Porsche Panamera Owner's Manual page 51

Function of the air bag system
Air bags are a supplemental safety system. Your
primary protection comes from your safety belts.
The front air bags are triggered during a frontal
collision of sufficient force and direction.
In the event of a side impact of corresponding
force, the side air bag on the impact side is
triggered.
The inflation process generates the amount of gas
required to fill the air bags at the necessary
pressure in fractions of a second.
Air bags help to protect the head and body, while
simultaneously damping the motion of the driver
and passenger in the impact direction in the event
of a frontal impact or side impact.
In order to help provide protection in severe
collisions which can cause death and serious
injury, air bags must inflate extremely rapidly.
Such high speed inflation has a negative but
unavoidable side effect, which is that it can and
does cause injuries, including facial and arm
abrasions, bruising and broken bones. You can
help minimize such injuries by always wearing your
safety belts.
There are many types of accidents in which air
bags are not expected to deploy. These include
accidents where the air bags would provide no
benefit, such as a rear impact against your
vehicle. Other accidents where the air bags are
designed not to deploy are those where the risk of
injury from the air bag deployment could exceed
any protective benefits, such as in low speed
accidents or higher speed accidents where the
vehicle decelerates over a longer time. Since air
bag deployment does not occur in all accidents,
this further emphasizes the need for you and your
passengers to always wear safety belts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module. This module will record the
use of the seat belt restraint system by the driver
and front passenger when the air bags and/or belt
tentioner are triggered.
Precondition for activating the restraint systems:
f Ignition is switched on.
Advanced air bag
Your vehicle is equipped with occupant sensing for
the passenger's seat in accordance with
U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.
Depending on the weight, body positioning and
shape acting on the passenger's seat, the
passenger's air bag will automatically be switched
on and off.
Depending on the angle and force of impact, the
passenger's air bag which is switched-on will be
triggered during a collision.
Precondition for switching the passenger's air bag
on and off, depending on weight, body positioning
and shape:
f Ignition is switched on.
Danger!
Risk of serious personal injury or death due
to the passenger air bag not triggering.
Improper handling of occupant sensing can
unintentionally impair switching the
passenger's air bag off and on.
If the weight on the passenger's seat is
reduced significantly, e.g., by supporting
weight on the armrest, the passenger's air
bag can be switched off.
f Select an upright seat position, and do not
support weight on the armrests or lean out of
the window.
Always keep feet in the footwell while driving.
Do not put feet on the dashboard or the seat
area. Do not lean against the inside of the door
or outside the window while the vehicle is
moving.
f If a child restraint system is installed on the
passenger's seat, do not adjust the seat.
Seats, Mirrors and Steering Wheel
49