How Does An Airbag Restrain; What Will You See After An Airbag; Inflates - Chevrolet Corvette 2023 Owner's Manual

Chevrolet Corvette Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-16287460) -
2023 - CRC - 4/26/22
54 Seats and Restraints

How Does an Airbag Restrain?

In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal
collisions, even belted occupants can contact
the steering wheel or the instrument panel.
In moderate to severe side collisions, even
belted occupants can contact the inside of
the vehicle.
Airbags supplement the protection provided
by seat belts by distributing the force of the
impact more evenly over the
occupant's body.
But airbags would not help in many types
of collisions, primarily because the
occupant's motion is not toward those
airbags. See When Should an Airbag Inflate?
0 53.
Airbags should never be regarded as
anything more than a supplement to seat
belts.
What Will You See after an
Airbag Inflates?
After the frontal and seat-mounted side
impact airbags inflate, they quickly deflate,
so quickly that some people may not even
realize the airbags inflated. Some
components of the airbag module may be
hot for several minutes. For location of the
airbags, see Where Are the Airbags? 0 52.
The parts of the airbag that come into
contact with you may be warm, but not too
hot to touch. There may be some smoke
and dust coming from the vents in the
deflated airbags. Airbag inflation does not
prevent the driver from seeing out of the
windshield or being able to steer the
vehicle, nor does it prevent people from
leaving the vehicle.
Warning
When an airbag inflates, there may be
dust in the air. This dust could cause
breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing
trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as soon as it is
safe to do so. If you have breathing
problems but cannot get out of the
vehicle after an airbag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or a door.
If you experience breathing problems
following an airbag deployment, you
should seek medical attention.
The vehicle has a feature that may
automatically unlock the doors, turn on the
interior lamps and hazard warning flashers,
and shut off the fuel system after the
airbags inflate. The feature may also
activate, without airbag inflation, after an
event that exceeds a predetermined
threshold. After turning the ignition off and
then on again, the fuel system will return to
normal operation; the doors can be locked,
the interior lamps can be turned off, and
the hazard warning flashers can be turned
off using the controls for those features.
If any of these systems are damaged in the
crash they may not operate as normal.
Warning
A crash severe enough to inflate the
airbags may have also damaged
important functions in the vehicle, such
as the fuel system, brake and steering
systems, etc. Even if the vehicle appears
to be drivable after a moderate crash,
there may be concealed damage that
could make it difficult to safely operate
the vehicle.
(Continued)