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things on the sea t cushion can have the
same effect. If the front passen ger fron-
tal airbag is turned on, the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The fron t Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of-
fered by the front three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustab le head restraints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situat ions. Be sure to read the impor-
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the act ivation of the safety be lt preten-
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
e lectronic control un it. The amount of infla-
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat posi t ion, depend ing on the
d istance between the respective front seat
and the steering whee l or instrument panel as
registe red by sensors in the seats. Crash se-
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object involved in the crash .
On the passenger side, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger f ronta l airbag
will be turned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capac itive passenger detec-
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
tha n the amount programmed in the electron-
ic control unit. The front passenger fronta l air-
bag will a lso be turned off if the capa cita nce
measured by the system for the front pa ssen-
ger seat equa ls t hat of an infant of a bo ut one
yea r of age in one of the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when t he
front Advanced Airbag System o n the passen-
ger s ide has been turned off ~ page 162 .
A irba g sy stem
159
A
WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your ris k of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in-
flates - even wit h a n Advanced Airbag
~ page 149.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig. 16 3
Inflated front airbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that airbags can unfold proper ly and pro-
vide s upplement al pro t ect ion in a fron t al col-
lision .
The front airbags a re des igned to provide ad-
diti onal protection fo r t he chest and fa ce of
the dr iver a nd the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i-
b le from th e airbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan -
gerous projecti les, and be pushed int o you if
t he a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire in
.,,.
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