When Should
an
Air
Bag Inflate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inflate
in
moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate
only
if
the impact speed is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.”
In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal air
bags, which adjust the amount
of
restraint according
to crash severity. For moderate frontal impacts, these
air bags inflate at a level less than full deployment.
For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
If
the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall
that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level
for the reduced deployment is about 12 to 18 mph
(19 to 29 km/h), and the threshold level for a full
deployment is about 18 to
24
mph (29 to 38.5 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 driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
air bags are not designed to inflate in rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because inflation
would not help the occupant.
The side impact air bags are designed to inflate in
moderate to severe side crashes.
A
side impact air bag
will inflate
if
the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.” The threshold level can vary
with specific vehicle design. Side impact air bags are
not designed to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
A
side impact air bag will only deploy
on the side
of
the vehicle that is struck.
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.
For frontal air bags, inflation is determined by the angle
of
the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down
in
frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact
and severity of the impact.
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