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 help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts 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 belts, and then only in
moderate
to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What will
you
see after an air bag inflates?
After the air bag inflates,
it
quickly deflates. This occurs
so
quickly that
some
people may not even realize 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 right front passenger’s bag, will
be hot
for
a short time. The part of the bag that comes
into contact with you may be warm, but it will never be
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag
inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from
being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
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.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
The air bags are designed to inflate only once. After
they inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air
bag system.
If
you don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there
to
help protect you in another crash.
A
new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
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