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Airbag
syste m
_&.
WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in-
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit-
t ing sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag ¢ page
148.
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 157
Inflat ed front airbags
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Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup-
plemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi-
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
- and for adjustable head restraints: the head re-
straints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, things you have on your lap or have
placed on the seat could become dangerous pro-
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in-
flates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released .
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle . This dust is made up mostly of a powder
158
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy.
It
could irritate skin.
It
is impor ta nt to remember that while the sup-
plemental airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra-
s ions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air-
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body . Front airbags supplement the three-
po int safety belts only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle deceleration is high enough
to deploy the airbags .
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is switched off when a crash oc-
curs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh-
old needed for airbag dep loyment as registered
by the electronic control u nit.
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas-
senger side frontal airbag must be switched off
by the electronic control unit (the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light¢ page
160 and how they
work comes on and stays on).
_&.
WARNING
Sitt ing in the wrong posit ion can increase the
risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al-
ways sit in an up right posit ion, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located .
- Occupants who are unbe lt ed, out of position
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye ¢ page
149.
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