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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.
{CAUTION:
Airbags 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, airbags may provide less
protection in frontal crashes than more
forceful airbags have provided in the past.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a
safety belt properly — whether or not
there is an airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
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 before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even
with airbags. The driver should sit as far
back as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
{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 27andInfants and Young Children
on page 30.
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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 131for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant
and an airbag, the bag 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.
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When Should an Airbag In ate?
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. 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 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 22 mph (28.9 to
35.4 km/h). The threshold level can vary, however,
with speci c vehicle design, so that it can be
somewhat above or below this range.
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.
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Frontal airbags are not intended to in ate during
vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many
side impacts.
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. In ation is determined by what the
vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down.
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, 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.
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. The
airbag supplements 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 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 those airbags.
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.
What Will You See After an
Airbag In ates?
After an airbag in ates, it quickly de ates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbag in ated. Some components of the airbag
module — the steering wheel hub for the driver’s
airbag or the instrument panel for the right front
passenger’s bag — may be hot for a short time.
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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 de ated airbags. Airbag in ation
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 in ates, 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 in ates, 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 the hazard warning ashers on when the
airbags in ate. 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.
In many crashes severe enough to in ate an airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur
from the right front passenger airbag.Airbags are designed to in ate only once. After
they in ate, 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 373.
Let only quali ed technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean that
an airbag system will not work properly. See
your dealer for service.
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Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system.
The passenger airbag status indicator will
be visible when you turn your ignition key to
RUN or START.
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 132.The passenger sensing system will turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag under certain conditions.
The driver’s airbag is not part of the passenger
sensing system.
The passenger sensing system works with
sensors that are part of the passenger’s seat.
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 in ate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer
if they are restrained in the rear rather than
the front seat. We recommend that rear-facing
child restraints not be transported in your vehicle,
even if the airbag is off.
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:
United StatesCanada
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