2 observations-
Metal is metal. People are the important variable in the equation. I'm glad no one was hurt.
THIS IS THE REASON I DRIVE GERMAN ENGINEERED CARS.
What is amazing is The way the passenger compartment/doors remained fully functional. The doors opened and closed with no issues. This says a lot in an impact of that force. Imagine having the doors fused shut from a frontal impact. Or- if the A-pillar bent inward, reducing the among of survivable space. German cars adhere to the strictest crash testing in the world.
In case you didnt know- the Passat (All VW family products) airbags already "knew" how full to get based on your wife's weight and seat position in relation to the steering wheel within 3-5 seconds of starting the car. Sensors in the seat, and the seatbelt gave weight, position, and belted/non-belted status. Most women sit closer and higher than men do, but the airbag knows when to deploy in a "Stage 1" deployment (lighter and less full) for closer/lighter persons, or a "Stage 2" deployment for those who are heavier, further back, or unbelted- those who need additional oppositional force to stop them before impacting the wheel or windshield.
The front of the car did exactly what it should- It fell apart. In a controlled fashion. The frontal crumple zone seems to have worked as designed and as it crumpled past 2 inches, pieces started breaking off. After 4 inches, the bolts holding the engine sheered off and allowed the engine to drop straight down as opposed to holding it in place and allowing it to be pushed back into the passenger compartment. Although it crunched in quite a bit, doing so absorbed the energy of the impact.
The rear seat is made of a steel plate. It's not cardboard like so many other cars. A non-secured item in the trunk won't punch through the rear seat. A cardboard backed seat will deform severely. (Folks-- go outside tomorrow and fold your rear seat down. Make a fist and hammer it pretty hard with the flat side of your fist. It's steel).
What also happened in the 4/100's of a second after impact was the seat belt reel rotated backwards due to metal ball-bearings being shot into the belt reel, thus rolling backwards (tightening) 2 full rotations and retracted the belt about 5-6 inches, further tightening the seatbelt and keeping your wife from moving forward.
(My VW Sales Training taught me a lot of stuff that I hardly ever get to share anymore now that I'm out of the sales game so thanks for indulging me in this post).
The slight upslope in the seat kept her from "Submarine-ing" under the lap belt and sliding forward.
After the car came to rest, the doors unlocked, the ignition turned off, the in-tank fuel pump shut off fuel delivery to the rest of the car. The hazard lights turned on as well.
To answer your airbag concern in the side-curtain airbags. Unlike front airbags, which are meant to "meet" the driver halfway and reduce the amount of distance traveled, The side curtain airbags drop straight down, and cover the window and B Pillar, and don't extend outward toward the passengers, so your kids would have been safe from side-airbag deployment. Also, their forward momentum would have carried them more forward and not to the side unless there was a dedicated side impact, in which case the airbag would have kept a head on window impact from happening.
The spare tire??? Wasn't it secured with the spinning plastic "Bolt" that holds it down? That should have kept it from popping out of the spare tire well. I'm curious as to why it popped out in the first place.
Once again- I'm glad she's okay. Cars can be replaced.