u co ..... N r-N .....
~ 0 co
-Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates
-
even with an Advanced Airbag 9 page 269 .
More important things to know about front
airbags
F ig. 235 Inf lated fro nt a irbags
0 0 M
-.:,
~
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold prope rly and provide sup·
p lemental pro tection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide add i
tional protect ion for the chest and face of the
d river and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly
- the seats have been positioned so that the
oc -
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag
- and the head restraints have been proper ly
ad-
justed
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
g reat fo rce, things you have on your lap or have
p laced on the seat cou ld become dangerous pro
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in·
flates .
W hen an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irr itate skin .
It is important to remember that while the sup
p lemental a irbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra -
Airbag system
sions, can also happen when airbags inflate . Air
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supp lement the three
po int safety belts only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle dece leration is high enough
to dep loy the airbags .
Front airbags will not depl oy :
- if the ignition is switche d off when a crash oc-
curs
- in side co llisions
- in rear -end co llisions
- in rollovers
- when the crash decele ration measured by the
airbag system is less than the m inimum thresh
old needed for airbag dep loyment as registe red
by the electronic con trol un it
The front passenger airbag also w ill not
deploy:
- when the fron t passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectr ica l capacitance measured by
the capacit ive passenger detection system for
t he front passenge r seat ind icates that the pas
senger side frontal airbag must be switched off
by the e lectronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG
OFF ~; light 9 page 281 comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of ser ious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the a irbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al·
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean aga inst or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be serio usly
inj ured by an airbag as it unfolds with g reat
for ce in the blink of an eye
r=> page 2 70.
A WARNING
A child in a re arward-fa cing child safety seat
i nsta lled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously in jured and can be ki lled if the front
.,,.
279
