Filter
Top Products
Don’t put anything on, or attach anything to, the
steering wheel or instrument panel.
Also,
don’t
put anything (such as pets or objects) between
any occupant and the steering wheel or
instrument panel. If something is between an
occupant and an air bag, it could affect the
~
performance of the air bag
--
or worse,
it
could
~
cause injury.
1
When should an air bag inflate?
The
air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above
the
system’s designed
“threshold
level.”
If
your
vehicle
goes straight
into
a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level
is about
9
to
15
mph
(14
to
24
km/h).
The threshold
level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so that it can be somewhat above or below this range.
If your vehicle strikes something that will move or
deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be
higher. The air bag is not designed to,inflate in rollovers,
side impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would
not help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle
or
because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is
suddenly stopping as a result
of
a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide
sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator,
air
bag and
related hardware are all part
of
the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
1-19