Volkswagen Tiguan Owners Manual:  Introduction to the subject

In this chapter you will find information on the following subjects:

⇒ 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 reducing the risk of serious injury and death in a collision or other accident.

Damage to safety belts reduces their overall effectiveness and increases 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 ⇒ Adjusting the seating position 

• Airbag system ⇒ Airbag system 

• Child safety and child restraints ⇒ Child safety and child restraints 

• Parts, accessories, repairs and modifications ⇒ 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 collision or other accident. For this reason, always wear your safety 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 vehicle 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. Attaching 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 never 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 eye glasses, 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 belt and reduce the overall effectiveness of the system.

• 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 whenever 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 repaired.

• Never try to repair a damaged safety belt yourself. Never remove 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 correctly and can impair the function of the inertia reel.