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How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering
wheel or
the instrument panel. The
air
bag supplements the
protection provided by safety belts.
Air
bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But
air
bags would not help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers and rear and side impacts,
primarily
because an occupant's motion is not toward the air bag.
Air
bags should never be regarded as anything more
than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What
w i l l
you see after an air bag inflates?
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs
so quickly that some people may not even realize the
air
bag inflated. Somecomponents of the
air
bag module in
the steering wheel hub for the driver's air bag,
or
the
instrument panel for the right front passenger's bag, will
be hot for a short time, but the part of the bag that comes
into contact with you will not be hot to the touch. There
will be some smoke and dust coming from
vents in the
deflated
air
bags.
Air
bag inflation will not prevent the
driver from seeing or from being able to steer the
vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the
vehicle.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger
air
bag.
The
air
bags are designed to inflate only once. After
they inflate, you'll need some new parts for your
air
bag system. If you don't get them, the
air
bag system
won't be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
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