vent th em from
s lidin g in to po siti ons th at co uld int erf ere wit h
th e pedal s or imp air saf e o perati on of yo ur ve
hicl e in oth er w ays . You
can ob tain suitabl e floo r mat s fro m your au
th orized Volk swa gen dea ler.
WARNING
Peda ls that cannot mo ve freel y can result in a
l oss o f vehicle control and increase the risk of
ser ious pe rs on al in jury.
• Always make sure that floor mats are prop -
erly secured.
Safe driving 9
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
WARNING (conlinuod)
• Neve r place or install floor mats or other
floor cover ings in th e vehicle that can n ot be
proper ly secure d in place to prevent them
from slip pin g and
with the pedals
or the abili ty to contro l the vehicle.
• Neve r place or insta ll floor mats or o ther
floor coverings on top of alr eady ins ta ll ed
floor mats. Additiona l floor mat s and oth er
Stowing luggage
Loading the luggage compartment
WARN ING (con tinued)
coverings w ill reduce the size of the pedal area
an d int erf ere with the pedals.
• Always properly reinstall and sec ure floor
ma ts that have been removed for cleaning.
• Always make sure that objects can not fa ll
int o the driver foot well w hile th e vehicle is
moving. Objects ca n become trapped under
th e brake pedal and acce lerator peda l ca using
a loss of vehicl e
All luggag e and object s ,n ust b e prop erly stowed and secured the luggage
compartment.
Loos e item s in th e luggag e compartmen t
c an shi ft sudden ly chang ing vehicle han
dling charact eri stic s. Lo ose item s ca n also
in crea se the ri sk of se ri ous pe rs onal in
j ur y in a sudd en veh icl e m an euv er or in a
co llision.
- Distribute the load evenly in th e lu g
gag e compar tment .
- Alwa ys pla c e and properly sec ure heav y
it em s as far forward a s po ss ibl e in the lug
gage compar tm ent.
- S tow hea vy lugg age as low as possibl e
in the luggag e compar tm ent.
- Secure luggag e usin g th e tic -dow ns
pro vid ed
11 .
- -Ma ke su re that the re ar sea t ba ck is se
cu re ly lat ch ed in pl ace.
WARNING
Improp erl y s tor ed luggage or other items can
fly through the vehicl e cau sing serious per
so nal inju ry in th e event of hard braking or an
accident. To help reduce the risk of se rious
personal injury:
10 Safe driving
WARN ING (continued)
• Always put objects, for examp le, luggage o r
oth er he avy item s in the luggage compa rt-
WARNING
Heavy loads will influ ence the way yo ur ve
hicle handle s. To help reduce the risk of a lo ss
of contro l lea din g to serio us personal injury:
• Alway s keep in mind when t ransporting
h ea vy objects, that a c hange in the ce nter of
grav ity can also ca use c hang es in ve hicle han
d lin g:
- Always distribut e the load as eve nly as
po ss ibl e.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compart ment as poss ible .
• Never excee d the Gross Axle Weig ht Rating
or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specified
on the safety complian ce s ticke r on the lef t
door jamb. Exceed ing permissib le we ig ht
s tandards can cause the vehicl e handl e diff er
e ntl y.
• Please observe information on safe driv ing
WARNING
To help preven t poiso nous ex haust gas bei ng draw n in to the ve hicle, always kee p th e
r ea r li d closed w hile dri vin g.
• Never tra nspo rt objec ts la rger than those
fill ing co mplete ly i nto
lu ggage area be
ca use re ar lid cann ot be full y close d.
• If you abso lutely m usl d rive
th e rear
li d ope n, obse rve fo llow ing notes to red uce ris k of poiso ning:
C lose a ll win dows,
C lose the power
Ope n all ai r o ut lets i n the instrume nt
panel,
Swi tc h olT air reci rc ul ati on,
Se t th e fr esh air fan lo h ig hes t speed .
WARNING
Always make su re that doo rs, the power all w indows a nd rea r lid a re secure ly
closed an d locked lo re du ce the r is k of injur y
w hen
ve hicl e is no t be ing used.
Tie-downs
Bo oklet 2 .1 Safety fir st
WARN ING
• Afte r clo sin g th e rea r lid, always make sure il i s proper ly closed a nd locked.
• Never leave your vehicle u nattended espe
cia lly
rear lid open. A chil d co uld
craw l in to ve hicle thro ugh th e lu ggage
com partmen t a n d cl ose t he rear lid o r wi ndow
b eco min g tra pp ed a nd un abl e to get ou l.
Be ing trapped in a ve hicle ca n lea d lo se rious
p ersona l injury.
• Neve r lei c hild ren play in or around th e ve
hi cle.
• Never le t p assenge rs ride in the lu ggage
co mp artm ent. Vehicle occ upan ts
a lways
be proper ly re stra ined in one of the veh icle's
sea ting positions ..
Mak e sure heat in g w ires in re a r
w indo w ca nnot b e scraped and damaged b y
in ve hi cle .
Tip s
Air ci rc ula tion h elps redu ce window fogg ing.
D o not co ver slot s becaus e can
pre vent stal e air from escap ing the vehicl e.
The lu ggag e compartm ent is equipped w ith Jou r ti e-downs to secure luggage and
other items.
U se 10 sec ure y our cargo prop erl y IO , " Loadin g th e lu gg age compa rtm ent ".
l n a collis ion ,
laws of p hys ics mean even
s m alle r are lo ose in veh icle w ill
b ecome hea vy mi ssiles can cause se rious
injur y. h em s in v ehicl e po ssess e nerg y which
v ar y ve hicl e spee d and wei gh t of the
i t em. Veh icl e s peed is s ignifi cant facto r.
Fo r ex amp le. in a
co lli sion at a sp eed of 30
mph (48 km /h ). th e fo rces ac tin g o n a IO lb s. (4 .5
kg )
arc 2 0 l ime s norma l of item. Thi s m ea ns o f th e
i t e m wo uld sudd en ly be ab out 200 lb s. (9 0 kg) .
You can im agine
inju ries a 200 lbs. (90
kg ) flyin g free ly th rou gh pa sse nger
c ompar tm ent cou ld cau se in a colli sion like thi s.
WARNING
Weak, damaged or im pro per stra ps use d l ose
c u re item s lo lie -d owns can fail durin g hard
braking or i n collisio n an d cause se rious pe r
so nal injur y.
• A lways use suit abl e m ountin g str aps a nd
p ro per ly se cur e ite ms lo the lie-downs in
lu ggage compartment lo he lp preven t items
from or flying forwa rd as dangero us
m issi le s.
• When th e rear seal backres t is fo lded down,
a lway s use sui tab le mo unt ing stra ps an d
proper ly sec ure items to the tie- downs in the
lu ggage compa rtme nt l o help prevent item s
Saf e drivin g 11
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
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicl e ha s a w arning s yste m for the driv er and front seat pa sseng er to r e
mind
about the importan ce of bucklin g-up.
Fig. 6 Safety bel t warn ing lig ht
B efore driving off, always :
Faste n you r safet y be lt and mak e sure
you are w ear ing it prop erl y.
Ma ke s ure th at your p asse nge rs als o
bu ckle up and proper ly w ear their sa fe ty
b elt s.
Prot ect yo ur chi ldr en with a c hild re
s traint sy ste m appropri ate fo r th e s ize and
ag e o f the ch ildren.
The wa rning lig ht in th e in strum ent cluste r
li g ht s up when t he ig nition is s wit ch ed on a s a
r e minder
to fa ste n th e sa fe ty belts. In addition ,
y o u w ill hear a warnin g so und and see th e fol
l ow ing m ess age displa yed: Please fasten s eatbelt!
14 Safety belts
The warnin g light I di spla y and th e warn ing
so un d w ill go o ut/stop w hen th e dri ver an d front
p asse nger co rrec tly faste n s th e s afety be lt.
the ig ni tio n i s sw itch ed on , th e warning
t o ne w ill co me o n fo r a bou t 6sec ond s alo n g wi th
a wa rnin g ligh t
in the in strum ent clu ste r if ei
th er th e dri ver and front sea t pa ssenge r ha s not
fa ste ned th eir saf ety belt. As s oon as th e dri ver
and front seat pa sse nger have fa ste n ed th eir
sa fe ty belts, the warnin g to ne and the wa rning
li g ht
sto p.
If both the dr iver and fron t se at pa sse nger h ave
no t buc kled- up w ithi n abou t
24 sec onds afte r
t h e wa rning to ne ha s s to pp ed, the w arn ing ton e
w ill soun d a gain for ab out 6 second s. Th e
w arnin g to n e w ill sound re peate dl y fo r ab out
6 sec ond s at 24 seco nd int erv als unt il bo th the
dri ver and fr ont p asse nge r have buckl ed-up.
Th e sa fety belt warnin g sys te m is ac tive for
a bo ut
5 minut es and durin g thi s tim e th e
w arn ing lig ht in th e in strum ent clu ste r w ill sta y
o n.
F as te n you r sa fe ty be lt now and make sure that
y our passenge rs als o proper ly p ut on their
safe ty be lts.
19 is le ft at
ta ch ed to th e sa fe ty belt bu ck le, th e s afe ty bel t
w arn ing sys te m will se nse that th e safety belt for
th at sea t is bein g use d and the w arnin g to ne w ill
n ot sound even th ou gh th e sea t is occ upi ed and
t h e safe ty belt is not b ein g use d.
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
it 's po ssibl e to use the to brace the body a ,ninor collision.
It 's simp ly not
Fi g. 11 Driver is co rrectly re strained in o s udden
broki ng ma neuver .
Safely belt s used prop erl y can make a big diff er
ence. Safet y belts help to keep passe ngers in
the ir sea ls , gra dually r edu ce e nergy levels ap
pli ed
to the body in co llision s. and help preve nt
th e unc ontroll ed mo veme nl tha t can cause se
riou s injur ies. In ad di1i on, safe ty belt s redu ce
th e clang er of being thro wn ou1 o f th e ve hicl e.
Safe ty belt s atta ch passengers 10 the car and giv e
th em t he ben efi t of b eing
down more
ge nll yor "sof tly" through lhe "g ive" in the saf ety
b e lts, cru mp le zo ne s
other saf ely fea1 ures
e n gin ee re d into toda y's vehicl es. By "ab sorb ing"
t h e kinet ic ener gy ov er
longe r per iod of lime , th
e fo rces o n 1h e body be come more "tolerable "
and less likely to c ause injur y.
A lthoug h 1hese exa mples are ba sed on a frontal
co llision,
belt s can also sub sla nt ially re
duc e the risk of inju ry in 01h er kin ds of crash es.
So . w heth er yo u're on a long 1rip or ju sl go ing to
lh e c orner stor e, always buckle up and make
s ur e oth ers do, too. Acci denl statist ics sh ow 1h at
ve hicle occ upan 1s prop erl y wea ring sa fe ty
ha ve lower risk of bein g in jur ed and a much
b elie r ch an ce of in collis io n. Properl y
u sin g safe ty bell s also great ly in cre a ses the
abili 1y of 1 he s uppl em ent al a irbags 10 do their
job in a collisio n . Fo r thi s rea son, wea ring a
safe ty belt is lega lly re quir ed in mo sl cou ntries
includin g mu ch of th e Un ited
and
Canada .
A lth ough your Volk swage n i s eq uipped wilh a ir
ba gs. yo u still have to we ar th e safe ly be lts pro
v id ed. Fro nt a irba gs, for examp le,
a cti va ted
on ly in some frontal collisio ns. Th e front airb ags
a re no t acli vated in all fron ta l co lli sio ns, in sid e
and rea r co llisio ns. in rollo vers o r in cas es wh ere
is no t e nou gh de celeration through impac t
to the front of the vehicle. Th e sa me go es for the
01 hcr airbag sys1ems in yo ur Volk sw agen. So, al
w ays
you r saf ety belt and mak e sure ev ery
bo dy in ve hicle is prop erly
Impo rtant safety instructions about safety belts
Safety bel ts must alway s be cor rect ly pos i ri on ed across the strongest bones of you r
body.
- Always wea r saf ety bells as ill ustra ted
and descr ibed in thi s Bookl et.
- Make su re th at yo ur sa fet y be lts a rc a l
ways rea dy fo r u se and arc no t da ma ged.
WARNING
Not wea ring sa fe ty belt s or wearing t hem im
prop erl y inc re as es the ri sk of se rious per sona l
WAR NING (continued)
injury and death. Safety belts ca n w ork onl y
w hen u sed correct ly.
• Always fas te n yo ur safety belt s cor rect ly
before dri vin g o ff and make sure all pa sse n
ge rs are cor rec tly res tra in ed.
•
m ax imum protection, sa fel y belt s
mu st be po sitione d cor rectly on th e
body.
Safety belts 17
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."
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Sa fe ty fir st -eve rybody buckle up!
Fig. 12 Belt buck le and tongue fo r th e dr iver's seat
To pro vid e maximum prot ectio n, sa fety
b elt s
alw ays be po siti oned cor rectly
o n
weare r's bod y 20.
- Adju st
fro nt sea t and head restra int
co rrec tly
4.
- Mak e su re th e seat back of the rea r sea t
b ench i s in an upright pos ition and se
cu rely latche d in plac e before usin g th e
sa fe ty
- Hold !he be lt b y ton gu e and pull it
eve nly across the ch es t and pel vis
-th e tongue into correct
bu ckle for your seat until you h ear
latch
sec urely
19, fig. 12 .
- Pull on
belt to mak e sure that it is se
cure ly latc hed in the bu ckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
E ve ry
b elt i s equipp ed with an aut om ati c
belt retrac tor on th e sho uld er bell. Thi s fea ture
l oc ks th e belt when the
is pu lled ou t fast ,
during hard braking and in a collision. The belt
m ay also lock
yo u d rive a stee p
hill or thro ugh a sh arp cur ve. Durin g no rma l
dri vin g th e belt le ts yo u mo ve freel y.
Booklet 2 .1 Safety first
Belt prete nsio ne r
T he re tracto rs for the drive r,
pa sse nger,
a nd rea r outboard seating po sition s are
e quipp ed wit h a belt pr ete nsio ner that h elp s
th at h elp s to t ight en th e safe ty belt and remo ve
s lac k w hen th e pr etens ioner is act iva te d. Th e
fun ction o f the pr eten sio ner is m onit ored b y a
wa rnin g light
39.
Switc hable l ocking feature
Every safety belt excep t fo r th e one on th e dr ive r
se at is eq uippe d wit h a sw itchable locking fea
tur e th at mu st be use d when the saf ety b elt is
used
1 0 att ach a child seal. Be sur e to read the
imp orta nt in formation about thi s feature
60 .
WARNING
Imp roperl y position ed safe ty belt s ca n ca use
se riou s personal injury in an accident.
• Saf ety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seat back is upright and belt s arc
c o rr ectly positioned on the body.
• Alway s m ake sure that th e re ar sea t back
res t to which th e center re ar safety belt is at
t ached is sec urely la tc h ed when ever th e rear
center safety belt i s bei ng use d
3.1. If
the b ackres t is n ot sec urely latc hed, the pa s
s enger will move fon vard wit h the backres t
during sudden braking, in a sudd en maneuver
a nd especially in a cras h.
• Never attach the safe ty belt to the bu ckl e
for another seat. Attachi ng the belt to th e
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effective
ness and can cause se rious per sona l injury .
• A pa ssenge r w ho is not corre ctl y restrain ed
can be se riou sly injur ed by th e sa fe ty belt it self
w hen
60.
Safety belts 19