2004 CADILLAC SRX Owners Manual

Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag systems:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you aren’t wearing your safety belt – even if
you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being
ejected from it. Air bags are “supplemental
restraints” to the safety belts. All air bags are
designed to work with safety belts but don’t
replace them.
Frontal air bags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to work only in
moderate to severe crashes where the front of
your vehicle hits something. They aren’t
designed to inate at all in rollover, rear or
low-speed frontal crashes, or in many side
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
crashes. And, for some unrestrained
occupants, frontal air bags may provide less
protection in frontal crashes than more
forceful air bags have provided in the past.
The seat-mounted side impact air bags and
roof-mounted side impact air bags are
designed to inate only in moderate to severe
crashes where something hits the side of your
vehicle. They aren’t designed to inate in
frontal, in rollover or in rear crashes. Everyone
in your vehicle should wear a safety belt
properly — whether or not there’s an air bag
for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact air bags inate
with great force, faster than the blink of an
eye. If you’re too close to an inating air bag,
as you would be if you were leaning forward, it
could seriously injure you. Safety belts help
keep you in position for air bag ination before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal air bags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any air bag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but
not for young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its air bag
system is designed for them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child
restraint system can provide. Always secure
children properly in your vehicle. To read how,
see the part of this manual called “Older
Children” or “Infants and Young Children.”
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There is a air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
shows the air bag symbol.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAir Bag Readiness Light on page 3-39
for more information.Where Are the Air Bags?
The driver’s frontal air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The front passenger’s frontal air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.The driver’s side impact air bag is in the side of the
driver’s seatback closest to the door.
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The right front passenger’s side impact air bag is in the
side of the passenger’s seatback closest to the door.The roof-mounted side impact air bag for the driver and
the passenger directly behind the driver is in the
ceiling above the side windows.
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The roof-mounted side impact air bag for the front
passenger and the passenger directly behind the front
passenger is in the ceiling above the side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
air bag, the bag might not inate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inating air bag must be kept clear. Do not put
anything between an occupant and an air bag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other air
bag covering. Do not let seat covers block the
ination path of a side impact air bag.
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When Should an Air Bag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inate
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 inate 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 16 mph (19 to
26 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 specic
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 inate in rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because ination
would not help the occupant.The side impact air bags are designed to inate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact air bag
will inate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.” The threshold level can vary
with specic vehicle design. Side impact air bags are
not designed to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because ination 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 inated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
For frontal air bags, ination is determined by the angle
of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact
air bags, ination is determined by the location
and severity of the impact.
What Makes an Air Bag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For
both frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inator, which
inates the air bag. The inator, air bag and related
hardware are all part of the air bag modules inside the
steering wheel, instrument panel, the side of the
front seatbacks closest to the door and the ceiling of the
vehicle, near the side windows.
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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. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. 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 the
frontal air bags would not help you in many types
of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion
is not toward the air bag. Side impact air bags would not
help you in many types of collisions, including frontal
or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear 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 for the driver’s and right front passenger’s
frontal air bags, and only in moderate to severe
side collisions for the side impact air bags.
What Will You See After an Air Bag
Inates?
After the air bag inates, it quickly deates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
inated. Some components of the air bag module – the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s bag,
the side of the seatback closest to the door for the
seat-mounted side impact air bags and the area
along the ceiling of your vehicle near the side
windows – 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 the vents in the deated air bags.
Air bag ination doesn’t prevent the driver from seeing
or being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop
people from leaving the vehicle.
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