’
A
CAUTION:
P
Don’t put anything on, or attach anything to, the
steering wheel or instrument panel. Also, don’t
put anything (such as pets or objects) between
any occupant and the steering wheel or
instrument panel. If something is between an
occupant and an air bag, it could affect the
performance
of
the air bag
9-
or worse, it could
cause injury.
When should an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate
only
if
the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.”
If
your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is
about
9
to
15
mph (14 to 24
km/h).
The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so
that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The
air bag
is
not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
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 the air bag. The inflator, air bag and
related hardware
are
all part of the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
1-23
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