If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall
that does not 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 17 to 22 mph
(27 to 35 km/h) if the other sensors do not
over-ride this. The threshold level can vary,
however, with speci c vehicle design, so that it
can be somewhat above or below this range.
Frontal airbags may in ate at different crash
speeds. For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits an object that
does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole),
the airbags could in ate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits a wide object
(like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle,
the airbags could in ate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into the
object.
Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to in ate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle has sensors which enable the
sensing system to monitor the position of the right
front passenger’s seat, whether the occupant is
buckled or unbuckled. The passenger seat position
sensor and passenger safety belt buckle switch
provide information which is used to determine if
the airbags should deploy at a reduced level or full
deployment.
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How Does an Airbag 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.
Airbags supplement the protection provided
by safety belts. Airbags distribute the force of the
impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper
body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But
the frontal airbags 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 airbag.
Side impact airbags would not help you in many
types of collisions, including many frontal or
near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts.
Airbags 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 airbags, and only in moderate
to severe side collisions for vehicles with side
impact airbags.
What Will You See After an Airbag
In ates?
After frontal airbags and seat-mounted side impact
airbags in ate, they quickly de ate, so quickly
that some people may not even realize an airbag
in ated. Roof-mounted side impact airbags
may still be at least partially in ated minutes after
the vehicle comes to rest. Some components
of the airbag module — the steering wheel hub for
the driver’s airbag, 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 airbags, and the area along the
ceiling of your vehicle near the side windows for
roof-mounted side impact airbags — may be
hot for a short time. The parts of the airbag that
come into contact with you may be warm, but not
too hot to touch.
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