2007 CADILLAC STS Owners Manual

{CAUTION:
Frontal airbags for the driver and right
front passenger are designed to deploy in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to inate in
rollover, rear crashes, or in many side
crashes. And, for some unrestrained
occupants, frontal airbags may provide
less protection in frontal crashes than
more forceful airbags have provided in
the past.
Seat-mounted side impact airbags and
roof-mounted side impact airbags are
designed to inate in moderate to severe
crashes where something hits the side of
your vehicle. They are not 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
is an airbag for that person.
{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact airbags
inate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
inating airbag, as you would be if you
were leaning forward, it could seriously
injure you. Safety belts help keep you in
position for airbag ination before and
during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal airbags. 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.
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{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags 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 airbag 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, seeOlder
Children on page 38orInfants and Young
Children on page 40.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the
airbag symbol.The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an
electrical problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on
page 244for more information.
Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s frontal airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.The seat-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
is in the side of the driver’s seatback closest to
the door.
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The seat-mounted side impact airbag for the right
front passenger is in the side of the passenger’s
seatback closest to the door.The roof-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
and the person seated directly behind the driver
is in the ceiling above the side windows.
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The roof-mounted side impact airbag for the right
front passenger and the person seated directly
behind that passenger is in the ceiling above the
side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and
an airbag, the airbag might not inate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an inating airbag must
be kept clear. Do not put anything
between an occupant and an airbag, and
do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any
other airbag covering. Never secure
anything to the roof of your vehicle by
routing the rope or tie-down through any
door or window opening. If you do, the
path of an inating airbag will be blocked.
Do not let seat covers block the ination
path of a side impact airbag. The path of
an inating airbag must be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
airbags are designed to inate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are
designed to inate 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 inate 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 electronic frontal
sensors, which help the sensing system distinguish
between a moderate frontal impact and a more
severe frontal impact. For moderate frontal impacts,
these airbags 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 does not move or deform,the threshold level for the reduced deployment is
about 12 to 15 mph (19 to 24 km/h), and the
threshold level for a full deployment is about
16 to 23 mph (26 to 37 km/h). The threshold level
can vary, however, with specic vehicle design, so
that it can be somewhat above or below this range.
Frontal airbags may inate at different crash
speeds. For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate 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 inate 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 inate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into
the object.
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Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Side impact airbags are intended to inate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact
airbag 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 airbags are not intended to
inate 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 inated simply because of
the damage to a vehicle or because of what
the repair costs were. For frontal airbags, ination
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, ination is determined by
the location and severity of the impact.What Makes an Airbag Inate?
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 inator, which inates the
airbag. The inator, 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.
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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
Inates?
After frontal airbags and seat-mounted side impact
airbags inate, they quickly deate, so quickly
that some people may not even realize an airbag
inated. Roof-mounted side impact airbags
may still be at least partially inated 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 deated
airbags. Airbag ination 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.
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