Get Safety belts Guide for Volkswagen Passat SUV Seventh Generation (2010-2014)

Safety belts

¤ Introduction

In this section you’ll find information about:

Warning light

Frontal collisions and laws of physics

What happens to passengers not wearing a safety belt

Safety belts protect

Using safety belts

Fastening and unfastening safety belts

Safety belt position

Safety belt height adjusters

Safety belt extender

Safety belt retractor, pretensioner, load limiter

Service and disposal of belt pretensioners

Properly worn safety belts are the single most effective means of re-

ducing the risk of serious injury and death in a collision or other acci-

dent.

Damage to safety belts reduces their overall effectiveness and in-

creases the risk of serious personal injury and death whenever the

vehicle is being used.

Check the condition of all safety belts regularly.

If a safety belt shows damage to webbing, bindings, retractors or

buckles, have the safety belt replaced by an authorized Volkswagen

dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facility ⇒ꢀ

.

More information:

Adjusting the seating position

Airbag system

Child safety and child restraints

Parts, accessories, repairs and modifications

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 they are used

properly.

Properly worn safety belts are the single most effective

means of reducing the risk of serious injury and death in a col-

lision or other accident. For this reason, always wear your safe-

ty belt properly and make sure all passengers wear their safety

belts properly as well whenever the vehicle is moving.

The driver must always make sure that every person in the

vehicle is properly seated on a seat of his or her own, properly

fastens the safety belts belonging to that seat before the vehi-

cle starts to move, and keeps the belts properly fastened while

riding in the vehicle. This applies even when just driving

around town. Therefore, always wear your safety belts and

make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properly restrained.

Always secure children in the vehicle with a restraint system

appropriate for their age, weight and height ⇒ꢀ Child safety and

child restraints.

Always fasten safety belts correctly before driving off and

make sure that all passengers are properly restrained.

Never attach the safety belt to the buckle of another seat. At-

taching the safety belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety

belt effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.

Never let any objects or liquids get into the safety belt latch

and prevent it from working properly.

Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing

so will increase your risk of being injured or killed.

Never strap more than one person, including small children,

into any single safety belt.

Never let children or babies ride sitting on your lap, and nev-

er place a safety belt over a child sitting on your lap.

Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects in or on your

clothing, such as eyeglasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may

cause injury.

Several layers of heavy clothing (such as a coat worn over

top of a sports jacket) may interfere with proper positioning of

the safety belt and reduce the overall effectiveness of the sys-

tem.

Never use comfort clips or devices that create slack in the

shoulder belt. However, special clips may be required for the

correct use of some child restraint systems.

Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat

backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the

body.

WARNING

Damage to safety belts reduces their overall effectiveness and

increases the risk of serious personal injury and death when-

ever the vehicle is being used.

Never let safety belts become damaged by being caught in

the door or seat hardware.

Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and damaged safety belt

hardware can break in an accident.

Inspect belts regularly for damage. If webbing, bindings,

buckles, or retractors are damaged, have the belts replaced

immediately with the correct replacement belts approved by

Volkswagen for your vehicle, model, and model year.

Safety belts that were subject to stress in an accident and

stretched must be replaced with a correct, new safety belt,

preferably by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized

Volkswagen Service Facility.

Replacement after a crash may be necessary even if a safety

belt shows no visible damage. Anchorages that have been

loaded must also be inspected.

Damaged safety belts must be replaced; they cannot be re-

paired.

Never try to repair a damaged safety belt yourself. Never re-

move or modify the safety belts in any way.

Have safety belts, bindings, retractors and buckles replaced

by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen

Service Facility.

Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work cor-

rectly and can impair the function of the inertia reel.

Warning light

Fig. 59 Warning light in the instrument cluster.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Lights

up or Possible cause

flashes

Proper response

Driver and front passenger

have not fastened their

safety belts, if front pas-

senger seat is occupied.

Fasten safety belts.

i

Remove items from front pas-

senger seat and stow them

safely.

Heavy items on the front

passenger seat.

When the ignition is switched on, several warning and indicator lights

come on briefly for a function check. They go out after a few seconds.

A warning chime also sounds.

The safety belt warning light i comes on for 6 seconds when the igni-

tion 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 buckled their safe-

ty 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 i 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. 60 A vehicle with passengers not wearing safety belts approach-

es a wall.

Fig. 61 A vehicle with passengers not wearing safety belts hits a wall.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

The physical principles of a frontal collision are simple. Both the mov-

ing vehicle and the passenger possess energy ⇒ꢀfig. 60, which varies

with vehicle speed and body weight. Engineers call this energy “kinet-

ic 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. 61.

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 high-

er.

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. 62 The unbelted driver is thrown forward.

Fig. 63 Unbelted passengers in the rear seats are thrown forward on

top of the belted driver.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Many people believe that it is possible to resist the forces of an im-

pact by holding tight or bracing themselves. That is simply not true!

Even at low collision speeds, the forces acting on the body are too

much for the body to be held in the seat with the arms and hands. In

a frontal collision, unrestrained occupants will slam violently into the

steering wheel, instrument panel, windshield or anything else in the

way ⇒ꢀfig. 62.

Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even when they deploy,

airbags provide only additional protection. Airbags are not supposed

to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Even if your vehicle is equipped

with airbags, all vehicle occupants, including the driver, must wear

safety belts correctly in order to minimize the risk of severe injury or

death in a crash, regardless of whether a seating position has an air-

bag or not.

An airbag will deploy only once. Safety belts are always there to offer

protection in those accidents in which airbags are not supposed to

deploy or when they have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can

also be thrown out of the vehicle, causing even more severe injuries

or death.

It is also important for occupants in the rear seats to wear their safety

belts properly since they can be thrown violently forward through the

vehicle in the event of an accident. Unbelted passengers in the rear

seats endanger not only themselves but also the driver and other

passengers in the vehicle ⇒ꢀfig. 63.

Safety belts protect

Fig. 64 Belted driver secured by the correctly worn safety belt in the

event of a sudden braking maneuver.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Used properly, safety belts can make a big difference. Safety belts

help to keep passengers in their seats, gradually reduce energy lev-

els applied to the body in a collision, and help prevent the uncon-

trolled movement that can cause serious injuries. In addition, safety

belts reduce the danger of being thrown out of the vehicle ⇒ꢀfig. 64.

Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give them the benefit of

being slowed down more gently or “softly” through the “give” in the

safety belts, crumple zones, and other safety features (such as air-

bags) engineered into today's vehicles. The front crumple zones and

other passive safety features (such as the airbag system) are also

designed to absorb kinetic energy. By “absorbing” the kinetic energy

over a longer period of time, the forces on the body become more

“tolerable” and less likely to cause injury.

Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety belts

can also substantially reduce the risk of injury in other kinds of crash-

es. So, whether you're on a long trip or “just going to the corner

store,” always buckle up and make sure that others do, too.

Accident statistics show that vehicle occupants properly wearing safe-

ty belts have a lower risk of being injured and a much better chance

of surviving a collision. Properly using safety belts also greatly in-

creases 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 acti-

vated only in some frontal collisions. The front airbags are not acti-

vated 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

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Checklist

Using safety belts ⇒ꢀ

d Damage to safety belts reduces their overall effectiveness and in-

creases the risk of serious personal injury and death whenever the

vehicle is being used.

d Check the condition of all safety belts regularly.

d Keep safety belts clean.

d Keep objects and liquids away from safety belt webbing, the safety

belt buckle tongue, and the safety belt buckle latch and opening.

d Do not pinch or damage the safety belt or buckle tongue (for in-

stance, when closing a door).

d Never modify, disassemble or try to repair safety belts and safety

belt anchorages.

d Always fasten your safety belt properly before driving and keep it

fastened whenever the vehicle is moving.

Twisted safety belt

If it is difficult to pull the safety belt out of the belt guide, the belt may

be twisted inside the side trim because the belt retracted too quickly

when it was taken off.

Hold the safety belt tongue, slowly and carefully pull safety belt all

the way out.

Untwist the safety belt and slowly return the belt by hand.

If you cannot untwist the safety belt, wear it anyway. Make sure that

the safety belt is twisted in a spot where it does not come in direct

contact with your body. Have the safety belt untwisted immediately by

an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service

Facility.

Lockable safety belt

The retractors for the rear seat safety belts and the front passenger

safety belt have a switchable locking feature for child restraints in

addition to the emergency locking feature. Whenever a child restraint

is installed with a safety belt, the safety belt must be locked so that

the safety belt webbing cannot unreel. The switchable locking feature

lets you lock the belt so that a child restraint can be properly installed

and, for example, so that it can't tip to the side when the vehicle goes

around a corner ⇒ꢀ Child safety and child restraints.

To see whether a safety belt is lockable, pull the safety belt all the

way out of the safety belt retractor. You should then hear a “clicking”

sound as the belt winds back into the retractor reel. Test the switcha-

ble locking feature by pulling on the belt. When the switchable locking

feature is active, you should no longer be able to pull the belt out of

the retractor.

The locking feature must be deactivated when a vehicle occupant

uses the safety belt.

WARNING

Improper use and care of safety belts increases the risk of se-

vere personal injury or death.

Regularly check safety belts and related parts for damage.

Damaged safety belts must be replaced; they cannot be re-

paired.

Always keep safety belts clean.

Never catch, damage or chafe safety belt webbing on sharp

edges.

Always keep objects and liquids away from the belt buckle

and buckle opening.

Fastening and unfastening safety belts

Fig. 65 Inserting the buckle tongue into the belt buckle.

Fig. 66 Releasing the buckle tongue from the belt buckle.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Properly worn safety belts help to hold occupants in their seats and

provide optimum protection during braking or in a collision or other

accident ⇒ꢀ

.

The switchable locking feature makes a “clicking” sound when the

safety belt is winding back onto the safety belt retractor wheel after

being pulled all the way out. Whenever a child restraint is installed

with a safety belt, the safety belt must be locked so that the safety

belt webbing cannot unreel ⇒ꢀpage Error! Bookmark not defined.,

Child safety and child restraints. If active, deactivate the locking fea-

ture before using the safety belt to restrain a person without a child

restraint system.

Fastening safety belts

Always buckle your safety belt before driving.

Adjust the front seat and head restraint correctly ⇒ꢀAdjusting the

seating position.

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 ⇒ꢀ

.

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 ⇒ꢀ

.

Insert the tongue into the correct buckle for your seat until you hear

it latch securely ⇒ꢀfig. 65.

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 ⇒ꢀ

.

Press the red button on the buckle ⇒ꢀfig. 66. The buckle tongue is

ejected.

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.

Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat

backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the

body.

A person who is not properly restrained can be seriously in-

jured by the safety belt itself if it slips from the stronger parts of

the body into sensitive areas like the abdomen.

Unfastening safety belts while the vehicle is in motion can

cause severe personal injury or death in the event of an acci-

dent or braking maneuver!

Safety belt position

Fig. 67 Proper safety belt positioning and head restraint adjustment.

Fig. 68 Proper safety belt positioning for expectant mothers.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Wearing safety belts improperly can cause serious injury or death.

Safety belts can only work when they are correctly positioned on the

body. A properly worn safety belt also helps to position the occupant

so that an airbag can provide maximum protection when deployed.

Therefore, always fasten your safety belt and make sure that it is

properly positioned over your body.

Improper seating positions reduce the effectiveness of safety belts

and even increase the risk of injury or death by moving the safety belt

to critical areas of the body. Improper seating positions also increase

the risk of severe injury or death when an airbag deploys and strikes

an occupant who is not seated properly ⇒ꢀ Adjusting the seating posi-

tion.

Proper safety belt position

The shoulder portion of the safety belt must always run over the

center of the shoulder and never over the throat, over the arm, under

the arm or behind the back.

The lap portion of the safety belt must always run as low as possi-

ble over the pelvis and never over the abdomen.

Always wear the safety belt flat and snug against the body. Pull on

the safety belt to tighten if necessary.

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 – throughout the pregnancy. The safety belt must lie flat

against the body to avoid pressure against the abdomen ⇒ꢀfig. 68.

Adjusting safety belt height

The safety belt position can be adjusted using the following features:

Safety belt height adjusters for the front seats.

Front seats with height adjustment.

WARNING

Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal

injury in an accident or a sudden braking maneuver.

Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly re-

strained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the

vehicle is being used.

Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat

backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the

body.

A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious injuries by shift-

ing its position on your body from the strong bones to more

vulnerable soft tissue and cause serious injury.

The shoulder belt portion of the safety belt must be posi-

tioned over the middle of the occupant's shoulder and never

across the neck or throat.

The safety belt must lie flat and snug on the occupant's up-

per body.

Never wear the shoulder part of the safety belt under your

arm or otherwise out of position.

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.

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.

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 correct-

ed right away by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or author-

ized Volkswagen Service Facility.

Never hold the safety belt away from your body with your

hand.

Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects, such as

eyeglasses, pens or keys.

Never modify the position of the belt using comfort clips,

loops or similar devices.

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. 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. 69 Next to the front seats: Safety belt height adjuster.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

Safety belt height adjusters for the front seats can be used to adjust

the height of the shoulder portion of the safety belt so that it is posi-

tioned correctly:

Pinch the safety belt attachment together as indicated by the ar-

rows and hold ⇒ꢀfig. 69.

Slide the belt and upper attachment up or down until the safety belt

is positioned over the center of the shoulder ⇒ꢀSafety belt position.

Release the safety belt attachment.

Pull on the safety belt to make sure that the upper attachment is

securely locked in place.

WARNING

Never adjust the height of the safety belt while driving.

Safety belt extender

Fig. 70 A safety belt extender properly attached to the factory-

installed safety belt.

Fig. 71 Positioning of the safety belt extender.

¤ Please first read and note the introductory information and

heed the WARNINGS

If a safety belt is too short to correctly fit you or one of your passen-

gers, 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. 70:

(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. 71:

(A) Safety belt buckle on the safety belt extender.

(B) Distance between the safety belt buckle on the safety belt ex-

tender and the centerline of the person using the safety belt ex-

tender. 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

Adjust both the seat and the head restraint properly ⇒ꢀAdjusting the

seating position.

Insert the buckle tongue on the safety belt extender ⇒ꢀfig. 70 (2)

into the vehicle belt buckle for the seat where the safety belt extender

is being used (1).

Fastening or unfastening the vehicle safety belt ⇒ꢀFastening and

unfastening safety belts.

Pull the belt to make sure that the tongues are securely locked in

the buckles.

Make sure that the safety belt is positioned properly ⇒ꢀSafety belt

position.

Properly using safety belt extenders:

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.

Only use 1 safety belt extender per seat and vehicle safety belt.

Always remove the safety belt extender when it is not needed.

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 incor-

rect 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

Safety belts for Your Volkswagen Passat SUV Seventh Generation (2010-2014)

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