Volkswagen Tiguan Owners Manual: What happens to passengers not wearing a safety belt

Fig. 58 The unbelted driver is thrown forward.

Fig. 59 Unbelted passengers in the rear seats are thrown forward on top of the belted driver.

Many people believe that it is possible to resist the forces of an impact by holding tight or bracing themselves. That is simply not true!

Even at low collision speeds, the forces acting on the body are too much for the body to be held in the seat with the arms and hands. In a frontal collision, unrestrained occupants will slam violently into the steering wheel, instrument panel, windshield or anything else in the way ⇒ Fig. 58 .

Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even when they deploy, airbags provide only additional protection. Airbags are not supposed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Even if your vehicle is equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, including the driver, must wear safety belts correctly in order to minimize the risk of severe injury or death in a crash, regardless of whether a seating position has an airbag or not.

An airbag will deploy only once. Safety belts are always there to offer protection in those accidents in which airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can also be thrown out of the vehicle, causing even more severe injuries or death.

It is also important for occupants in the rear seats to wear their safety belts properly since they can be thrown violently forward through the vehicle in the event of an accident. Unbelted passengers in the rear seats endanger not only themselves but also the driver and other passengers in the vehicle ⇒ Fig. 59 .