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124
Airbag
sy s tem
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig. 121
Inflated fro nt airbags
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep fro nt
seat occupants in the proper seated pos it io n
so that airbags can unfo ld prope rly and pro-
vide supp lemental protection in a fronta l col-
lision .
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad-
d itiona l protect ion for the chest a nd face of
the dr iver and t he front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi-
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been proper ly
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 dan-
ge rous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inflates .
When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This d ust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It cou ld irritate skin.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re-
d uce the likelihood of serious injur ies, other
injuries, fo r example swelling, bruisi ng and
minor abras ions, can a lso happe n when air-
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the a rms
or t he lower pa rt s of the body. Front airbags
only s upplement the t hree point safety belts
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high eno ugh to deploy the air-
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occu rs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
-when the crash dece leration measured by
the airbag system is less than the min imum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit .
The front passenger airbag will also not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu-
p ied,
- when t he weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem ind icates that the front airbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
elec t roni c con t rol un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on a nd st ays on) .
_&.
WARNING
~
Sitt ing in the wrong position can increase
the risk of se rious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of inju ry whe n t he air-
bags inflate, t he drive r and passengers
m ust always sit in an upr ight position,
must not lean aga inst or place any part
of their body too close to the area where
the airbags a re located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi-
tion or too close to the a irbag can be se-
rious ly injured by a n airbag as it unfolds
wit h great force in the blink of an eye
¢page
116 .
_&.
WARNING
~
-
A child in a rearward-fac ing child safety
seat inst alle d on the fron t passe nger seat
will be serio us ly inju re d a nd ca n be killed if
the front air bag inflates - even with an Ad-
vanced Airbag Syst em.
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