2008 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT belt

The safety belt warning lighticomes on for 6 seconds when the ignition is switched on. A warning chime also sounds for up to 6 seconds if the driver's safety belt is not buckled. The chime stops sooner if the driver buckles his or her safety belt. The warning light and the chime go out when both driver and front passenger have bucked their safety belts.
If the driver and front seat passenger do not both fasten their safety belts within about 24 seconds after the chime stops and the vehicle is moving at a speed of more than about 15 mph (25 km/h), the chime will again sound for about 6 seconds, then go off for about 24 seconds, then sound again for about another 6 seconds. The same thing happens if one of the safety belts is fastened and then unfastened while the vehicle is moving. The safety belt warning light i also flashes. The warning chime continues to sound at 24 second intervals for up to 2 minutes. No chime sounds at speeds of less than about 5 mph (8 km/h).
If the ignition is switched on, the safety belt warning light ª stays on until the driver and front passenger have both buckled their safety belts.
WARNING
Not wearing a safety belt or wearing an improperly positioned safety belt increases the risk of severe personal injury or death. Safety belts offer optimum protection only when used correctly.
Frontal collisions and laws of physics

Fig. 70 A vehicle with passengers not wearing safety belts approaches a wall.

Fig. 71 A vehicle with passengers not wearing safety belts hits a wall.

The physical principles of a frontal collision are simple. Both the moving vehicle and the passenger
possess energy ⇒ fig. 70, which varies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engineers call this energy “kinetic energy.”
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy has to be “absorbed” in a crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor. If your speed doubles (for example, from 15 mph to 30 mph - 25 km/h to 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the occupants of the vehicle in the above example are not using safety belts, they are not “attached” to the vehicle. In a frontal collision, they will keep moving at the same speed the vehicle was moving just before the crash, until something stops them - here, the inside of the passenger compartment. Because the occupants of the vehicle in the example are not wearing safety belts, their
entire kinetic energy will be absorbed by impact with the wall ⇒ fig. 71.
The same principles apply to people in a vehicle that is in a frontal collision on the highway. Even at city speeds of 20–30 mph (30–50 km/h), the forces acting on the body can reach one ton (2,000 lbs or 1,000 kg) or more. At greater speeds, these forces are even higher.
Of course, the laws of physics don't apply just to frontal collisions; they determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisions.
What happens to passengers not wearing a safety belt

Fig. 72 The unbelted driver is thrown forward.

Fig. 73 Unbelted passengers in the rear seats are thrown forward on top of the belted driver.

Accident statistics show that vehicle occupants properly wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being injured and a much better chance of surviving a collision. Properly using safety belts also greatly increases the ability of the supplemental airbags to do their job in a collision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is required by law in most countries including the United States and Canada.
Although your Volkswagen is equipped with airbags, you still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front airbags, for example, are activated only in some frontal collisions. The front airbags are not activated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear collisions, in rollovers, or in cases when the conditions for deployment stored in the electronic control unit are not met. The same goes for the other airbag systems on your Volkswagen.
So always wear your safety belt and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properly restrained!
Using safety belts

WARNING
Improper use and care of safety belts increases the risk of severe personal injury or death.
x Regularly check safety belts and related parts for damage.
x Damaged safety belts must be replaced; they cannot be repaired.
x Always keep safety belts clean.
x Never catch, damage or chafe safety belt webbing on sharp edges.
x Always keep objects and liquids away from the belt buckle and buckle opening.
Fastening and unfastening safety belts

Fig. 75 Inserting the buckle tongue into the belt buckle.

Fig. 76 Releasing the buckle tongue from the belt buckle.

x Make sure the seat backrest of the rear seat bench is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the safety belt ⇒ .
x Hold the safety belt by the tongue and pull it slowly and evenly across the chest and pelvis. Do not
twist the safety belt webbing ⇒ .
x Insert the tongue into the correct buckle for your seat until you hear it latch securely ⇒ fig. 75.
x Pull on the safety belt to make sure that it is securely latched in the buckle.
Unfastening safety belts
Unfasten safety belts only when the vehicle is not moving ⇒ .
x Press the red button on the buckle ⇒ fig. 76. The buckle tongue is ejected.
x Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you guide the belt tongue to its stowed position to help prevent the safety belt from twisting and to help avoid damage to the interior trim.
WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal injury or death in an accident.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the body.
x A person who is not properly restrained can be seriously injured by the safety belt itself if it slips from the stronger parts of the body into sensitive areas like the abdomen.
x Unfastening safety belts while the vehicle is in motion can cause severe personal injury or death in the event of an accident or braking maneuver!
Safety belt position

Fig. 77 Proper safety belt positioning and head restraint adjustment.

Fig. 78 Proper safety belt positioning for expectant mothers.

WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal injury in an accident or a sudden braking maneuver.
x Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly restrained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the vehicle is being used.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the body.
x A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious injuries by shifting its position on your body from the strong bones to more vulnerable soft tissue and cause serious injury.
x The shoulder belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned over the middle of the occupant's shoulder and never across the neck or throat.
x The safety belt must lie flat and snug on the occupant's upper body.
x Never wear the shoulder part of the safety belt under your arm or otherwise out of position.
x The lap portion of the safety belt must be positioned as low as possible across the pelvis and never over the abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug against the pelvis. Pull on the safety belt to tighten if necessary.
x Expectant mothers must always wear the lap portion of the safety belt as low as possible across the pelvis and below the rounding of the abdomen.
x Do not twist the belt when attaching it. If you cannot untwist a twisted safety belt, wear it anyway, but make sure the twisted part is not in contact with your body. Have the problem corrected right away by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility.
x Never hold the safety belt away from your body with your hand.
x Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects, such as eyeglasses, pens or keys.
x Never modify the position of the belt using comfort clips, loops or similar devices.

x If you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the seat with the safety belt properly fastened, special modifications to your vehicle may be necessary.
x Contact your authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility or call the Volkswagen Customer CARE Center at 1-800-822-8987 for information about possible modifications to your vehicle.
Safety belt height adjusters

Fig. 81 Next to the front seats: Safety belt height adjuster.

If a safety belt is too short to correctly fit you or one of your passengers, even when the safety belt is pulled out all the way, you can use a safety belt extender.
Never use the safety belt extender for any other purpose – including the attachment of a child restraint.
The extender adds about 8 inches (20 cm) to the safety belt. Always remove the safety belt extender when it is not needed and stow it safely. Contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility if you believe you may need an extender.
Key to fig. 82:
(1) Vehicle safety belt buckle.
(2) Buckle tongue on the safety belt extender.
(3) Safety belt buckle on the safety belt extender.
(4) Safety belt buckle tongue on the factory-installed safety belt.
Key to fig. 83:
(A) Safety belt buckle on the safety belt extender.
(B) Distance between the safety belt buckle on the safety belt extender and the centerline of the person using the safety belt extender. The distance must be more than 6 inches (15 cm)!
(C) Centerline of the person using the safety belt extender.
Using a safety belt extender
x Adjust both the seat and the head restraint properly, Adjusting the seating position.
x Insert the buckle tongue on the safety belt extender ⇒ fig. 82 (2) into the vehicle belt buckle for the seat where the safety belt extender is being used (1).
x Fastening or unfastening the vehicle safety belt ⇒ page 101, Fastening and unfastening safety belts.
x Pull the belt to make sure that the tongues are securely locked in the buckles.
x Make sure that the safety belt is positioned properly, Safety belt position, Safety belt position.
Properly using safety belt extenders:
x Use a safety belt extender only when the factory installed safety belt is too short when worn properly by a person in proper seating position.
x Only use 1 safety belt extender per seat and vehicle safety belt.
x Always remove the safety belt extender when it is not needed.
x Never leave a safety belt extender attached to the vehicle safety belt buckle when the extender is not needed and being used with the safety belt. Otherwise, the airbag control module will receive an incorrect signal from the safety belt buckle and this will prevent the airbag from working properly for a person who is not using the safety belt. Leaving the extender attached to the safety belt buckle when the front seat is occupied and the safety belt is not being used will signal the airbag control unit during a collision that the front passenger seat is occupied and that the safety belt is being used. The electronic control unit for the airbag system will then receive incorrect information that will cause the safety belt pretensioner to deploy unnecessarily and the front passenger airbag to deploy later in collisions that would normally trigger the front airbag earlier in the collision to help protect an unrestrained front seat occupant. The airbag will not be able to provide enough protection for an occupant not wearing a safety belt.
x Only use the safety belt extender approved by Volkswagen for your vehicle.