What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is
suddenly stopping as a result of a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction
of
the sodium azide
sealed
in
the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates a cloth bag.
The
inflator, cloth bag,
and related hardware are all part of the air bag inflator
modules packed inside
the
steering wheel and
in
the
instrument panel in front
of
the passenger.
How
does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. The air bag supplements
the
protection provided by safety belts.
Air
bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But
air bags would not provide protection
in
many types
of
collisions, including rollovers and rear and side impacts,
primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward the
air bag. Air bags should never be regarded as anything
more than a supplement to safety belt protection
in
moderate to severe frontal and near-frontal collisions.
What
will
you
see after an air bag inflation?
After the air bag has inflated,
it
will then quickly
deflate. This occurs
so
quickly that some people may
not
even realize that the air bag inflated. Some
components of the air bag module
in
the steering wheel
hub for the driver’s air bag or the instrument panel for
the passenger’s bag may be
hot
for a short time, but the
portion of the bag that comes into contact
with
you will
not be
hot
to the touch. There will be small amounts of
smoke and dust coming from vents
in
the deflated air
bags. The air bag will
not
impede
the
driver’s vision or
ability
to
steer the vehicle, nor will
it
hinder the
occupants from exiting the vehicle.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may occur
in
vehicles
with passenger air bags because
the
windshield acts as a
reaction surface for the inflating air bag.
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