2007 CADILLAC CTS airbag
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When Should an Airbag In ate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
airbags are designed to in ate in moderate
to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they
are designed to in ate only if the impact
exceeds a predetermined deployment threshold.
Deployment thresholds take into account a variety
of desired deployment and non-deployment
events and are used to predict how severe a crash
is likely to be in time for the airbags to in ate
and help restrain the occupants. Whether
your frontal airbags will or should deploy is not
based on how fast your vehicle is traveling.
It depends largely on what you hit, the direction
of the impact, and how quickly your vehicle
slows down.In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal
airbags, which adjust the restraint according
to crash severity. Your vehicle has an electronic
frontal sensor, which helps the sensing system
distinguish between a moderate frontal impact and
a more severe frontal impact. For moderate
frontal impacts, these airbags in ate 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 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 18 to 24 mph
(29 to 38.5 km/h). The threshold level can vary,
however, with speci c vehicle design, so that it
can be somewhat above or below this range.
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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.The side impact airbags are intended to in ate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact
airbag will in ate if the crash severity is above the
system’s designed “threshold level.” The
threshold level can vary with speci c vehicle
design. Side impact airbags are not intended to
in ate in frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers,
or rear impacts. A side impact airbag is intended
to deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether
an airbag should have in ated simply because of
the damage to a vehicle or because of what
the repair costs were. For frontal airbags, in ation
is determined by what the vehicle hits, the angle
of the impact, and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts.
For side impact airbags, in ation is determined by
the location and severity of the impact.
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What Makes an Airbag In ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag
sensing system detects that the vehicle is
in a crash. The sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the in ator, which in ates the
airbag. The in ator, airbag and related hardware
are all part of the airbag modules. Frontal
airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and the instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle,
near the side window.
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.
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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. There may be some smoke
and dust coming from the vents in the de ated
airbags. Airbag in ation does not prevent the driver
from seeing out of the windshield or being able
to steer the vehicle, nor does it prevent people
from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag in ates, there may be
dust in the air. This dust could cause
breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing
trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as soon as it is
safe to do so. If you have breathing
problems but cannot get out of the vehicle
after an airbag in ates, then get fresh air
by opening a window or a door. If you
experience breathing problems following
an airbag deployment, you should seek
medical attention.
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Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on,
and turn the hazard warning ashers on when the
airbags in ate. You can lock the doors, turn the
interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off by using the controls for those
features.
In many crashes severe enough to in ate the
airbag, windshields are broken by vehicle
deformation. Additional windshield breakage may
also occur from the right front passenger airbag.
Airbags are designed to in ate only once.
After an airbag in ates, you will need
some new parts for the airbag system. If you
do not get them, the airbag system will
not be there to help protect you in another
crash. A new system will include airbag
modules and possibly other parts. The service
manual for your vehicle covers the need to
replace other parts.
Your vehicle has a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information
after a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and
Event Data Recorders on page 494.
Let only quali ed technicians work on the
airbag systems. Improper service can
mean that an airbag system will not work
properly. See your dealer for service.
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Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system for
the right front passenger position. The passenger
airbag status indicator will be visible when you
turn your ignition key to ON or START. The words
ON and OFF or the symbol for on and off, will
be visible on the rearview mirror during the system
check. When the system check is complete,
either the word ON or the word OFF, or the symbol
for on or the symbol for off will be visible. See
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 202.The passenger sensing system will turn off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag under certain
conditions. The driver’s airbags are not part of
the passenger sensing system.
The passenger sensing system works with
sensors that are part of the right front passenger’s
seat. 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 in ate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if
they are restrained in the rear rather than the front
seat. We recommend 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.
United States
Canada
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Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accommodate
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.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can
be seriously injured or killed if the right
front passenger’s airbag in ates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag if the system
detects a rear-facing child restraint,
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
no system is fail-safe, and no one can
guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend
that rear-facing child restraints be secured
in the rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat,
always move the front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. It is better to secure
the child restraint in a rear seat.
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The passenger sensing system is designed to turn
off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag if:
The right front passenger seat is unoccupied.
The system determines that an infant is
present in a rear-facing infant seat.
The system determines that a small child is
present in a forward-facing child restraint.
The system determines that a small child is
present in a booster seat.
A right front passenger takes his/her weight off
of the seat for a period of time.
The right front passenger seat is occupied by
a smaller person, such as a child who has
outgrown child restraints.
There is a critical problem with the airbag
system or the passenger sensing system.When the passenger sensing system has turned
off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the off indicator
in the rearview mirror will light and stay lit to
remind you that the airbag is off. SeePassenger
Airbag Status Indicator on page 202.
If a child restraint has been installed and the
on indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the
child restraint from the vehicle and reinstall
the child restraint following the child restraint
manufacturer’s directions and refer toSecuring a
Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position
on page 66.
If, after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to
make sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not
pressing the child restraint into the seat cushion.
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