35Safe Driving
Airbags
Airbag System Components
Important Facts About Your Airbags
Airbags can pose serious hazards. To do their job, airbags must inflate with
tremendous force. So, while airbags help save lives, they can cause minor injuries,
sometimes even fatal ones if occupants are not properly wearing their seat belts
properly and sitting correctly.
What you should do: Always wear your seat belt properly, and sit upright and
as far back from the steering wheel as possible while allowing full control of the
vehicle. A front passenger should move their seat as far back from the dashboard
as possible.
Remember, however, that no safety system can prevent all injuries or deaths
that can occur in a severe crash, even when seat belts are properly worn and the
airbags deploy.
Do not place hard or sharp objects between yourself and a front airbag.
Carrying hard or sharp objects on your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp
object in your mouth, can result in injuries if your front airbag inflates.
Do not attach or place objects on the front airbag covers. Objects on the
covers marked ”SRS AIRBAG” could interfere with the proper operation of the
airbags or be propelled inside the vehicle and hurt someone if the airbags inflate.
Important facts about your airbags
Do not attempt to deactivate your airbags.
Together, airbags and seat belts provide the best
protection.
When driving, keep hands and arms out of the
deployment path of the front airbag by holding
each side of the steering wheel. Do not cross an
arm over the airbag cover.
Airbags
Types of Airbags
36Safe Driving
Front Airbags (SRS)The front SRS airbags inflate in a moderate to severe frontal collision to help protect
the head and chest of the driver and/or front passenger.
SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) indicates that the airbags are designed to
supplement seat belts, not replace them. Seat belts are the occupant's primary
restraint system.
Housing Locations
The front airbags are housed in the center of the steering wheel for the driver, and
in the dashboard for the front passenger. Both airbags are marked SRS AIRBAG. Types of AirbagsYour vehicle is equipped with three types of airbags:
Front airbags: tAirbags in front of the driver's and front passenger's seats.
Side airbags: t Airbags in the driver's and front passenger's seat-backs.
Side curtain airbags: tAirbags above the side windows.
Each is discussed in the following pages.
Types of Airbags
The airbags can inflate whenever the ignition switch
is in ON
II.
Front Airbags (SRS)
Dual-Stage, Multiple-Threshold Front Airbags
(SRS)
Your vehicle is equipped with dual-stage, multiple-
threshold front airbags (SRS).
During a frontal crash severe enough to cause
one or both front airbags to deploy, the airbags
can inflate at different rates, depending on the
severity of the crash, whether or not the seat belts
are latched, and/or other factors. Frontal airbags
are designed to supplement the seat belts to help
reduce the likelihood of head and chest injuries in
frontal crashes.