What Makes An Airbag Inflate - Chevrolet 2007 Avalanche Owner's Manual

The frontal airbags (driver and right front
passenger) are not intended to inflate during
vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side
impacts.
Your vehicle has a seat position sensor which
enables the sensing system to monitor the
fore and aft position of the driver'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
rollover airbags and a rollover sensor. See
Airbag System on page 70. These "rollover
capable" airbags are intended to inflate in
moderate to severe side crashes, during a rollover,
or in a severe frontal impact. A roof-mounted
rollover 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 rear impacts. Both roof-mounted
rollover airbags will deploy when either side of the
vehicle is struck or during a rollover, or in a
severe frontal impact.
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 rollover airbags,
inflation is determined by the location and severity
of the impact or a rollover event.
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 on page 373 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 roof-mounted rollover
airbag, the sensing system detects that the
vehicle is about to roll over or has been in a severe
frontal impact or a moderate to severe side
impact. The sensing system triggers a release of
gas from the inflator, which inflates the airbag.
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