Alfa Romeo 166 Booklet page 51

The front Air bag (driver's and passen-
ger's) is a device designed to protect the
occupants in the event of head-on colli-
sion of medium-high severity by the inter-
position of the cushion between the occu-
pant and the steering wheel or dash-
board.
In the event of a crash, the electronic
control unit processes the signals leading
from a deceleration sensor and when nec-
essary, triggers inflation of the cushion.
The cushion inflates instantly as a pro-
tective barrier between the occupants'
bodies and the structures which could
cause injury. The cushion deflates imme-
diately afterwards.
The front Air bag (driver and passenger)
has been designed to protect the occu-
pants in the event of head-on crashes of
medium-high severity, by placing the
cushion between the occupant and the s-
teering wheel or dashboard.
In case of crash, a person not wearing
the seat belt moves forward and may
come into contact with the cushion while
it is still inflating. Under this circumstance
the protection offered by the air bag is re-
duced.
Front air bags are designed to protect
car's occupants in front crashes and there-
fore non-activation in other types of colli-
sions (side collisions, rear-end shunts, roll-
overs, etc...) is not a system malfunc-
tion.
In collisions against highly deformable
or mobile objects (such as road signs,
heaps of gravel or snow, parked vehicles,
etc.), in rear crashes (such as bumps
from behind by another vehicle), side im-
pacts, and in case of wedging under other
vehicles or protective barriers (for exam-
ple under a truck or guard rail), the Air
bag is not triggered as it offers no addi-
tional protection compared with the seat
belts, consequently, it would be pointless.
Therefore the failure to be triggered
does not mean that the system is not
working properly.
51