124 Airbag syst em
of the passenger seat. If the airbag de-
ploys, this can resu lt in serious or fata l
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or
passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop-
p ing bags, for examp le) can interfere
with or p revent proper dep loyment of
the airbag . Small objects can be
thrown through the vehicle if the a ir-
bag deploys and injure you or your pas-
sengers.
- Make sure there are no cracks, deep
scratches or ot h er damage in the area of
the instrument pane l where the knee air-
bags are located .
- If children are incorrect ly sea t ed, their
risk of injury increases in a collision
<=>page 128, Child Safety .
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
Fig. 109 Side airbag locatio n in the driver's seat
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests <=> fig. 109 facing the
doors. They are identified by the word "AIR-
BAG".
The side airbag system basically consists of :
- the electronic control module and external
s ide impact senso rs
- t he two side airbags located in the sides of
the front backrests
- the airbag warning light in the ins t rument
cluster .
The airbag system is mo nitored e lect ronically
to make certain t ha t it is functioning properly
at all times. Each time you t ur n on the igni-
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (se lf diagnostics) .
The side airbag system supplements the safe-
ty belts and can help to reduce t he risk of in-
jury to the driver's and front passenger's up-
per torso and head on the side of the veh icle
that is struck in a s ide collision. The airbag de-
ploys in side impacts and only when the vehi-
cle acceleration registered by the control unit
is high enough . If this rate is below the refer-
ence value prog rammed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be t riggered, even
t hough the car may be bad ly damaged as a re-
sult of the collision.
It is not possib le t o de-
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover
every possib le ang le of impact, since the cir-
cumstances will vary cons iderably between
one collis ion and another. Important factors
include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc.
<=> page 126, Important
safety instructions on the side airbag system .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe-
ty be lts wo rk to help keep the driver or front
passenge r in position in t he 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 t he overa ll oc-
cupant restraint system in you r vehicle. Al-
ways remember that the side airbag sys tem
ca n only help to prot ect you if you are wearing
your safety be lt 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 soc:>
page 98, General notes.
It is impo rtant to remember that wh ile the
supplementa l side airbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injuries,
other injuries, for example, swelling, bru is ing,
and minor abrasions can also be associated ..,.
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