How Does The Air Bag System Operate - Hyundai SantaFe Owner's Manual

• Air bags may not inflate if the vehicle
collides with objects such as utility
poles or trees, where the point of
impact is concentrated to one area and
the full force of the impact is not deliv-
ered to the sensors.
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How does the air bag system
operate
• Air bags are activated (able to inflate if
necessary) only when the ignition
switch is turned to the ON or START
position.
• Air bags inflate instantly in the event of
serious frontal or side collision (if
equipped with side air bag or curtain
air bag) in order to help protect the
occupants from serious physical injury.
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✽ ✽ NOTICE -
if equipped with
rollover sensor
Also, the air bags inflate instantly in the
event of a rollover (if equipped with a
side airbag or curtain air bag) in order
to help protect the occupants from seri-
ous physical injury.
• There is no single speed at which the
air bags will inflate.
Generally, air bags are designed to
inflate by the severity of a collision and
its direction. These two factors deter-
mine whether the sensors send out an
electronic deployment/inflation signal.
Safety system of your vehicle
• Air bag deployment depends on a
number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact and the densi-
ty and stiffness of the vehicles or
objects which your vehicle hits in the
collision. Though, factors are not limit-
ed to those mentioned above.
• The front air bags will completely
inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is virtually impossible for you to see
the air bags inflate during an accident.
It is much more likely that you will sim-
ply see the deflated air bags hanging
out of their storage compartments after
the collision.
• In order to help provide protection in a
severe collision, the air bags must
inflate rapidly. The speed of air bag
inflation is a consequence of the
extremely short time in which a collision
occurs and the need to get the air bag
between the occupant and the vehicle
structures before the occupant impacts
those structures. This speed of inflation
reduces the risk of serious or life-
threatening injuries in a severe collision
and is thus a necessary part of air bag
design.
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