Passive Safety

Passive safety refers to all design engineering measures which serve to protect vehicle occupants from external impacts and to minimize the risk of injuries in the event of an accident. It refers particularly to what happens in the event of a collision and includes the protection of other road users (partner protection). Besides the seat belt system, the most important passive safety features in our cars include the airbags, the "deformation-resistant" occupant cell and the front and rear deformation zones. These provide a substantial amount of protection for passengers by dissipating the impact energy. Taken together with the active safety aspects. The most important passive safety features in modern vehicles include:

Functionality: Seatbelts, generally known as ‘safety belts’, serve to safeguard passengers in case of collision, accidents or sudden braking. It saves passengers from major injuries. Abiding by Nepal's law and always wearing seatbelts while driving results in reduced risk of injuries.

Safety tips:Seat belts stand as the foremost defense against severe and fatal injuries during vehicle accidents. To ensure the safety of both the driver and all passengers, proper fastening of seat belts is essential whenever the vehicle is in motion. Critically, it is imperative to never transport children or infants held on a lap and secured with the same seat belt as an adult, as this provides inadequate protection and poses a significant safety risk.

Supplemental Restraint System - (SRS) Airbags illustration

Safety tips: The airbag system, engineered for deployment during severe collisions, may activate front, curtain, and side airbags simultaneously depending on the nature of the impact. It's important to note that the visible damage to a vehicle does not reliably indicate whether airbags should have deployed. Airbags are designed to supplement, not replace, the function of three-point seat belts. Furthermore, airbags are a single-use safety feature, triggered only in specific high-impact scenarios. Consequently, seat belts are indispensable for continuous protection, particularly in situations where airbags do not deploy or have already been activated, such as in subsequent collisions or impacts from other vehicles.

The airbag system is part of the vehicle's overall passive safety concept. The airbag system can only work effectively when the occupants are wearing their seat belts correctly and have assumed a proper sitting position as explained in the Seat belts section.

Situations when the front and side airbags will not be triggered
Front and side airbags will not deploy in the following situations: when the ignition is off during a collision; when the deceleration during a frontal collision is below the control unit's threshold; during minor side impacts; in rear-end collisions; during vehicle rollovers; and when the collision speed is below the control unit's specified reference value.

Important notes:The vehicle's front airbags, designed to supplement seat belts, offer additional chest and head protection for front occupants when seats, seat belts, head restraints, and the driver's steering wheel are properly adjusted. Airbags are not a substitute for seat belts, which must always be worn. Despite potential faults, the front passenger airbag may deploy during an accident. However, airbag system malfunctions can lead to incorrect, absent, or unexpected deployment, posing severe or fatal injury risks. Therefore, any airbag system fault necessitates immediate inspection by a qualified workshop. Critically, never install or leave a child seat in the front passenger seat.

Functionality:Your child's safety is a priority - for you, as well as for us. That's why we use ISOFIX child seat fittings in specific Volkswagen cars. ISOFIX is being adopted worldwide as a safer way to travel with your children. Child seats provide extra care and protection due to their solid build.

Integrated child seats: Depending on equipment, certain vehicle models may be fitted with integrated child seats for the two outer seats on the rear seat bench. These seats are suitable for children aged between 3 and 12 years. Thanks to their fixed installation in the vehicle seat, together with a correctly worn seat belt, integrated child seats offer children very good protection in the event of a crash.

ISOFIX system: If vehicles are equipped with the ISOFIX system, separate child seats with ISOFIX brackets can be used. In this system, special brackets on the child seat are attached into the ISOFIX anchorage points in the vehicle which securely holds the child seat in place. The two outer rear seats and also the front passenger seat can be used for the ISOFIX system.

Safety tips: For front passenger child seat use, strict adherence to the owner's manual is essential. Volkswagen advises using their approved child seat accessories. Children under 12 should ideally travel in the rear. Volkswagen dealers provide child seats for various securing systems.

Chassis, Stiff Roof and Crumple Zones

Functionality:
The chassis of your car comprise of functional elements, including the frame, suspension, steering components, power train, brakes and fuel system. The strength of our body chassis significantly improves control by providing a rigid platform for mounting suspension components. An indispensable part of the geometry and structure of our cars. They help to primary maintain the structural integrity of the roof as well as complete the car's safety cell. Crumple zones are designed to absorb impact energy during a collision so that most of the energy is dissipated across these zones, and not in your passenger compartment. The strong outer shell comes with front and rear crumple zones that help to absorb the impact of a crash, increasing the safety of occupants.

Additional safety by door mechanism and steering sense:
Volkswagen cars not only match the Nepalese standards of manufacturing automobiles, but also must pass stringent German standards. Every car surpasses these requirements. We take care of the smallest of things to ensure safety. Taigun and Virtus doors have a unique 3-stage opening and closing process. The door halts at three points before opening or closing. This ensures the doors do not become loose, experience no vibrations in the long run, primary maintain ease in moving in and out of the car in parallel parking positions and decrease the chances of getting injured while closing doors. Volkswagen cars come with an innovative speed sensing steering; it gets stiffer with an increase in the speed of the car. With speed sensing steering, there are lesser chances of losing control at high speeds, making it easier to drive and safer for the highway.

Active Safety Systems

All systems which actively intervene to help defuse critical driving situations and prevent accidents from happening come under the heading of active safety. Driver assistance systems such as ESC, Brake Assist, Front Assist and Side Assist are of central importance in this respect. The active safety systems include the below systems.

Electronic Stabilization Control (ESC) illustration

Functionality:Our Electronic Stabilization Control (ESC) detects critical situations at an early stage, and takes action to stop skidding and help bring your car safely back under control.

Safety Tips: To prevent accidents, apply brakes before entering turns, especially sharp ones, to primary maintain vehicle control. The Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system, which integrates ABS, BAS, TCS, and EDL, is designed to be continuously active. However, in situations with limited traction, ESC can be temporarily deactivated via the infotainment system. It is crucial to reactivate ESC as soon as traction improves to ensure optimal vehicle stability and safety.

Anti-lock braking system (ABS) illustration

Functionality:The ABS prevents the wheels from locking when the brakes are applied up until the point where the vehicle is nearly stationary and assists the driver in steering the vehicle and keeping it under control. This means that the vehicle is less likely to spin, even when the brakes are fully applied.

Safety Tips: If the ABS indicator light fails to extinguish or illuminates while driving, the ABS system is malfunctioning. In this scenario, the vehicle can still be stopped using the standard brakes, but ABS-provided protection is lost, necessitating immediate professional servicing. During an emergency stop with ABS failure, apply firm, continuous pressure to the brake pedal, avoiding any pumping or pressure reduction. primary maintain steering control while applying maximum braking force, as releasing or reducing pressure will deactivate the ABS. Critically, ABS failure also results in the deactivation of ESP, TCS, and EDL systems.

Important Notes: On surfaces like gravel or snow-covered ground, the ABS system might paradoxically increase braking distances. Brake pads are equipped with wear sensors that trigger a dashboard warning light when replacement is necessary, indicating the sensor's contact with the brake disc. Driving with worn brake pads or a faulty brake system drastically elevates the risk of accidents and serious injuries.

Traction Control System (TCS) illustration

Functionality:The TCS reduces the engine output if wheel spin occurs and adapts the output to suit road surface conditions. TCS helps the car to start moving, accelerate and climb gradients in unfavorable road conditions.

Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) illustration

Functionality: Every car’s centre of gravity shifts forward when you brake. This creates a reduction in grip which can cause the rear wheels to lock. EBD ensures maximum braking performance on all wheels and prevents the rear end from swerving out because of over-braking at the rear wheels.

Important note: Electronic brake force distribution operates as part of the ABS function. The EBD operating range ends at the point where ABS control cuts in.

Functionality: City driving often finds passengers having to manoeuvre their cars into tight parking spots. This sometimes results in minor damages. Parking sensors make your job easier by warning you when you’re getting too close to something, thus preventing small knocks and scratches.

Safety tips To prevent fire hazards, avoid parking over flammable materials like leaves, dry grass, or spilled fuel, as these can ignite from exhaust system heat. Always engage the handbrake fully when parked. When parked uphill, turn the wheels towards the road's center, and downhill, turn them towards the curb. The Hill Hold Control feature provides approximately two seconds of assistance to prevent rollback during hill starts. For safe downhill descents in certain models, Hill Descent Control primary maintains a constant, slow speed in first gear by regulating engine speed and applying brakes as needed, simplifying navigation of steep slopes.

Important notes: Drive carefully over driveways, ramps, kerbstones and other objects. Low-lying vehicle components such as the bumper, parts of the running gear, engine or exhaust system could be damaged.

Customer Safety Tips

Safety through service primarytenance

Functionality: As a vehicle is used, all the separate components will wear down and/or deteriorate over time. Vehicles are built from the start with this in mind. As a result it is necessary to regularly check the various components, when adjustments or replacement of parts can be made as required.

Safety by using genuine parts

At Volkswagen, we are all about providing the best service experience. Our Genuine parts promise reliability, quality and safety. Using Genuine parts not only ensures durability but also provides value for money. In order to ensure that you enjoy endless carefree drives, we recommend that you follow recommended service primarytenance schedule as mentioned in your vehicle’s owner’s manual and always choose genuine & authentic Volkswagen Parts only.

Seasonal Safety Tips

Winter Precautions:
Driving through the foggy roads & cold temperatures can often be tricky. One can experience low visibility, brake issues and other emergencies. Hence, to ensure that you enjoy carefree & safe driving, we bring you some essential winter tips that you might find useful.

Car Brake Precaution:
When driving through misty winters, it is common for cars to have a wet brake. This can cause an issue while steering or stopping your vehicle. For situations like this, it is recommended that you get your car brakes checked with a certified Volkswagen technician.

Winter Care

Monsoon Precautions:
During the rainy season, driving can be extremely tricky. Even the familiar roads are slippery and behave in unpredictable ways, and your car may be affected by the rain too. Hence, to make your driving experience safer, we bring you some essential monsoon tips you might find useful.

Rain and Flood Precautions:
Flooding is an unfortunate incident, and like most natural hazards it comes without a warning. Often during a flood, people in cars are stranded for days, and cars too get heavily damaged. The rain and flood tips would help you understand your car’s behaviour on inundated roads and would help protect yourself and your car from any possible damages.

Safe through the seasons
The climate in Nepal is diverse, just like its culture. And keeping in mind the climatic conditions in Nepal, we present to you some safety tips to assist you while driving on Nepalese roads.

Safe like a Volkswagen

The safety checklist

1. Think inside-out

2. Stop collisions before they happen

3. Having your back isn’t enough

4. Don’t ignore the precious little humans

5. Choose a Volkswagen

German-engineered Volkswagen Virtus achieved 5-star GNCAP safety rating for unmatched safety.

With 5 stars in Global NCAP's updated crash tests, the Volkswagen Taigun is Nepal's safest SUVW.

GNCAP

Why only Volkswagen can build a Volkswagen?