When Should An Airbag Inflate - Chevrolet 2007 Corvette Owner's Manual

CAUTION:
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If something is between an occupant and
an airbag, the airbag might not inflate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an inflating airbag
must be kept clear. Do not put anything
between an occupant and an airbag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any
other airbag covering.
Do not use seat accessories that block
the inflation path of a seat-mounted
side impact airbag.
When Should an Airbag Inflate?
The driver's and passenger's frontal airbags are
designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to
inflate only if the impact exceeds a predetermined
deployment threshold. Deployment thresholds
take into account a variety of desired deployment
and non-deployment events and are used to
predict how severe a crash is likely to be in time
for the airbags to inflate and help restrain the
occupants. Whether your frontal airbags will or
should deploy is not based on how fast your
vehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you
hit, the direction of the impact, and how quickly
your vehicle slows down.
In addition, your vehicle has "dual-stage" frontal
airbags, which adjust the restraint according
to crash severity. Your vehicle has electronic
frontal sensors which help the sensing system
distinguish between a moderate frontal impact
and a more severe frontal impact. For moderate
frontal impacts, these airbags inflate at a level
less than full deployment. For more severe frontal
impacts, full deployment occurs.
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