What Makes An Airbag Inflate - Chevrolet 2006 TrailBlazer EXT Owner's Manual

Your vehicle has seat position sensors which enable the
sensing system to monitor the position of the driver's
seat and the right front passenger's seat. Seat position
sensors provide information that is used to determine
if the airbags should deploy at a reduced level or at full
deployment.
Your vehicle may or may not have a roof-mounted
airbag and a rollover sensor. See Airbag System on
page 1-54. These "rollover capable" airbags are
intended to inflate in moderate to severe side crashes
or during a rollover. A roof-mounted airbag will inflate if
the crash severity is above the system's designed
"threshold level." The threshold level can vary with
specific vehicle design. Roof-mounted airbags are not
intended to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
or rear impacts. Both roof-mounted airbags will deploy
when either side of the vehicle is struck or during a
rollover.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inflated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, inflation is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For roof-mounted
airbags, inflation is determined by the location and
severity of the impact.
The airbag system is designed to work properly under a
wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough
terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See Off-Road
Driving (Except SS) on page 4-20 for tips on off-road
driving.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. In the
case of a "rollover capable" roof-mounted side impact
airbag, the sensing system detects that the vehicle
is about to roll over. The sensing system triggers
a release of gas from the inflator, which inflates the
airbag. The inflator, airbag, and related hardware are all
part of the airbag modules inside the steering wheel
and in the instrument panel in front of the right
front passenger. For vehicles with roof-mounted side
impact airbags, the airbag modules are located in
the ceiling of the vehicle, near the side windows.
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