Seat Tarraco 2020 Owner's Guide

Seat belts
Head-on collisions and the laws of
physics Fig. 8
A driver not wearing a seat belt is thrown
f orw
ard violently. Fig. 9
The unbelted passenger in the rear seat
is thr o

wn forward violently, hitting the driver
who is wearing a seat belt. The effects of the laws of physics in the case
of a head-on collision ar
e easy t

o explain: the
moment a vehicle starts moving, a type of en- ergy called “kinetic energy” starts acting on
both the vehicl

e and its passengers.
The amount of “kinetic energy” depends on
the speed of the vehicle and on the weight of
the vehicle and of its passengers. The higher
they are, the more energy there is to be “ab-
sorbed” in the event of an accident.
The most significant factor, however, is the
speed of the vehicle. If the speed doubles
from 25 km/h (15 mph) to 50 km/h (30 mph),
for example, the corresponding kinetic ener-
gy is multiplied by four.
Given that the passengers of the vehicle in
our example do not have their seat belts fas-
tened, in the event of a collision the entire
amount of the passengers' kinetic energy will
be only absorbed by the mentioned impact.
Even at speeds of 30 km/h (19 mph) to
50 km/h (30 mph), the forces acting on bod-
ies in a collision can easily exceed one tonne
(1000 kg). At greater speed these forces are
even higher.
Vehicle occupants not wearing seat belts are
not “attached” to the vehicle. In a head-on
collision, they will move forward at the same
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the impact. This example applies not only to
head-on collisions, but to all accidents and
collisions.
Even at low speeds the forces acting on the
body in a collision are so great that it is not possible to brace oneself with one's hands. In
a front
al collision, unbelted passengers are
thrown forward and will make violent contact
with the steering wheel, dash panel, wind-
screen or whatever else is in the way
››› Fig. 8.
It is also important for rear passengers to
wear seat belts properly, as they could other-
wise be thrown forward violently through the
vehicle interior in an accident. Passengers in
the rear seats who do not use seat belts en-
danger not only themselves but also the front
occupants ››› Fig. 9
.
19

Safety
How to properly adjust your
seat belt Fast
ening and unfastening the seat
belt Fig. 10
Insert the latch plate of the seat belt
int o the buckl

e. Fig. 11
Release the seat belt

Seat belts
Correct seat belt position Fig. 12
Correct seat belt and headrest posi-
tions, vie w
ed from front and the side. Fig. 13
Position of seat belt during pregnancy. Seat belts offer their maximum protection in
the e
v

ent of an accident and reduce the risk
of sustaining severe or fatal injuries only when
they are properly positioned. Furthermore, if
the webbing is correctly positioned, the seat belt will hold the vehicle occupants in the op-
timum position to ensur

e the airbag provides
the maximum protection. The seat belt must
therefore always be worn and the webbing
correctly positioned.
Incorrectly worn seat belts can cause severe
or even fatal injuries ››› page 13, Correct sit-
ting position of vehicle occupants.

Safety
belt webbing, contact a specialised work-
shop f
or help with any special de
vices to
ensure the optimum protection of the seat
belt and airbag. SEAT recommends taking
your car in for technical service. Seat belt height adjustment
Fig. 14
Next to the front seats: belt height ad-
just er

. Using the height adjusters for the front seats
and the out
er seats of the second r

ow, the
position of the seat belts can be adjusted in
the shoulder area according to the height of
the occupant:

Seat belts
may be that, in the event of an accident, the
belt t ensioners function incorr
ectly or may
not function at all.
So that the effectiveness of the seat belt ten-
sioner is not reduced and that removed parts
do not cause any injuries or environmental
pollution, regulations, which are known to the
specialised workshops, must be observed. WARNING

Safety

Airbag system
Airbag system
Brief intr oduction
Why is it so impor
tant to wear a
seat belt and to sit correctly? For the inflating airbags to achieve the best
pr
ot

ection, the seat belt must always be worn
properly and the correct sitting position must
be assumed.
The airbag system is not a substitute for seat
belts, but it is an integral part of the vehicle's
overall passive safety system. Please bear in
mind that the airbag system can only work
effectively when the vehicle occupants are
wearing their seat belts correctly and have
adjusted the headrests properly. Therefore, it
is most important to properly wear the seat
belts at all times, not only because this is re-
quired by law in most countries, but also for
your safety ››› page 17, The whys and
wherefores of seat belts.
The airbag inflates in a matter of seconds, so
if you are not properly seated when the air-
bag is triggered, you may sustain fatal inju-
ries. Therefore, it is essential that all vehicle
occupants assume a correct sitting position
while travelling.
Sharp braking before an accident may cause
a passenger not wearing a seat belt to be thrown forward into the area of the deploying
airbag. In this case
, the infl

ating airbag may
inflict critical or fatal injuries on the occupant.
This also applies to children.
Always maintain the greatest possible dis-
tance between yourself and the front airbag.
This way, the front airbags can completely
deploy when triggered, providing their maxi-
mum protection.
The most important factors for triggering the
airbag are the type of accident, the angle of
impact and the vehicle speed.
Whether or not the airbags are activated de-
pends primarily on the vehicle deceleration
rate resulting from the collision and detected
by the control unit. If the vehicle deceleration
occurring during the collision and measured
by the control unit remains below the speci-
fied reference values, the front, side and/or
head-protection airbags will not be triggered.
Take into account that the visible damage in
a vehicle involved in an accident, no matter
how serious, is not a determining factor for
the airbags to have been activated. WARNING

Safety
The airbag system operation is monitored
el ectr
onically. The airbag control lamp will il-
luminate for a few seconds every time the ig-
nition is switched on (self-diagnosis).
There is a fault in the system if the control
lamp T:

Airbag system

Safety
Front airbags Fig. 15
Driver airbag located in steering
wheel . Fig. 16
Front passenger airbag located in
dash panel .The driver's front airbag is housed in the
st
eering wheel and that of the fr
ont passen-
ger, on the dash panel. Airbags are identified
by the word “AIRBAG”. The airbag covers fold open and remain at-
tached t

o the steering wheel ››› Fig. 15
and
the dash panel ››› Fig. 16
when the driver and
front passenger airbags, respectively, are
triggered.
In conjunction with the seat belts, the front
airbag system gives the front occupants ad-
ditional protection for the head and chest in
the event of a severe frontal collision ››› .
Their special design all o

ws the controlled es-
cape of the propellant gas when an occu-
pant puts pressure on the bag. Thus, the
head and chest are protected by the airbag.
After the collision, the airbag deflates suffi-
ciently to allow visibility. WARNING