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Airbag
syste
m
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig.
165
Inflat
ed fro nt
airbags
Safety belts are
important
to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup-
plemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi-
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver
and
the front seat
passenger
when:
-
safety belts are worn properly
,
-
the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant
is
properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
-
and
for
adjustable head restraints: the head re-
straints have been properly adjusted
.
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, thing
s
you have on your
lap
or have
placed on the seat could become dangerous pro-
jectiles
,
and be
pushed
into you if the airbag in-
flates
.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust
is
released.
This
is
normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle.
This
dust
is
made
up
mostly of a powder
used to lubricate
the
airbags as they deploy
.
It
could irritate
skin.
It is
important
to remember that while the sup
-
plemental a irbag system is designed
to
reduce
the likel ihood of serious injur
ies,
other injuries,
for example swel ling
,
bruising and minor abra-
sions, can a lso happen when airbags
inflate.
Air-
bags do not protect the arms or the lower
parts
of the
body.
Front airbags supplement the three
-
point safety
belts
only in some fronta
l
collisions
194
in
which the vehicle decele ration
is
high enough
to deploy the airbags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
-
if
the
ignit
ion is sw itched off when a crash oc-
curs,
-
in side
collisions
,
-
in rear-end collisions,
-
in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured
by
the
airbag system
is
less than the minimum thresh-
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control un it
.
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
-
when the front passenger seat
is
not occupied,
-
when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacit ive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat ind icates that the pas
-
senger s ide frontal airbag must be switched off
by the
electronic
cont rol un it (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light
~
page 196 and how
they
work comes on and stays on).
.&,
WARNING
Sitting
in the wrong position can increase
the
risk
of serious injury in cras hes
.
-
To reduce
the
risk of
injury when
the airbags
inflate,
the
dr iver and
passengers
must al-
ways sit
in
an upright position, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too
close to the area where the airbags are
located.
-
Occupants who are unbe lted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it
unfolds
with great
force in the blink of an eye
c?)
page
185
.
A
WARNING
A
child in a rearward-facing child seat instal
-
led on the
front
passenger seat will
be
seri-
ously injured
and can
be killed if the front air-
bag
inflates -
even
with
an
Advanced Airbag
System.
-
The inflating airbag will
hit the child seat or
infant carrier with
great force and
will
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