Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-69
–
CONTINUED –
When the SRS sid e airb ag d ep loys, a sud d en, fairly
loud inflation
noise will b e heard and some smoke will b e released . These oc c ur-
renc es are normal result of the d ep loyment. This sm oke d oes not ind i-
c ate a fire in the vehic le.
The SRS sid e airb ag is d esig ned to d ep loy in the ev ent of an ac c id ent
involving a mod erate to severe sid e imp ac t c ollisio n. It is b asic ally not
d esig ned to d ep loy in lesser sid e imp ac t. Also, it is b asic ally not d e-
sig ned to d ep loy in frontal or rear imp ac ts b ec ause SRS sid e airb ag
d ep loyment would not help the oc c up ant in those sit uations.
Eac h SRS sid e airb ag is d esig ned to func tion on a o ne-time-only b a-
sis.
SRS sid e airb ag d ep loyment d ep end s on the level of forc e exp eri-
enc ed in the p asseng er c omp artment d uring a sid e im p ac t c ollision.
That level d iffers from one typ e of c ollision to an other, and it may have
no b earing on the visib le d amag e d one to the vehic l e itself.
n Example of the type of accident in which the SRS side airbag
will most likely deploy.
A severe sid e imp ac t near the front seat ac tivates the SRS sid e air-
b ag .
HB0313
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-71
–
CONTINUED –
n
Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS side air-
bag will basically not deploy.
The SRS sid e airb ag is b asic ally not d esig ned to d e p loy if the vehic le
is involved in a frontal c ollision or is struc k fro m b ehind . Examp les of
suc h ac c id ents are illustrated b elow.
HB1043BB
HB1046AB
In an ac c id ent where the vehic le is struc k from the sid e more than
onc e, the SRS sid e airb ag d ep loys only onc e on the first imp ac t.
Examp le: In the c ase of a d oub le sid e imp ac t c ollis ion, first with one
vehic le and immed iately followed b y another from th e same d irec tion,
the SRS sid e airb ag is ac tivated on the first imp ac t b ut not on the se-
c ond .
HB1071BB