2007 CHEVROLET COBALT Owners Manual

{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and
an airbag, the bag 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. And, if your vehicle
has roof-mounted side impact airbags,
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 side
impact airbag will be blocked. The path of
an inating airbag must be kept clear.
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
an electronic frontal sensor which helps the
sensing system distinguish between a moderate
frontal impact and a more severe frontal impact.
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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 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 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.
Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle may or may not have roof-mounted
side impact airbags. SeeAirbag System on
page 68. Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
intended to inate in moderate to severe side
crashes. A roof-mounted 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.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are not
intended to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts. A roof-mounted side
impact airbag is intended to deploy on the side of
the vehicle that is struck.
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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. For roof-mounted 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 inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front
of the right front passenger. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are also
airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle,
near the side windows.
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
Inates?
After a frontal airbag inates, it quickly deates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize
the 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 airbag, or the
garnish trim and ceiling of your vehicle near
the side windows for vehicles with 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.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, 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 inates, 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.
Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on, and
turn on the hazard warning ashers when the
airbags inate. You can lock the doors again, turn
the interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off by using the controls for those features.
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In many crashes severe enough to inate an airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur
from the right front passenger airbag.
Airbags are designed to inate only once.
After an airbag inates, 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 Recording and
Privacy on page 432andEvent Data
Recorders on page 433.
Let only qualied technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean
that your airbag system will not work properly.
See your dealer/retailer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
If your vehicle has one of the indicators pictured in
the following illustrations, then your vehicle has
a passenger sensing system for the right front
passenger’s position. A passenger airbag status
indicator on the instrument panel will be visible
when you turn your ignition key to START or RUN.
The words ON and OFF, or the symbol for
ON and OFF, will be visible on the instrument
panel 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. SeePassenger Airbag
Status Indicator on page 168.
United StatesCanada
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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 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 inate) 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.
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 inates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
inating airbag.
Your vehicle may have a passenger
sensing system that is designed to turn
off the passenger’s frontal airbag if the
system detects a rear-facing child
restraint. However, 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
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.
Or, if 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
on the instrument panel will light and stay lit to
remind you that the airbag is off.
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 64.
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.
If this happens, slightly recline the vehicle’s
seatback and adjust the seat cushion if possible.
Also make sure the child restraint is not trapped
under the vehicle head restraint. If this happens,
adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in
the child restraint in a rear seat position in
the vehicle and check with your dealer.
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The passenger sensing system is designed to
enable (may inate) the right front passenger’s
frontal airbag anytime the system senses
that a person of adult size is sitting properly in the
right front passenger’s seat. When the passenger
sensing system has allowed the airbag to be
enabled, the on indicator will light and stay lit to
remind you that the airbag is active.
For some children who have outgrown child
restraints and for very small adults, the passenger
sensing system may or may not turn off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag, depending
upon the person’s seating posture and body build.
Everyone in your vehicle who has outgrown
child restraints should wear a safety belt
properly — whether or not there is an airbag for
that person.
If a person of adult-size is sitting in the right front
passenger’s seat, but the off indicator is lit,
it could be because that person is not sitting
properly in the seat. If this happens, turn
the vehicle off and ask the person to place the
seatback in the fully upright position, then sit
upright in the seat, centered on the seat cushion,
with the person’s legs comfortably extended.Restart the vehicle and have the person remain
in this position for about two minutes. This
will allow the system to detect that person and
then enable the passenger’s airbag.
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