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of the passenger seat. If t he airbag de-
p loys, this can resu lt in serious or fata l
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or
passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop-
p ing bags, for example) can interfere
with or prevent proper dep loyment of
the airbag . Small objects can be
thrown through the vehicle if the ai r-
bag deploys and injure you or your pas-
sengers.
- Make su re there are no crac ks, deep
scratches or other damage in the area of
the instrument pane l where the knee air-
bags are located.
- If children are incorrect ly sea t ed, their
risk of inju ry increases in a collision
¢
page 133, Child Safety .
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants .
Fig. 11 8
Side a irbag locati on in the driver's seat
The s ide airbags are located in the sides of the
front sea t backrests
r::}
fig. 118
facing the
doors. They are identified by the word "AIR-
BAG" .
The side airbag system basically consists of:
- the electronic control module and external
s ide impact sensors
- the two side airbags located in the sides of
the front backrests
A irba g sy stem
129
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluste r.
The airbag system is mon itored e lect roni cally
to make ce rt ain t hat it is f unctioni ng properly
at all times . Each time you t urn on the ign i-
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (se lf diagnostics) .
The side airbag system supp lements the safe-
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in-
jury to the driver's and front passenger 's up-
per to rso and head on the side of the veh icle
that is str uck in a side collis ion. The airbag de -
ploys in side impacts and only when the vehi-
cle acceleration registered by the control unit
is h igh eno ugh .
If
this rate is below the refer-
ence value prog rammed into the control unit,
the side airbags w ill not be tr iggered, even
though the car may be bad ly damaged as a re-
s ult of the collision. It is not possib le to de-
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover
every possib le ang le of impact, since the cir-
cumstances will vary cons iderably between
one collis ion and another. Important factors
include, for example, the na t ure (hard or soft)
of the impacting object , the ang le of impact,
vehicle speed, etc .¢
page 131, Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe-
ty belts work to help keep the drive r or fron t
passenger in position in the event of a side
collision so that the s ide airbags can provide
protection .
The airbag system is
not
a substitute for your
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overall oc-
cupant restra int system in you r vehicle. Al-
ways remember that t he side a irbag system
can on ly help to pro t ect you if you are wearing
yo ur safety be lt and wea ring it properly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety be lts, not just because the law re-
quires you to do so
¢ page 103, General
notes.
It is important to remember that wh ile the
supplementa l side airbag system is des igned
to reduce the likelihood of ser ious injuries,
other injur ies, for example, swelling, bru ising,
IIJ>,
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