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Q:
How does
an
air
bag restrain?
A:
In
moderate to severe frontal or
near=frontal collisions, even belted
occupants
can
contact the steering
wheel. The air bag supplements the
protection provided by safety belts.
Air
bags distribute the force
of
the
impact more evenly over the
occupant's upper body, stopping the
occupant more gradually. But air
bags would not provide protection in
many types
of collisions; including.
rollovers and rear
and
side impacts,
primarily because an occupant's
. :
-
motion is not toward the air bag. Air
bags should never be regarded as
anything more than
a
supplement to
safety belt protection in hoderate to
severe frontal and near-frontal
collisions.
Q: What
wiu you see
after an air bag
Mation?
A:
M e r the
a i r
bag has inflated, it will
then quickly deffate. This occurs
so
quickly that some people may not
even realize that the air bag S a t e d .
The air bag will
not
impede the
driver's vision or ability to steer the
vehicle, nor
w i l l
it hinder the
occupants from exiting the vehicle.
There
w i l l
be small amounts of
smoke coming from vents in the
deflated air bag. Some components
of the
a i r
bag module in the steering
wheel hub may be hot for a short
time, but the portion of the bag that
comes into contact with you will not
be hot to the touch. The nitrogen
gas
used to inflate the air bag will have
ventdinto the passenger
compartment, and the bag will be
deflated within seconds after the
"collision. Nitrogen makes up about
80%
of the air we breathe and is not
hazardous. As the nitrogen vents
from the bag, small particles we also
vented into the passenger
compartment.
29
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