2006 SAAB 9-3 sensor

32 SafetyAirbag
Airbag system components Airbag in steering wheel
 Airbag in instrument panel in front of
passenger seat
 Side airbags in front seat backrests
Convertible: The side airbags help
protect the head also
 Inflatable curtains along length of headlin-
ing (from front to rear roof pillars)
(Sport Sedan only)
 Safety belt pretensioners for front seats
Convertible: and outer rear seats.
The airbag system supplements the protec-
tion provided by the safety belts to further
enhance the safety of occupants taller than
55 in. (140 cm).
When the system is activated at the moment
of impact, the airbag inflates and then
deflates through holes in the back. The
whole operation takes roughly 0.1 second,
quicker than the blink of an eye.
The steering wheel and passenger airbags
are so-called smart airbags. The driver and
passenger airbag system compensates for
safety belt usage and the force of the crash
at the moment of impact.There are two impact sensors on the front
bumper, under the lacquered shell. Very
soon after the moment of impact, these
register that the car is involved in a crash.
Using this information and data from the
central sensor in the control module, the
control module determines whether or not to
inflate the airbags. The control module also
controls whether other components of the
airbag system are to be deployed: safety
belt pretensioners, inflatable curtains (Sport
Sedan and SportCombi) and roll over bars
(Convertible).
Which airbag system components are
deployed depends on a number of factors,
such as the force of the crash and the angle
of impact.
If the airbag system registers forces equiv-
alent to a high-speed crash (airbags inflated
to Stage II), the inflatable curtains will also
be activated (Sport Sedan and SportCombi)
see page 42.
If a fault arises in the airbag system during
a journey, the airbag warning lamp on the
main instrument panel will come on and the
Saab Information Display (SID) will display:
WARNING
To reduce risk of death or serious injury:
Always wear your safety belt.
Always adjust your seat so that you
are as far back as possible but still
able to operate the pedals and reach
the steering wheel and controls
comfortably.
 Passengers 12 and under or shorter
than 55 inches (140 cm) must always
travel in the rear seat as the car is fitted
with a passenger airbag.
Never fit a child seat in front of the
passenger airbag.
Airbag malfunction.
Contact Saab dealer.
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33 Safety
The driver and passenger front airbags are
triggered by violent front-end crashes. They
are not activated by minor front-end
impacts, if the car overturns or by rear- and
side-impacts.
The car is equipped as standard with
a passenger airbag.Note:
Impact sensors react differently depending
on whether or not the front safety belts on
the driver’s and passenger sides are used.
Situations can therefore arise where only
one of the airbags inflates. It is also possible
for only the safety belt pretensioners to be
activated and for the airbags to remain unin-
flated.
If only Stage I is activated at the moment of
impact, Stage II will automatically be acti-
vated later to neutralize the gas generator in
the airbag.
Both front airbags inflated
Inflated airbag (driver’s side).
Inflation and deflation of airbag takes
approx. 0.1 s93U S M 06.book Page 33 Friday, February 18, 2005 1:15 PM
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34 SafetyAirbag system1 Steering wheel with integral airbag
2 Passenger airbag
3 Side airbag
4 Inflatable curtain (Sport Sedan and SportCombi)
5 Sensors in front bumper
6 Sensor, side-impact protection
7 Sensor, side-impact protection (Sport Sedan and SportCombi)
8 Electronic control module and central sensor (SDM)
Accessories and other equipment must
not be fitted to the surfaces marked as
these are where the airbags inflate in the
event of a crash.
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36 Safety
Front passenger seatThe system is the same as that used on the
driver’s side.
The airbag systems are interconnected and
have a common warning light . The pas-
senger airbag module is housed in the
fascia above the glove box and is marked
"AIRBAG".
Both airbags will be inflated in the event of a
moderate to severe frontal, or near-frontal
crash, even if the passenger seat is unoccu-
pied.
The car is equipped as standard with
a passenger airbag.
WARNING
Never secure a rear-facing child seat in
the right front seat of a car equipped with
a passenger airbag. Inflation of the airbag
in the event of a crash could seriously
injure or kill a child.
WARNING
 DEATH or SERIOUS
INJURY can occur
 Children 12 and under or
shorter than 55 inches
(140 cm) can be killed by the
airbag
 The BACK SEAT is the SAFEST place
for children
 NEVER put a rear-facing child seat in
the front
 Sit as far back as possible from the
airbag
 ALWAYS use SAFETY BELTS and
CHILD RESTRAINTS
Never allow a child to stand in front of
the seat or to sit on the lap of a front
seat passenger. Serious injury or
death could result if the airbag is
inflated in a crash.
 The glove box must be closed while
travelling. An open glove box door
could cause leg injuries in the event of
a crash.
Operation of the steering wheel airbag in
a front-end crash
Moment of impact.
Sensors detect a
deceleration and send
a signal via the control
module to a gas gen-
erator that inflates the
airbag.
The inflating airbag
cushions the driver.
Airbag now fully
inflated.
The airbag starts to
deflate.
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37 Safety
Passenger Sensing SystemVehicles with a passenger sensing system
have indicator LEDs on the facia. The indi-
cators will be lit during the system check.
When the system check is complete, either
the ON or the OFF LED, will be lit. See
Airbag warning light on page 87. If your
vehicle does not have the indicators pic-
tured, then your vehicle does not have the
passenger sensing system.
The passenger sensing system will turn off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag
under certain conditions.
The driver’s airbag and the side airbags are
not part of the passenger sensing system.
The passenger sensing system works with
sensors that are part of the right front pas-
senger’s seat and safety belt. The sensors
are designed to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine if
the passenger’s frontal airbag should be
enabled (may inflate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are
safer if they are restrained in the rear rather
than the front seat.Saab recommends that child restraints be
secured in a rear seat, including an infant
riding in a rear-facing infant seat, a child
riding in a forward-facing child seat and an
older child riding in a booster seat.
Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accom-
modate a rear-facing child restraint. A label
on your sun visor says, “Never put a rear-
facing child seat in the front.” This is
because the risk to the rear-facing child is so
great, if the airbag deploys.  Never place anything on the dash or in
front of the seat as, in addition to being
a hazard to passengers, this could
interfere with the function of the airbag
in the event of a crash. The same
applies to the mounting of accessories
on the dash.
 Keep feet on the floor – never put feet
up on the dash, on the seat or out of
the window.
 Do not carry anything in your lap.
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator
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41 Safety
The side-impact protection is only activated
on the side of impact, while the safety belt
pretensioners on both sides are deployed.
The front seats and outer rear seats have
safety belt pretensioners.
There are two sensors on each side of the
car, one at the rear of each door sill and one
in the lower part of each C-pillar.
Convertible: The Convertible has two side
impact protection sensors, one on each side
of the car. These are located at the rear of
the sills.
Inflated side airbag and inflatable curtain,
Sport Sedan and SportCombi
Inflated side airbag with head protection,
Conver tible
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53 Security
Locking a car with dead batteryThe steering wheel lock requires sufficient
battery voltage to lock and unlock. If the bat-
tery voltage drops below a certain level
while the remote control is in the ignition
switch, you will not be able to remove the
remote control.
If you must leave the car, proceed as
follows:
1 Lock the car by pressing down the lock
buttons on the doors.
2 Lock the front left door from outside with
the traditional key (see page 52). The
car is now locked but the car alarm will
remain inactive.
Trunk lid/TailgateOpening
Sport Sedan: The trunk lid is unlocked and
slightly opened when the button on the
remote control or on the inside of the driver’s
door is pressed once.
SportCombi: The tailgate is unlocked (not
opened) when the button on the remote
control or on the inside of the driver’s door
is pressed once.
The hazard warning lights will flash three
times to confirm.
Closing
Sport Sedan: The trunk lid is locked when
closed.
SportCombi: The tailgate is not locked
when closed. It is locked together with the
doors when button on the remote con-
trol is pressed once.
If the doors are locked when the trunk lid is
closed it is armed and the movement sensor
in the cabin will be armed.
Opening button on driver’s door
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89 Instruments and controls
Odometer and trip meterThe odometer records the distance trav-
elled in miles on U.S. vehicles and on Cana-
dian vehicles the distance indicated is in
kilometres, and the trip meter in miles and
tenths (kilometres and tenths of kilometres
on Canadian vehicles).
Reset buttonThe reset button is positioned immediately
to the left of the speedometer.
 Ignition ON:
Press once – resets the trip meter.
 Ignition OFF:
Press once – enables you to read the
odometer and trip meter.
Speedometer (U.S. speedometer shown)
Cars sold in U.S.: The speedometer dis-
plays the speed of the car in miles per hour
(mph).
Cars sold in Canada: The speedometer
displays the speed of the car in kilometres
per hour (km/h).
It receives information about vehicle speed
from the ABS’s wheel sensors.
Cars with manual transmissionCars with automatic transmission93U S M 06.book Page 89 Friday, February 18, 2005 1:15 PM
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