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The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests¢
fig. 161
and the rear back-
rest facing the doors. They are identified by the
word "AIRBAG".
The side airbags installed for the front seating
positions have been designed and certified to
he lp reduce the risk of injury that can be caused
by airbags when they inf late, particularly when
the occupant sitt ing next to it is not seated prop-
erly. The s ide airbag for the front passenger seat
can be used with properly installed child re-
stra ints. Please be sure to read the important in-
formation and wa rnings whenever using a child
rest raint in a vehicle: Safety belts¢
page 140 ,
Airbag system
.!>page 148,
Child safety
r::!>
page 17 2.
The side airbag system basically consists of :
- the e lectron ic control module and external side
impact sensors
- the two airbags located in the sides of the front
backrests and the two airbags* located in the
rea r backrest
- the a irbag warn ing light in the instrument
clus-
ter.
The airbag system is monitored electronically to
make certain that it is functioning properly at all
times. Each time you switch on the ign ition, the
a irbag system indicator light will come on for a
few seconds (self diag nostics).
The s ide airbag system supplements
the safety
belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury to
the dr iver's, fron t and rear passenger's
upper to r-
so on the side of the veh icle t hat is struck in a
side coll is ion. The a irbag dep loys only in side im-
pacts and only when the vehi cle acceleration reg-
istered by the cont rol un it is high enough. If this
rate is below the reference value programmed
in-
to the control unit, the side airbags will not be
tr iggered, even though the car may be bad ly
damaged as a result of the collision. It is not pos-
sib le to define an airbag tr igger ing range that
will cover every possib le ang le of impact, s ince
the circumstances w ill vary considerably between
one collision and another. Important fac t ors in-
clude, for example, t he nature (hard or soft) of
the impacting object, the angle of impact, vehicle
Airb a g sys tem
speed, etc.
r::!>
page 168, Important safety in-
structions on the side airbag system .
Aside from the ir no rm al safety funct io n, safety
belts work to he lp keep the dr iver or front pas-
senger in posi t ion in the event of a side collision
so that the side airbags can provide protectio n.
The airbag system is
not
a substi t ute for you r
sa fet y belt. Rat her, it is par t of the ove rall occ u-
pant restraint system in your vehicle . Always re -
member that the side airbag system can only
help to protect you if you are wear ing you r safety
belt and wear ing it properly. This is another rea -
son why you should a lways wear your safety
belts, not just because the law requires you to do
so ¢
page 140, General information.
It is important to remembe r that while the sup-
plementa l side airbag system is designed to re-
duce the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other inju -
ries, for example, swelling, bru ising, friction
burns and m ino r abras ions can also be assoc iated
wit h deployed side airbags. Remember t oo, side
airbags will deploy only once and only in certa in
kinds of accidents - your safety belts are al ways
there to offe r protection .
Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the lack of
vehicle damage ar e not necess arily an ind ication
of over-sens it ive or fa iled air bag ac t ivat ion . In
some collisions, both front and side airbags may
inflate. Remember too, that airbags will dep loy
only once and only in certain kinds of collisions -
your safety belts are always there to offer protec-
t ion in those accidents in which airbags are not
supposed to deploy or when they have already
deployed .
The side airbag system will not deploy :
- when the ignit ion is switched off
- in side collisions when the acceleration meas -
ured by the sensor is too low
- in front-end collisions
- in rea r-end collisions
- in rollovers .
In some types of accidents the front a irbags, side
curt ain airbags and side a irbags may be triggered
togethe r.
.,..
167
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