child seat VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008 Owner's Guide

side oirbog on left side of vehicle
Suppl em ental sid e ai rbag s infl ate betw een the occupant and the door panel on the sid e of the
ve hic le is s truck in ce rtain sid e collision 27.
A pplies to ve hicl es: with side o irbogs
m enta l s id e a irbag injure you if your seatin g position is not proper o r upri ght o r i f
it e m s are locate d in the a re a where the menta l s id e a irbag inflates. This a pplies cially to page 53, "Child
A lth oug h th ey arc no t a soft pill ow, they can the i mpac t and in thi s w ay th ey can help r educe the risk of in ju ry to th e upper part of the body.
A fin e dust dev elop whe n th e
safety instructions for the side airbag system
A irb ags are only supplemental rest raints. Alway s prop erly wear safety belts and
rid e a proper seating
There is a lot tha t you and your p asse nge rs mus t
kno w and do to he lp the safe ty and airbags do their jo b to provid e supple m ental protection.
T he s ide
airbags installed for the front seating positio ns and th e rear outboard have
been des igned and cert ified to he lp reduce the risk of injury th a t can b e caused by air bag s w he n
th ey inflat e. particularl y wh en the occupant
To he lp red uce th e risk of injury w he n the supple m ental s id e airbag inflates,
Always sit in an upright posit ion and do not lean against the area whe re the mental s id e airbag is locate d .
WARNING
An inflatin g s ide airbag can cause serious or fatal injury. Impro perl y wearing safety belt s
Never let a c hil d o r a nyone els e rest their
h ead against th e side trim panel in th e area
W here applic able
48 Airbag system

flates.
- Alway s
make sure that safety belts are wor n correctly,
- Never le t a nyo ne s itting in the front
seat put th e ir hand o ut of the window.
Always make sure th at the sid e airbag can
inflat e without interferen ce:
- Neve r in stall se
at covers or re p lace ment upholstery over th e front seat back s that
h ave not bee n specifica lly approved by
- Never use additional seat cushi on s that co ver th e areas where th e s ide airbag s flate.
-
Dam age to the original seat covers or to
th e seam in th e area of th e si de airbag
modul e must alwa ys be repaired ate ly by an authorized
betwee n yo u and the airbag can crease th e risk of inju ry in colli sion by fering with the way the airb ag unfold s or by bei ng pushed you as th e a irba g infl ates.
- Neve r pla ce or a
ttach accesso ries or other objec ts (su ch as cup hold ers , phone brac ke ts, or eve n bulky ob-
(continued)
jec ts) on the doors , over or n ear th e area marke d on the seat ba ckre sts.
- Acc esso ries or other objects ca n beco me
dangerou s mi ssiles and cause inju ry
ploy ment space between them and the bags or allo w children or other passengers
to travel in thi s po sition.
Always usc the built-in coat hook s only for ligh tweig ht clothing . Never leave any h eavy or sharp-ed ged obj ec ts in the po cke ts that may
int erfe re w ith side ai rba gdeployment and can cause personal injury in a collisio n.
Always prevent the sid e airbags from being damaged by heavy object s knockin g or hitting the sides of the seat backs.
The ai rb ag syste m can onl y be tri gge re d
once. the airbag has bee n tri ggered, the sys tem mus t b e re placed by an authori zed Volkswagen dealer or qualifi ed work shop.
Always have work invo lv in g th e s ide airbag
syste m, re m ova l a nd installa tion of th e airbag
components, orothcrrep air s p erformed by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or qualified works ho p. Otherwise th e a irbag sys te m may
n ot work correctly.
Neve r attempt to modify any com ponents of the airbag syste m in any wa y
Airbag system 49

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

Alway s seats on the rear seat.
a rearward-facing
seat in a rear seating position and h ave the airbag system inspec te d immediately by your authorized Volkswagen dealer or qualified
workshop.
Fonvard-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the
chorage to the highest adjustment posi­
t ion.
- Always move
the passenger seat to the
hi ghest position in th e up and down justment range and move it back to
the tim e whenever the ignition is
switched
Advanced front airbag system and
Your vehicle is equipped with a dual-stage front Airbag in compliance with
Unit ed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety dard as at th e tim e your
ve hicl e was manufactured.
T he Advanced Airbag system in you r veh
icle to meet th e requ ire­ments for 3 and 6 year-old chil dre n (as defined in the s tandard ) on the passe nger side and small
adults on the driv er side. d eplo ym ent
occurs in tho se crashes that take plac e at lower
d ecla ratio ns as defin ed in th e ele c
tronic unit. Th e low risk deployment crit eria are tended to redu ce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the airbag that can occur in these
safety
airbag inflates. In additi on, the system has been certified to comply with the qu ir e m ent s of th e Safety Standard , to turn off the
f r ont airbag for infant s up to 12 months w ho are restrained on th e front passenge r seat in child that are
can be a very dangerous place for an in-fant or la rger child in a rearward -facing

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

Booklet 2.1 Safety first
(continued)
even with an Adva nced Air bag Sys tem.
The infl ating airbag will hit the child seat or infant carrier w ith great force and will
smas h the c hild seat and child against the
backre st, center armrest, door o r roof.
Always in stall r eanva rd-facing child seats or infant carri ers on the rear scat.
Fonvard -facing child seats in stall ed on th e
front passe nger's sea t can interfere
th e c hild's safety and well-being require that the fo llowing special precautions be taken:
- Make s
ure the fo nvard -facing seat has been designed and certifi ed b y its manu­facturer for use on a front scat with
as po ssib le before
installin g the child res traint .
58 safety
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rca rmost position in its for e and aft adjustment range.
-
Always make s ure that th e ba ckrest is in the upright position.
Always buckle the child seat finnl y in pla ce
eve n if a child is not sitting in it. A loo se child
seat
can fly around durin g a sudden stop or in
a collisio n.
Alway s read and hee d all WAHNINGS whenever usi ng a child restrain ed in a ve hicle
i s being page page and
To reduce the risk of serio us injury, make sure th at the PASSENGER BAG light comes o n and stays on whenever a child restraint is
installed on the front p asse nger seat and the ignition is sw itch ed on.
Tak e th e c hild restra int the front senger seat and in stall it properly at one of th e
rear seat posi tio ns if PASSENGER light does not sta y on.
Have the airbag sys te m inspec ted by your au thori ze d Volkswagen dealer or qualified
worksho p immediat ely .

seats
Babies and infants up to at least one year old that weigh at least20-22lbs. (9-
kg) must sit
on the re ar seat
- When using the ve hicl e sa fet y bell to
stall a child seat, yo u m ust activate the
sw itchab le lock in g
feature on the safety
to prevent th e child seat from moving
63.
-If a s trap or tet her is bein g use d to tie
t h e chil d se
at to th e front passenger seat,
make s
ure that it is not so tight that it
causes d1e we ight-s en sin g mat to m easure
more weig ht than is actually on t h e sea t.
I nfant s up to about one year (up to 22lbs. or
riers an d child seats des ign ed for their ag e
gro up. M any experts believe that i nfan ts an d
s ma
ll children should ride on ly in specia l stra int s in whic h the ch ild faces th e ba ck of the vehicle. These infant sca ts s uppo rt th e baby 's
ba ck, neck and he ad in a collisio n. These child
sea ts can b e used safe ly only on the rear seat of your Jig.
WARNING
N ot using a chil d sca t, th e wro ng c hild seat o r im prope rly a c hild restraint increases th e r isk of serio us pers onal injury a nd death in a
Neve r install reanvard-fac ing child seats or
i n fa n t carri ers o n th e fro nt passenger sea t­
e v en w ith an Adva nced Airb ag System. A child
Always install reanva rd-faci ng c hil d seats or in fant carriers on the rear seat.
Never install a reanva rd -faci ng c hild
faci ng.
rize d Volkswage n deale r or q u al ified
A lways read an d heed all WARNINGS whenever using a c hild re strained in a v ehicle
is being
page 53,
safety 59

2.1
seats can help protect toddlers and children ove r
age 1 and and up to
mately lbs. (9 and 18 kg) in a cra sh.
Fig . 32
stall a child seat, yo u must first activ ate the
switchable locki ng feature on the safet y
belt to pre vent the child seat from moving
63.
-the child seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt re ally tight so
that the seat cannot move fo rw ard or
page 69) to
the tether anchorage for th e seating
tion w here the c hild restra int is being
sta lled page 68.
-
safety
A toddle r or is usuall y too large for fant restraint, if it is m ore than one year and weighs more than 221b s.
and weig h be tween 221bs.
s train ed in seat certified for the ir size and fig. 32.
The airbag on the passenger side m akes the front seat a pot entially dang erous place fo r a to ride. Th e front seat is not the safest place
for a child in a forward-fac ing child seat.
in a re arw ard-facing seat.
WARNING
Not using us ing the wrong seat or improperly installing child restra int
increases the risk of serious personal injury and death in a or other emergency
si tuation.
Children on th e front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously jured or even
be seriousl y
in jured and be if th e front airbag flates-even with an Advanced 1\irbag System .
The inflating airbag will th e child seat or infant carrier with gr eat force and
Always install rearward -facing child seats on the rear seat.
yo u must i.nstall a rearward faci ng sea t on the front passeng er sea t because of ceptional circumstances and th e PASSENGER
immediatel y in stall the r earward-facing
child sea ting position and have
th e airbag system inspected by your rized Volkswagen dealer or qualified work-
shop.