Cadillac BLS Owner's Manual page 42

460_OM_MY09.book Page 42 Wednesday, April 2, 2008 10:32 AM
42 Safety
• The car's impact protection consists of
various safety items, such as airbags,
seat belts, steering wheel, seats and
instrument panel. These items are
harmonised to provide excellent pro-
tection in the event of a collision.
Therefore, never transfer an airbag
from one car to another.
There is no guarantee that a trans-
ferred airbag will function optimally in
the event of a collision.
• Work on the car that requires the
replacing or scrapping of an airbag or
seat belt pretensioner must be carried
out at a workshop. We recommend
that you contact an authorised
Cadillac workshop.
Frequently asked questions
about airbags
Do you still need to wear a seat belt if the car
has airbags?
Yes, always! Airbags merely supplement
the car's normal safety system. Moreover,
an airbag will only be actuated in a serious
front-end or side-on collision, which means,
of course, that it provides no protection in
minor frontal or side-on collisions, in rear-
end collisions or if the car rolls over.
Seat belts can prevent passengers from
being thrown around or out of the car and
being seriously or fatally injured.
But they also ensure, in a collision in which
the airbags are detonated, that the airbag
will make optimum contact with the occu-
pant, i.e. square on from the front. If the
occupant meets the airbag at an offset, the
protection afforded will be diminished.
In addition, airbags provide no protection
against a secondary impact occurring in the
same incident. Therefore, wear a seat belt
at all times.
Don't sit too close to the airbag; it needs
room to inflate.
The airbag inflates very quickly and power-
fully in order to protect an adult person,
before their head is thrown forward, in a
violent front-end collision.
When are the driver and passenger airbags
detonated?
The airbags will only be detonated under
certain predetermined conditions in a vio-
lent front-end collision, depending on such
factors as the force and angle of the impact,
the speed of the car on impact, and the
resistance to deformation of the impacting
object.
The airbag system can only be activated
once in the same incident.
Do not attempt to drive the car after an
airbag has been detonated, even if this is
possible.
What won't trigger the airbag?
The airbag system will not be activated in all
front-end collisions. For instance, if the car
has hit something relatively soft and yielding
(e.g. a snow drift or a hedge) or a solid
object at a low speed, the airbag system will
not necessarily be triggered.