Alfa Romeo 156 GTA Owner's Manual page 42

The cushion inflates instantly as a protec-
tive barrier between the occupants' bodies
and the structures which could cause injury.
The cushion deflates immediately after-
wards.
The front air bag (driver's and passenger's)
does not replace but is complementary to
the use of belts, which should always be
worn, as specified by law in Europe and
most non-European countries.
In the event of a crash a person that is not
wearing the seat belt moves forwards and
may come into contact with the cushion
while it is still opening. Under these cir-
cumstances the protection offered by the
cushion is reduced.
fig. 62
Front air bags are designed to protect car's
occupants in front crashes and therefore non-
activation in other types of collisions (side
collisions, rear-end shunts, roll-overs, etc...)
is not a system malfunction.
In collisions against highly deformable or
mobile objects (road signposts, heaps of ice
or snow, etc.), rear collisions (hit from be-
hind by another vehicle), side collisions,
wedging under other vehicles or protective
barriers (for example under a lorry or guard
rail) cutting in of the air bag is not activat-
ed as it does not offer any more protection
than the seat belts therefore activation
would be inappropriate.
Therefore the failure to be triggered does
not mean that the system is not working
properly.
A0B0277m
WARNING
Please don't apply stickers
or other objects to the
steering wheel, to the air-bag cov-
er on the passenger's side or on the
side roof lining to the upholstery
on the roof side. Don't place ob-
jects on the dashboard passenger's
side (such as mobile phones) be-
cause they could tamper with the
correct opening of the passenger's
air-bag and than cause serious in-
juries to the vehicle occupants.
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