of the passenger seat. If the airbag de-
ploys, this can result in serious or fatal
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or
passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop-
ping bags, for example) can interfere
with or prevent proper deployment of
the airbag. Small objects can be
thrown through the vehicle if the air-
bag deploys and injure you or your pas-
sengers.
- Make sure there are no cracks, deep
scratches or other damage in the area of
the instrument panel where the knee air-
bags are located.
- If children are incorrectly seated, their
risk of injury increases in a collision
¢ page 177, Child Safety.
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants.
---
Fig. 171 Side airbag locatio n in the driver's seat
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests
¢fig. 171 and the rear
backrest facing the doors. They are identified
bytheword "AIRBAG".
The side airbag system basically consists of:
- the electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- the two side airbags located in the sides of
the front backrests
- two rear side airbags
Airbag system 1 71
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluster.
The airbag system is monitored electronically
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times. Each time you switch on the igni-
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side airbag system supplements the safe-
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in-
jury to the driver's, front and rear passenger's
upper torso on the side of the vehicle that is
struck in a side collision. The airbag deploys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
acceleration registered by the control unit is
high enough.
If this rate is below the refer-
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re-
sult of the collision.
It is not possible to de-
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover
every possible angle of impact, since the cir-
cumstances will vary considerably between
one collision and another. Important factors
include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc. ¢
page 173, Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system.
Aside from their normal safety function, safe-
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a side
collision so that the side airbags can provide
protection.
The airbag system is
not a substitute for your
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overall oc-
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. Al-
ways remember that the side airbag system
can only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wearing it properly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re-
quires you to do so¢
page 145, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supplemental side airbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injuries,
other injuries, for example, swelling, bruising,
IIJ>,
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