Fiat 500 Owner's Handbook Manual page 93

AIR BAG
GETTING TO
KNOW YOUR
The car is provided with front air bags for the driver
CAR
and the passenger, driver's knees air bag and side
bags - window bags.
SAFETY
FRONT AIR BAGS
The front air bags (driver, passenger driver's knee
bag) protect the occupants of the front seats in the
event of moderate to serious front impacts by
STARTING AND
positioning the bag between the occupant and the
DRIVING
steering wheel or the dashboard.
Therefore non-activation in other types of collisions
WARNING
(side collisions, rear shunts, roll-overs, etc.) is not
LIGHTS AND
a system malfunction.
MESSAGES
An electronic control unit causes the bag to inflate in
the event of a head-on crash.
IN AN
The bag will inflate instantaneously placing itself
EMERGENCY
between the front occupants body and the
structures which could cause injury. It will deflate
immediately afterwards.
SERVICING AND
The front airbags (driver's, passenger's, driver's knees
MAINTENANCE
air bags) are not a replacement for but
complementary to the belts, which you are
recommended to always wear, as specified by law in
TECHNICAL
Europe and most non-European countries.
SPECIFICATIONS
In the event of an impact, those not wearing a seat
belt will move forward and come into contact with
the bag which is still inflating. The protection offered
by the cushion is reduced in such a case.
INDEX
92
Front air bags may not be activated in the following
situations:
❒ front collisions against highly deformable objects
not affecting the front surface of the car (e.g.
bumper collision against guard rail, etc.);
❒ car wedging under other vehicles or protective
barriers (e.g. trucks or guard rails);
they may not provide any additional protection
compared with seat belts, so their activation would
be inappropriate. Lack of deployment in such cases is
consequently not the sign of a fault.
WARNING
Do not apply stickers or other objects
on the steering wheel, on the dashboard
in the passenger side airbag area, on side
upholstery on roof and on the seats. Never put
objects (e.g. mobile phones) on the passenger's
side dashboard since they could interfere with
correct inflation of the air bag and also cause
serious injury to the passengers.
The front air bags (driver, passenger, driver's knee
bags) are designed and calibrated to protect front
seat passengers wearing seat belts.
Their volume at the moment of maximum inflation
fills most of the space between the steering wheel
and the driver, between the lower post guard and the
knees on passenger side and between the dashboard
and the passenger.