Advertisement
The front air bag (driver's and passen-
ger's) does not replace but is complemen-
tary 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 cush-
ion while it is still opening. Under these
circumstances the protection offered by
the cushion is reduced.
Front air bags may not be triggered in
the following conditions:
– collisions against highly deformable
objects which do not concern the car front
surface (for example the bumper crashing
against the guard rail);
– wedging under other vehicles or pro-
tective barriers (for example under a lorry
or guard rail);
as they do not offer any more protection
than the seat belts and therefore activa-
tion would be inappropriate. Therefore the
failure to be triggered does not mean that
the system is not working properly.
Do not apply stickers or
other objects on the steer-
ing wheel and on the pas-
senger's air bag cover. Do not put
objects on the dashboard on the
passenger's side (e.g. cell phones)
because they may interfere with
the correct passenger's air bag
opening and seriously injure the oc-
cupants of the car.
The driver's and passenger's front air bag
has been designed to improve the protec-
tion of a person wearing a seat belt.
Its volume at maximum inflation fills
most of the space between the steering
wheel and the driver and between the
dashboard and the passenger.
In the event of minor side crashes (for
which the restraining action of the seat
belts is sufficient), the air bags are not
deployed. Also in this case it is of vital
importance to wear the seat belts since in
case of side crash they guarantee proper
positioning of the occupant.
DRIVER'S FRONT AIR BAG
It is formed of a cushion contained in a
special recess that inflates instantaneously
(fig. 50).
fig. 50
A0A0613b
39
Advertisement
