1999 Lexus LS400 seat adjustment

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
152

Driver and front passenger airbags, and seat belt
pretensioners
Driver and front passenger airbags:In response to a severe frontal impact, the driver and
front passenger airbags work together with the seat
belts to help preventing or reduce injury by inflating,
in order to decrease the likelihood of the driver's or
front passenger's heads or chests from directly
hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
Seat belt pretensioners:
In response to a severe frontal impact, the seat belts
are quickly drawn back in by the retractors so that
the belts snugly restrain the driver and front
passenger.
The front passenger airbag is activated even with no
passenger in the front seat.
The seat belt pretensioners are activated even with no
passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
153
CAUTION
The driver or front passenger too close to the steering
wheel or dashboard during airbag deployment can be
killed or seriously injured. Lexus strongly recommends
that:
The driver sit as far back as possible from the
steering wheel while still maintaining control of the
vehicle.
 The front passenger sit as far back as possible from
the dashboard.
 All vehicle occupants be properly restrained using
the available seat belts.
16L173a

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
154

Side airbags
Side airbags:In response to a severe side impact, the side airbag
for the driver or front passenger works together with
the seat belt to help preventing or reducing injury by
inflating, in order to decrease the impact mainly on
the driver or front passenger's chest.
The side airbag on the passenger seat is activated even
with no passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
155
CAUTION
SRS side airbags inflate with considerable force. To
avoid potential death or serious injury during inflation
of a side airbag, Lexus strongly recommends that the
driver and front passenger;
Wear their seat belt.
 Remain properly seated with their back against the
seat at all times.
16L136-2

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
156The indicator comes on when the ignition key is
turned to the ºACCº or ºONº position. It goes off
after about 6 seconds. This means the SRS is
operating properly.
The SRS warning light system monitors the airbag
sensor assemblies, inflators, seat belt pretensioners,
warning
light, interconnecting wiring and power sources.
(For details, see ºService reminder indicators and
warning buzzersº on page 62 for instructions.)
16L029

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
157
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt
pretensioners are designed to activate in response
to a severe frontal impact within the shaded area
between the arrows in the illustration.
There may be the case that the driver and passenger
airbags
and seat belt pretensioners will not activate with
such an impact in which the occupant wearing the seat
belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt
pretensioners will work if the severity of the impact is
above the designed threshold level, comparable to an
approximate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when impacting
straight into a fixed barrier that does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the above threshold
level, the driver and front passenger airbags and seat
belt pretensioners may not work. However, this threshold velocity will be considerably
higher if the vehicle strikes an object, such as a parked
vehicle or sign pole, which can move or deform on
impact, or if it is involved in an underride collision (e.g.
a collision in which the nose of the vehicle ºunderridesº,
or goes under, the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level
of driver and passenger airbag sensor detection and
activation
that only one of your vehicle's driver and front
passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners will work.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to always wear
seat belts.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
158
16L175±1

1Collision from the rear
2Vehicle rollover
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt
pretensioners are not designed to inflate if the
vehicle is subjected to a rear impact, if it rolls over,
or if it is involved in a low±speed frontal collision.
The side airbags are designed to inflate when the
passenger compartment gets a severe impact from
the side.
The side airbags may rather not to activate in the impact
in which the occupant wearing the seat belt correctly
would not get serious injury.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
163


1Side airbag module (airbag and inflator)
2Airbag module for front passenger
(airbag and inflator)
3Side airbag sensor assembly
4Seat belt pretensioner
5Airbag module for driver (airbag and inflator)
6SRS warning light
7Airbag sensor assembly
The SRS airbag sensor assemblies consist of a safing
sensor and driver and front passenger airbag sensor.
In a severe frontal impact, the driver and front passenger
airbag sensor detects deceleration and the system
triggers the front airbag inflators and seat belt
pretensioners. In a severe side impact, the side airbag
sensor triggers the side airbag inflator. Then a chemical
reaction in the inflators momentarily fills the airbags with
non±toxic gas to help restrain the forward or lateral
motion of the occupants. Then the inflators fill the
airbags and the seat belts are quickly drawn back in by
the retractors to help restrain forward motion of the
occupants.
When the SRS operates, it produces a fairly loud noise
and release some smoke and residue along with
non±toxic gas. This does not indicate a fire. This gas is
normally harmless, however, for those who have
delicate skin, it may cause minor skin irritation. Be sure
to wash off any residue as soon as possible to prevent
minor skin irritation. Deployment of the airbags happens in a fraction of a
second, so the airbags must inflate with considerable
force. While the system is designed to reduce serious
injuries, it may also cause minor burns or abrasions and
swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel hub,
dashboard, front seats) may be hot for several minutes,
but the airbags themselves will not be hot. The airbags
are designed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the driver and front
passenger airbags may break the windshield as the
vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a front passenger
airbag, the windshield may also be damaged by
absorbing some of the force of the inflating airbag.