Volkswagen PASSAT 2004 Owner's Manual page 130

Side airbags
The
side airbags
are in the backrest pad-
ding for the front seats (see illustration) and
can help to reduce the risk of injury to the
upper torso on that side of the vehicle that
is struck in a side collision. The outboard
side of each front backrest is marked w ith
the word "AIRBAG."
~WARNING
To be sure the side airbags can
deploy in a side impact:
• Never place protective seat cov-
ers or replacement upholstery
over the front seatbacks that have
not been specifically approved by
VOLKSWAGEN. Since the side air-
bags deploy out of the side of the
seatba ck, they would not be able
to deploy and protect properly.
See Booklet 3 . 1 for more d etails.
• Do not use additiona l seat cush-
ions that cover or interfere with
the areas where the side airbags
inflate.
• D a mage to the original seat cov-
ers or to the seam in the area of the
side airbag module must be re-
paired immediately by an autho-
rized VOLKSWAGEN dealer.
SAFETY FIRST
I
B2J·057D
I
The side airbags inflate only in some side
collisions occurring within the approximate
area indicated in the illustration.
The side airbags will not inflate ...
• if t he igni tion is switched off
• in frontal collisions
• in side collisions in w hich vehicle decel-
eration is not high enough
• in rear collisions
• in rollovers.
Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the
lack of vehicle damage is not necessarily an
indica tion of proper airbag operation.
Under some accident conditions, both front
and side airbags may inflate.
Remember too. airbags wi ll deploy only
once and only in certain kinds of accidents
-your safety belts are always there to offer
protection in those accidents in which air-
bags are not supposed to deploy or when
they have already deployed.
How the supplemental side airbag
system works
In a side collision the supplemental side air-
bags can help to reduce the risk of injury to
the upper part of the body on the side of the
car that is struck in a side collision.
In order to assure this additional protection,
the side airbag must inflate within the blink
of an eye during a collision.
It is not possible to define an airbag trigger-
ing range that wil l cover every possible
AIR BAG SYSTEM - - -- - -- - -- -- -- -- - - - -
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