2007 GMC CANYON Owner's Manual

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
located in the ceiling above the side windows.
{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. If your vehicle
has 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.
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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 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 doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level
for the reduced deployment is about 8 to 16 mph
(12.9 to 25.7 km/h), and the threshold level for
a full deployment is about 19 to 24 mph
(30.6 to 38.6 km/h) if the other sensors do not
over-ride this. 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.
If your vehicle has side impact airbags, it has
electronic side sensors. The 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. Both side
impact airbags will deploy when either side of the
vehicle is struck.
Your vehicle has seat position sensors which
enable the sensing system to monitor the position
of the driver’s seat and the right front passenger’s
seat. Seat position sensors provide information
that 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 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 or near-frontal impacts. For
side impact airbags, ination is determined by the
location and severity of the impact.
The airbag system is designed to work properly
under a wide range of conditions, including off-road
usage. Observe safe driving speeds, especially
on rough terrain. As always, wear your safety belt.
SeeOff-Road Driving on page 256for more tips
on off-road driving.
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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 ceiling of your
vehicle near the side windows — 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 front 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 (if your vehicle has power
door locks), turn the interior lamps on, ash the
hazard warning ashers, and turn off the radio
when the airbag inates. You can lock the
doors again by using the door lock. The interior
lamps and hazard warning ashers will deactivate
after approximately 15 minutes. You can use
the radio controls to adjust the radio.
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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 Collection
and Event Data Recorders on page 468.
Let only qualied technicians work on your
airbag system. Improper service can mean
that your airbag system will not work properly.
See your dealer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system.
The passenger airbag status indicator on the
instrument panel 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 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 182.
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.
United StatesCanada
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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.
There is a label on your sun visor that 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
This is because the back of the
rear-facing child restraint would be very
close to the inating 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, 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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If your vehicle does not have a rear seat that
will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint,
never put a child in a rear-facing child restraint
in the right front passenger seat unless the
passenger airbag status indicator shows off
and the airbag is off. Here is why:
{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. Be sure the airbag is off
before using a rear-facing child restraint
in the right front seat position.
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag if the system
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
detects a rear-facing child restraint,
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
transported in vehicles with a rear seat
that will accommodate a rear-facing child
restraint, whenever possible.
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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