When Should An Airbag Inflate - Chevrolet 2007 Silverado 1500 Pickup Owner's Manual

CAUTION:
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If something is between an occupant and
an airbag, the bag might not inflate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an inflating airbag must
be kept clear. Do not put anything
between an occupant and an airbag, and
do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any
other airbag covering.
When Should an Airbag Inflate?
The driver's and right front passenger's frontal
airbags are designed to inflate in moderate
to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they
are designed to inflate only if the impact
exceeds a predetermined deployment threshold.
Deployment thresholds take into account a variety
of desired deployment and non-deployment
events and are used to predict how severe a crash
is likely to be in time for the airbags to inflate and
help restrain the occupants. Whether your
frontal airbags will or should deploy is not based
on how fast your vehicle is traveling. It depends
largely on what you hit, the direction of the impact
and how quickly your vehicle slows down.
Frontal airbags may inflate at different crash
speeds. For example:
•
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could inflate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
•
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inflate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits an object that
does not deform.
•
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole),
the airbags could inflate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits a wide object
(like a wall).
•
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle,
the airbags could inflate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into
the object.
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