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When should an air bag inflate?
The' air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed
is
above the system's designed
"threshold level." If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is
about 9 to 15 mph (14 to 24
km/h).
The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The
air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impagts,
. ,
-
.because.
i f l a t i o n .
would not
help the occupant.
. In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle's deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
.
,
-:
. .
,
.,
t:
_,
.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a
frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehcle
is
suddenly stopping as a result of a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide
sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and
related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
p,acked inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
How does an air bag restrain?
t
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering.whee1 or the
instrument panel. The
a i r
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 a i r bags would
not help you in many types of collisions, including
rollovers, rear impacts 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.
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