2007 SATURN VUE HYBRID Owners Manual

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. 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 10 to 15 mph (16 to 24 km/h),
and the threshold level for a full deployment is
about 17 to 25 mph (27 to 40 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 roof-mounted
side impact airbags and a rollover sensor.
SeeAirbag System on page 75. These
roof-mounted “rollover capable” side impact
airbags are intended to inate in moderate to
severe side crashes, and during a rollover.
They may also inate in some frontal crashes.
Both rollover capable side impact airbags
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 rear impacts.Both side impact airbags will deploy when either
side of the vehicle is struck. If your vehicle
does not have a right front passenger seat and a
rear seat, only the driver’s frontal airbag will
deploy in a frontal impact.
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.
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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. Additionally, in the case of a “rollover
capable” roof-mounted side impact airbag, the
sensing system detects that the vehicle is about to
roll over. The sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the inator, which inates the airbag.
For the frontal airbags, 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 rollover airbags,
the airbag modules, the inator, and the airbags
are located 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.
Roof-mounted rollover airbags would not help you
in many types of collisions, including many
frontal or near frontal collisions, 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 or rollovers for vehicles
with roof-mounted rollover airbags.
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What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?
After the airbag inates, it quickly deates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbag inated. Some components of the airbag
module may be hot for a short time. These
components include the steering wheel hub for the
driver’s frontal airbag and the instrument panel
for the right front passenger’s frontal airbag.
For vehicles with side impact airbags, the ceiling
of your vehicle near the side windows may be hot.
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 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.
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Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior dome lamp
on, and ash the exterior lamps on and off when
the airbags inate. You can lock the doors
again and turn the interior lamps off by using the
door lock and interior lamp controls. You must
rst, however, turn your ignition key to the
following ignition switch positions:
1. Turn the ignition key to LOCK.
2. Turn the ignition key to RUN.
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 417.
Let only qualied technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean
that the airbag system will not work properly.
See your retailer for service.
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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 RUN 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 166. 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. 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.
United StatesCanada
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If your vehicle has a rear seat that will
accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, 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. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
inating airbag.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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
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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