2007 PONTIAC VIBE airbag
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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 passenger 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
passenger 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 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. 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 in ating airbag will
be blocked. Do not let seat covers block
the in ation path of a side impact airbag.
The path of an in ating airbag must be
kept clear.
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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. 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 only 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 is equipped with
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.Frontal airbags may in ate at different vehicle
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 for the driver and right front
passenger may also deploy if a serious impact
occurs to the underside of your vehicle such
as hitting a curb, falling into a deep hole, or landing
hard. The frontal airbags (driver and right front
passenger) are not intended to in ate during
vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side
impacts.
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It is possible that, in a crash involving the front of
your vehicle, only one of the two frontal airbags
in your vehicle will deploy. This is rare, but it can
happen in a crash just severe enough to make
a frontal airbag in ate.
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
in many rear impacts. Your vehicle has sensors
which detect side impacts. These sensors
signal the appropriate side airbag to in ate. Both
side impact airbags (seat-mounted and
roof-mounted) are intended to deploy on the side
of the vehicle that is struck. It is possible that,
in a crash involving the rear side of your vehicle,
that only the roof-mounted airbag will deploy.
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, vehicle
speed, and how quickly the vehicle slows down in
frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact
airbags, in ation is determined by the location and
severity of the impact.
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. 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.
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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.
What Will You See After an Airbag
In ates?
After the frontal and seat-mounted side impact
airbags in ate, they quickly de ate, so quickly that
some people may not even realize an airbag
in ated. Roof-mounted side impact airbags may still
be at least partially in ated 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.
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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, turn the
interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off again by using the controls for those
features.
In many crashes severe enough to in ate the
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
an airbag in ates, 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.
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Your vehicle has a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information
after a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and
Event Data Recorders on page 411.
Let only quali ed technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean that
the airbag system will not work properly. See
your dealer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system. A
passenger airbag status indicator on the
instrument panel will be visible when you turn your
ignition key to ON.
The words ON and OFF
will be visible in the
passenger airbag status
indicator during the
system check.When the system check is complete, either the
word ON or the word OFF will be visible depending
on whether the seat is occupied and/or the
weight of the occupant. SeePassenger Airbag
Status Indicator on page 163. The passenger
sensing system will turn off the right front
passenger’s frontal airbag, seat-mounted side
impact airbag (if equipped), and the safety
belt pretensioner 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
assembly and safety belt assembly. The sensors
are designed to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine if the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag, seat-mounted side
impact airbag (if equipped), and the safety belt
pretensioner should be enabled (may in ate) or not.
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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 in ates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
in ating airbag.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if
equipped) under certain conditions, 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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