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Airbag System
Your vehicle has a frontal airbag for the driver, a
frontal airbag for the passenger, a side impact
airbag for the driver, and a side impact airbag for
the passenger.
Airbags are designed to supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Even though today’s
airbags are also designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an in ating bag, all
airbags must in ate very quickly to do their job.Here are the most important things to know about
the airbag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a
crash if you are not wearing your safety
belt — even if you have airbags. Wearing
your safety belt during a crash helps
reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it.
Airbags are “supplemental restraints” to
the safety belts. All airbags are designed
to work with safety belts, but do not
replace them.
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{CAUTION:
Frontal airbags for the driver and
passenger are designed to deploy in
moderate to severe frontal and near
frontal crashes. They are not designed to
in ate 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.
Side impact airbags for the driver and
passenger are designed to in ate in
moderate to severe crashes where
something hits the side of your vehicle.
They are not designed to in ate 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
in ate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
in ating airbag, as you would be if you
were leaning forward, it could seriously
injure you. Safety belts help keep you in
position for airbag in ation 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 in ates 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 28orInfants and Young Children on
page 31.There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, 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 188for more information.
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Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.The passenger’s frontal airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
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The driver’s side impact airbag is in the side of the
driver’s seatback closest to the door.The passenger’s side impact airbag is in the side of
the passenger’s seatback closest to the door.
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{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and
an airbag, the airbag might not in ate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an in ating 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. Do not let seat
covers block the in ation path of a side
impact airbag.
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. Deploymentthresholds 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 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 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.
Your vehicle also has seat position sensors which
enables the sensing system to monitor the
position of the driver’s and passenger’s seats. The
seat position sensor provides information which
is used to determine if the airbags should deploy at
a reduced level or at full deployment.
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. 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, the airbag and related
hardware are all part of the airbag modules.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside
the steering wheel and instrument panel. For
seating positions with side impact airbags, there
are also airbag modules in the side of the
seatbacks closest to the door.
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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