160 Airbag syst em
A WARNING
To reduce th e risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wea r safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher .
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
~ page 151.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig. 167 Inflated front airbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos ition
so that airbags can unfo ld prope rly and pro-
vide supp lemental protection in a fronta l col-
lision.
The front airbags are designed to provide ad-
ditiona l protect ion for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been posit ioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi-
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat could become dan -
ge rous projectiles, and be pushed into yo u if
the airbag inflates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy.
It could irritate skin.
It is impo rtant to remember th at while the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re-
duce the likelihood of serious injuries, other
injur ies, for example swelling, br uising and
minor abrasions, can a lso happen when air-
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front a irbags
supplement the t hree-po int safety belts only
in some fronta l collisions in wh ich the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air-
bags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electronic contro l unit .
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu-
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem indicates that the front airbag on the
passe nger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
-
Sitting in the wrong pos ition can increase
the risk of se rious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of inju ry whe n the air-
bags inflate, the drive r and passenge rs
m ust alw ays sit in an upr ight position,
must not lean aga inst or place any part
of their body too close to t he area where
the airbags are located .
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