child restraint VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2004 User Guide

a small child that is heavier than a typica l
I ye ar-old infant in one o f th e child restraint s
w ith whi ch th e A dvan ced Airbag was page 55.
a child who has outgrown child res traints is
o n
a small adult or te enage r is on th e front se nger seat.
a passe nge r w ho is not sitting upright with
thei r back against a non -re clined backr est with
th eir feet on th e ve hicl e floor in front of the seat occupant seatin g is on t h e fr o nt passenger seat.
re quir em ent s of th e to turn off the fron t a irb ag
f o r infant s 12 months old and younger w ho are
re strained on the fro nt passenger seat in ch ild
restraint s that are liste d in the Standard re str aint s and Adva nce d
requires the front airb ag on th e passenge r sid e to be turned off if th e tota l weig ht
r eg is tered on th e front passe nger is less
th an a inf ant up to about one year of age is s tra ined on the front passe nger seat in one of the rea rward-faci ng or for wa rd-fa cin g inf ant str aint s listed in Fed eral Moto r Vehicle
page 55
The BAG
light does no t come o n and stay on . th e front airbag on the passen ge r
s id e has not been turned off by th e co ntrol u nit and can deploy if th e control unit se nses an pact that meets th e co nditio ns s tored in its page
Alwa ys remember: Even thoug h yo ur veh icle is equipp ed with Adva nced Airb ags, the sa fest
34 Airbag system
pla ce fo r childr en i s properl y restrained on th e back seat. b e sure to read the important
information in the sections tl1at follo w and be
sure to heed all of th e WARNINGS.
To reduce th e risk of serious injury when an airbag inflates , always wear safety belts erly .
You will also receive serious injuries and could even be killed if you are up against the airbag or too close to it when it infl ates eve n
with an Advance d Airbag
An infant or child in a rearward-facing child
seat installed on the fron t passenger seat will be seriously injure d and can be killed if th e
front airbag inflate s eve n with an Advanc ed
Airbag System.
Although
ment is impossibl e in all conce ivab le tions that may happen during th e usefu l lif e of your ve hicle.
The infl atin g airbag hit the child seat or infant ca rrier with great force and will
s m as h th e child seat and child against backres t, center armrest, door or roof.
straint s in the rear seat.
front passe nge r scat because of ceptional circumstances and the
sh op.
terfer e with the airbag as it deploys and seri -

Forward-facing child seats insta lled on the front passenger's seat may interfere with the
d eployment of the airbag and cause serious
personal injury to the child.
Always make sure the fonvard-facing seat has been designed and certified by it s fa cturer for use on a front scat with a senger front and side airbag.
Alway s carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child seat or carrier.
Never put the fonvard-facing child
Always move the passenger seat into its arrnost position in the seat's fore and aft
(cont;nued)
justment range, as far away from the airbag as poss ible before installin g the fonvard-facing
c hild restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position.
Always make sure that nothing prevents the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position in its fore and aft justment range.
Never place additional it ems on the seat that can increase the total weight registered b y the weight-sensing mat and can cause injury in a crash.
Advanced Airbag
trolunit whent h e igniti on i s on. The control unit monitors the Advanced AirbagSystem and turns
th e airbag indicato r light on w hen malfunction in the syste m components is detec te d. The tion of the a irbag indicator light is described in
g reater detail below. Because the front
vanced Airbag you must take car e to prevent it from being dam aged. Damage to the seat m ay prevent the Advanced Airb ag for th e
front passenger seat from doing its job in a
crash.
The front
Advanced Airbag System consists of the following:
Cras h sensors in the front of the ve hicl e th at measure ve hicle accelera tion /deceleratio n to
prov ide informatio n t o the Advanced Airbag
Sys tem about the severity of the cras h.
An electronic control unit, with integra ted crash sensors for fr ont and side impacts. The control u nit whethe r to fire just one or b oth stages o f the front a irbags based o n the formation received from the cra sh sensors. The control unit also w hethe r th e safety belt pretensioners should be acti va ted.
A dual -stage Ad vanced Airbag with gas
A dual-stage Adva nced Airb ag and gas
A weight-sensi ng under uphols tery
paddi ng of the front passenger seat c u shion that m eas ure s th e total weight on the seat. The matio n registered is sent continuous ly to regulate deployment of th e front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side.
An airbag monitoring system and indicator light in the in strument page
Airbag system 35

The PASSENGER light in the center of the instrument panel fig. 25) that tells yo u when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passeng er side been turned
orr.
A se nso r in side the safe ty belt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure th e ten sion on th e sa fet y belt. The ten sion on th e safety belt and th e weight regis ter ed by the we ig ht -se nsin g mat help the control unit
page
A senso r in the safety belt lat ch for the driver and for the front seat passenger that senses whether that safe ty belt is latch ed or n ot and tran smit s thi s information to the elec troni c
Damage to the front passenger seat ca n
Never remove the passenge r or driver
scat from the vehicle.
Never re m ove the uphol stery from the front passenger seat.
Never disassemble or remove parts from
th e seat or disconnect wires from it.
Never carry sharp object s in your pockets or place them on the seat. If the sen si ng m at in the passenger scat i s tured it cannot work properly.
36 Airbag system
(continued)
Neve r carry things on you r lap or jects on th e passenger seat. items can the and send the wrong information
to the airbag con trol unit.
Never store items under the front
under the passenger scat could be damaged, pre ve nting them and th e airbag system from working properly.
Never place seat cove rs or r eplace ment ho ls tery on th e front seats that have no t been
specifically approved by Volk swagen .
covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag from recognizing child straint s or occupants on the front passenger seat and prevent the sid e a irbag in the seat backr es t fr om deploying properly.
Neve r u sc cushions, pillows, blankets or sim ilar items on th e front passenger seat. T he addition al paddi ng w ill prevent the
If yo u must use
BAG light comes on and sta ys on whenever the child restraint is in stalled on the front (>as-senger scat.
If t he BAG stay on, immediatel y in stall
c hil d restrain t in rear seati ng position and have the airbag system inspected by your thorized Volkswagen dealer o r qualifi ed
wor kshop

Fig. 25 Section from the instrumen t pone l: PAS­SENGER BAG OFF
The PASSENGER BAG fig . 25.
The PASSENGER come on and stay on to
burns out. the airbag monitoring indicator
not change the the front airbag on the passenger side works, it no longer be possible to usc the PASSENGER BAG light to verify that the airbag on/off status is correc t for the occupant on the front passenger seat. Have the a irbag system in ­
specte d immediately by your authorized Volk­swagen deal er or qualifi ed workshop.
The PASSENGER blink for
up to long 9 seconds when:
the ignition is switched on and
the re is a change in the weight measured b y the weight-sensing mat in the fro nt passenger sca t that determines w hethe r the Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side can d eploy or be lllrned off.
Af te r
the light stops
light is proper for the siz e. age, and weight of the occupant on the front passenger seat.
ways make sure that th e safety for the fron t passenger scat is prope rly fastened.
The PASSENGER BAG light show the correc t status o f th e front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side
stay on if the front passenger seat is no t occup ied,
s ta y on if the combined weight of an in­
fant up t o about one year of age in one of the reanvard-fa cing or fonva rd-faci ng child re­
straints in Federa l Motor with whic h th e Advanc ed Airbag
Sys te m in your vehicl e was certified. is regis­tered by the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­senger seat. For a listin g of the chil d restraints
t h a t
were used to certi fy your vehicle's compli­a nce with the Safety
registered by the weight­sensing
The BAG light must come
on and stay on if the ignition is on and
a car bed has been o n the front pas­senger seat. or
a reanvard-facingchild restraint has been in­
a forward-facing child restra int has been in ­
and if the weig ht reg istered on the front pas­senger seat is equal to or less than the combine d weight o f a ty pical year-o ld infant restrained in one of the reanvard-facin g or fonvard-facing c hild restraints in Federall'v1 otor Safe ty in your vehicl e certified.
the front passenger seat is not occupi ed . the
front passenge r a irbag BAG stay on. Never on the fr o nt passenger seat, the safest p lace for in any kind of page
page 53,
Airbag system 41

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If th e PASSENGER AIR BAG comes on
w hen one o f th e conditio ns listed above is m et,
b e sure to check the light ta in that th e PASSENGER AIR BAG
does not appear and not stay on
reactivate th e sys te m by turning the ign ition
orr a nd th e n turning it on again ;
re move and th e child re stra int. Make
sure that the c hild restraint is pro p erly
ufacture r's in str u ctions;
make sure th at the conve rtibl e lockin g ture on the safety
Th e belt must no t be loose or have loops of slack so tha t th e sensor b elow the safe ty belt lat ch on the sea t can do its job 63.
m ake sure th at things that m ay increase th e weight o f the chil d and ch ild seat are not b e in g transp orted on the front passenger seat;
make sure tha t th e sa fe ty belt te nsion sen sor is no t blocke d. the sa fe ty la tc h on the
fr o nt passenger seat back and fo rth,
make sure that no thin g can int erf ere w ith the
safe ty belt buckles and that they are no t str ucte d.
If a strap o r tether is being used t o tie th e
c hi ld seat to th e front passenger scat, make sure tha t it is no t so tight that it c auses the sen sin g m at m easure m ore weig h t than is o n the seal.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light
light docs not com e o n and does no t stay on continuous ly (when th e ig niti on i s swi tc h ed on).
42 Airbag sys te m
take the c hild restrai nt off the front passenger scat and
your autho rized Volkswagen dealer o r q ualified wor ks hop immedia te ly.
move th e c hild to a rear seat posit io n and make su re that the
light should come on
The PASSENGER AIR BAG should NOT
come o n when the ign ition i s on and an adult is
s ilting in p ro per position on the front pa sse nger seat. If the PASSENGER AIR BAG lig ht comes o n and on u nder these circ um -sta nces. make su re that:
the adul t on the front passenge r scat is seat e d on the cente r o f the seat cushio n with
h is or her back up against th e back rest and th e
b ackres t is not page
the adult is not taking weigh t orr the seat by
hold ing on to the passenger assis t h andle above the fro nt passenger door or supporting th eir weig ht o n the armrest or hold ing o nt o the assist handle on th e in strument
th e safe ty belt is bei ng properly worn and that th e re is n ot in the safe ty belt
webb ing.
a ccessory seat cove rs or c u shions o r other th ings that m ay cause
passe nger seat.
is mov in g. the PASSENGER AIR BAG light blinks for about 5 seconds to catch th e driver's it is
s a fe to do s o and c heck the steps described

replace any airbag in your vehicle and assure system effectiveness in a crash.
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Never permit salvaged or recycled ai rb ags
to be installed in your
low ering th e veh icle, changing the
s tiffness of th e suspe nsion , including the spring s, suspe nsion struts, shock absorber s etc.
ca n change th e forces that are meas ured by th e
air bag senso rs and sen t to the electron ic control
unit. s u sp ensio n chang es for ample, increase the force level s m eas ured by the
sensors and make the airb ag system deploy in
cras hes in wh ic h it wou ld no t dep loy if th e
c h a nges had no t bee n made. kind s of ch a nges may reduce the force leve ls mea sured by the senso rs and preve nt the airbag from ploying whe n it should.
The Advanced Airbag will not work the
way it s houl d if th e o ptional safety belt exte nder is not removed from the safety belt latch when
the seat i s occup ie d and the sa fe ty belt is not bei ng used. Leaving th e extender attach ed to the safety belt buck le when the front seat is
s ig na l the airbag control unit that the front seat is occup ied and that the sa fety belt is being used. The elec tron ic co ntro l unit for the airbag system
will then rece ive incorrect information that will cause the safe ty belt pretens ioner to deploy
has deployed can not be re pair ed.
T he entir e safety belt must be rep laced . For that
rea son, a lways re move the sa fety belt exte nde r
w hen it is not nee ded and stow it sa fely
23. In ad d ition, the safet y belt extender must never be used to secure child rest raint s to
th e front passenge r seat.
T he se ns
ors in the safety belt buckle for the driver and front passenge r seat tell th e troni c control module if the safe ty belt is latc hed or If th e sa fe ty belt is being used, the front airbag
will deploy
at a sl ightly highe r rate of hi cle dece leration than if the sa fe ty belt is not
b eing used . Therefore , in a particular collision, it
i s possible that an airbag will not deplo y at a seatin g position where the safety belt is being
u sed but infla te at the position where the safe ty belt is not bei ng use d. It is important that n othing interfere with the safety belt buck les so
that the sensors can send the correct tion abou t safety belt use to the elec tron ic
C hanging the ve hicl e's suspension including
us e of unapproved tire-rim combinations ca n change Advanced Airbag performance and crease the risk of se rious personal injury in a
c ras h.
Never install s uspension components that do not h ave the same performance ist ics as th e components originally in stalled on your ve hicl e.
Never use tire-rim combin a ti o ns th at have not been approved by Volkswage n.
Leaving the optional safety belt extender tached to th e safety belt latch on the front senger seat when the safety belt is not being
u se d will prevent the Adva nced fro m functioning properl y and ca n in crease the risk of se riou s pe rso nal injury in a
Always remove the safety belt extende r
w hen it is not needed and stow it safely whe n
it is not bei ng used with the safety belt.
Never use th e safety belt exte nder to secure
a c hild restraint at any seating position.
buckle and the cente r conso le can cause the sensors
Airbag system 45

The rear seat is generally the safest place in a collision.
The physical principle s of what happens when you r vehicle is in an acc ident apply also to 15. safety belts?". But unlik e adults and teenage rs, their muscle s and bones are not fully deve loped. many respects
d ent s than are adults.
Becau
se c hildr en's bodies oped, they must use restrain t systems especially des igned fo r their size . weight , and b ody ture . Many countries and all sta te s of the United and pro vinces of Canada have law s
tems for infant s and small childr en .
a frontal crash at a speed of20- 35 mph 56 km /h l the forces acting on a 13-pound (6 kg)
infant w ill be more than times th e weig ht of the child . Thi s means th e weight of the chi ld
wo uld suddenl y be more than pounds kg). Under these conditions, only
tions to be s ure the seat is right for your child's page 56, safety instru ctio ns for using child b e s ure to
bags, and th e installation of child restraints in
thi s booklet.
Ther e is a l ot you n ee d to know about the va nced Airba gs in your vehicl e and how they
work when infant s and children in child
in your vehicle and th e very important inform ation about child ren on the front
they are extremel y important fo r your safet y and the safet y o f your passenger s, cially infant s and sm all children .
Acciden t s tati stics have shown that d ren are generally safer in the rear seat area than in the front seating position. Always
All vehicle occupants and especially dren must be restrained properly whenever riding in a vehicle. An unrestrained or properly restrained child could be injure d b y striking the interior or by being ejected from the ve hicle during a sudden maneuver or
strained child is also at greate r risk of injury or death through contact with an infl ati n g
airbag.
s uit abl e child restrai nt properly ins talled and used at one of the rear seating pos itions prov ides th e hig hest degree of protect ion for
infant s and small childre n in most accident situations
Children on the fro nt seat ofanycareven with
Advanced Airbags can be seriously injured or even killed when an airbag inflates.
A child in a rearward-facing child seat be
The infl ating a irbag
safety 53

2.1 Safety first
child on the front passe nger seat u sing th e weight-sensing m at in the seat c ushion and the sen sor below the safety belt latch on the front
p assenger seat that measures th e tension on the safe ty be lt.
Th e we ight -sensin g
mat measures to tal weight of the c h ild and th e child seat and a chi ld blanket on th e front passeng er seat. The weight on the
front pas s enge r seat is re lated to the design of th e c hild restraint and its the size and s h ape of the bo ttom of the chil d restr aint as
it sit s on the seat. The w eight o f a child restraint and its
manufacturers .
T he
weight ra nges for the indi vidual types,
m akes and models of child restr aints that th e
N HTSA has s pecified in the Sa fe ty Standard gether w ith the weight r a n g es of t ypical infan ts a
nd ty
pical I year-old child have been in
th e control unit of the Adva nced Airba g Sys te m.
When a child restraint is being used on the front passenger seat w ith a typic al! year-o ld infant ,
th e Ad va nc ed Airbag System compares the weight measured by the weight-sensin g m at
with the informa ti on stored in the electro nic
control unit.
T he el
ectroni c control unit als o registers the s ion on th e front passenger safe ty belt. The sion on th e sa fe ty belt for the front passenge r
seat w ill be differe nt for an adult who is properly using the sa fety belt as compared to the te nsion on th e belt when it is used to atta ch a child strain t to the seat. Th e sensor below the latch for the sa fet y belt for th e front seat passenger sures the tension on th e belt. The input from this
se nsor is then u sed w ith the weight to w he th er there is a child restraint with a ty pical
I year-o ld child on the front passenger seat a nd
w hether o r n ot th e airba g must be turned off .
Safety dards and has been certified by its m anufa cturer
f o r use with an airbag. Alwa ys be sure that the chil d restraint is pro perly in stalled at one of th e
rear seating positi ons. If in exce ptional sta nces you must use it on the front passe nge r seat, carefully read all of the information on child safety and Ad vanced Airbag s and heed all of th e a pplic abl e WARNINGS. Ma ke certain that
t h e c hild res traint is correctly recognized by the
we ig ht-sensi ng mat in side the front passeng er seat, that th e fron t passenger a irb ag is turne d off and that the airbag statu s is alw ays correctly naled by the BAG light.
Man y ty
pes and model s of c hild restrain ts hav e
been availabl e ove r the years . new mode ls a re introduced reg ularly incorporating new and prove d desig n s and older mod els are take n out of production. res traint s are not iz ed. re s traint s of th e same type ty picall y h
ave diff e
rent weig hts and sizes and diff erent the size and s hape of the bottom of
th e child res traint that sit s on the seat, when they are in stalled on a seat. These ences make it virtu ally impossibl e to certify compliance with the require m ents for advanced
airbags with each and every child restraint that has ever been so ld in the past or w ill be s old ove r
t h e course of the useful life of your
For thi s rea son, the United States National High way Traffi c Sa fety Adm ini strat ion has lis h e d a list of s p ecific type, makes and m od els of c hild restraint s that must b e use d to certify compliance of th e Advanced Airbag System in
your ve hicle with the suppression requirements of Federal Mo tor These child restraints are :
A. Car beds, manufactured on or after tember 1,
Dream Ride 02-719
safety 55

(When the res tra in t sys te m comes equipped w ith a removable base, compliance has to be certified with or without th e base) .
Brit ax Handl e with 191
Assura 4553
F it 4543
A rri va
Even flo Disc overy Adjust Right 2 12
Even flo First
Graco Infant 8457
Forward-facing convertible child restraint
sys tems,
manufactured on or after September
Britax Houndabout 16 1
Britax Expressway
Encore 4612
Olympian
Touri va
Even flo Horizon
Even flo Medallion 254
Safety Ride
D. Forward-facing toddler/belt positioning
booster systems, manufactured on or after
Brita x Road ster
High Back Booste r
Eve n flo Right Fit 245
WARNING
To reduce the risk of serio u s inj ury, make sure that the AIR BAG comes on and stays on whenever a child restraint is installed on the front passenger seat and the ignition is switched on.
Take the child restraint off the front pas­senger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the does not stay on.
use of child seals substantially reduces the risk of injury in an accident!
Fig. Never let babies or older ch il dren ride in a
vehicle whil e s itting on the lop of anot her passenger.
-All childr en, es pecially those 12 yea rs
a
nd younger , s h o uld always ride in the
back seat properly restrain ed for their age
and size.
- Alw ays u
se the right child seat for each
c hild
and a lways use it properl y=> page 53.
- Always
car e full y follow the child seat
m anufacturer's in stru ctio ns on how to
route the s
afety belt properly through th e
ch ild
seat.
- When us
ing the ve hicl e safety belt to in­
s ta
ll a child seat, you mus t fir st activate the
swit chable locking feature on the sa fety
As the driv er, yo u are respons ibl e fo r th e
safety of everybody in the ve hicl e, espe­
cially childr en : be
lt to
prevent th e child seat from moving
56 safety

page
There are also additi ona l a dju stment s tha t mus t
b e m ad e in order to be a ble to properl y install a
c hild res trained on th e f ro m seat:
Set th e safe ty bell upper a nch orage for th e
front passenger seat to the hi ghest adju stment po sition if th e available safety belt l eng th is suf­ficient to prope rly install the child res traim
Move the fr ont passe nge r scat to the highes t
pos ition in the seat's up and do wn adju stment
range.
Mo ve the front passe nge r seat to the rea r­mos t positio n in the seat's fore an d aft adjust­ment range, as far away from the airbag as pos­
sib le before insta llin g th e forw ard-fa cin g c hild
If a strap ortether is bein g used to tic th e child seat to th e fro nt passe nge r seat, make sure
t h a t it is not so tight that it causes the w eig ht ­sensing m at to m ea sur e mo re we ight than is ac­on the seat.
Always r
emember: Even though your vehicl e is equipped w ith an Adva nce d Air b ag all childr en. espec ially those 12 years and you nger,
s h ou ld always ride in the back scat properly re­
strai ned for th eir and size.
Not u sin g a child seat, using the wrong child seat or improperly ins taUing a c hild res traint
in creases the risk of seriou s personal injury and death.
All vehicle occu pants and especially chil­dren must a lways be res train ed properl y
w heneve r riding in a ve hicle .
- An
unrestrained or improp erl y re ­
s trained child can be injur ed or killed by
ava ilabl e c hild seats are re­
quired to comply with hicle Safety Standard
use child restraint sys te m s that fully contact the flat portion of th e seat
c u shi on. Th e child restraint must not tip or lean to either si de. Volkswagen does not recommend using child seats that rest on legs or tube- like frames. They do not pro­
vide adequate cont act with the se at.
- Always h
eed all legal requirem ents per­
taining to th e in stallation and u se of c hild seats and carefully follow the in struction s provided by the manufacturer of th e scat
yo u are usin g.
Neve r allow children unde r 4 ft 9 in (57 in ch es /1.45 meters) to wear a normal safe ty belt . T hey must alway s be re strai ned by
a prope r child restraint syste m. they could su sta in injuries to th e abdomen and n ec k areas during sudden braklng ma­
neuv ers or acci de nt s.
Never let more than one child occupy a
c hil d scat.
Neve r let babies or older child ren ride in a vehicl e w hil e sittin g on tlt e lap of ano ther pas­
senge r.
- Holdin g a child in yo
ur arms is neve r a
subs titute for a child restraint syste m .
-
The s trongest person co uld not hold the
c hild with the forc es that exist in an acci­
d e nt . Th e child will strike the int erior of the vehicl e and can al so be struck b y the pas­
senge r.
-
The c hild and th e passe nger can also in­jure each another in an acci dent .
Neve r in stall rcanvard-faci ngchild seats or infant carriers on the front passenger seat. A
c hild w ill be se riou sly inju red and ca n be
safety 57