What Makes An Airbag Inflate - Pontiac Grand Prix 2007 Owner's Manual

Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inflate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle may or may not have side impact
airbags. See Airbag System on page 64 for more
information. Side impact airbags are intended
to inflate in moderate to severe side crashes.
A side impact airbag will inflate if the crash severity
is above the system's designed threshold level.
The threshold level can vary with specific vehicle
design. Side impact airbags are not intended
to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers, or rear impacts. A side impact airbag is
intended to deploy on the side of the vehicle
that is struck.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inflated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair
costs were. For frontal airbags, inflation is
determined by what the vehicle hits, the angle of
the impact, and how quickly the vehicle slows
down. For side impact airbags, inflation is
determined by the location and severity of
the impact.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag
sensing system detects that the vehicle is
in a crash. The sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the inflator, which inflates the
airbag. The inflator, airbag, and related hardware
are all part of the airbag modules inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front
of the right front passenger. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are also
airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle,
near the side windows.
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