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.
Air
bags supplement 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 help you in many types of collisions, including
rollovers, rear impacts and
side
impacts, primarily
because an occupant’s motion
is
not toward those
air
bags. Air bags should never be regarded as anything
more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after
an
air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates,
so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
air bag inflated. Some components
of
the air bag
module
--
the steering wheel hub
for
the driver’s
air bag,
or
the instrument panel for the right front
passenger’s bag
--
will be hot for a short time. The
parts of the bag that come into contact with you may
be
warm,
but not too hot to touch. There will be some
smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air
bags. Air bag inflation doesn’t prevent the driver from
seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it
stop people from leaving the vehicle.
’
A
CAUT
IN:
rn
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with
a
history
of
asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out
as
soon
as
it is safe to
do
so.
If
you have breathing problems but can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air
by
opening
a
window
or
door.
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