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120
Airbag
syst em
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig. 1 19
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 supplemental
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 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 dan-
gerous 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 dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It cou ld irritate ski n.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re-
duce the likelihood of serious injuries, other
injuries, fo r example swelling, bruisi ng and
minor abrasions, 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 supplement 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 deceleration 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 the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem indicates that the front airbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
elec t roni c control un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays o n) .
_&.
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, the 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
112 .
_&.
WARNING
~
-
A child in a rearward-fac ing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serio us ly injured a nd ca n be killed if
the front air bag inflates - even with an Ad-
vanced Airbag Syst em.
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