2007 CHEVROLET MALIBU MAXX Owners Manual

CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
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 42orInfants and Young
Children on page 45.
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 202for 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.If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact
airbag for the driver, it is in the side of the driver’s
seatback closest to the door.
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If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact
airbag for the right front passenger, it is in the side
of the passenger’s seatback closest to the door.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the driver and the person seated directly
behind the driver, it is in the ceiling above the
side windows.
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If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the right front passenger and the person
seated directly behind that passenger, it 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. 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 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 helps 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 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.
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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.
Your vehicle may or may not have side impact
airbags. SeeAirbag System on page 72for more
information. 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. 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.
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.
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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 the frontal 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
(if equipped), and the garnish trim and the area
along the ceiling of your vehicle near the side
windows for the roof–mounted side impact airbags
(if equipped) — 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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