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Your vehicle has seat-mounted side impact and
roof-rail airbags. See Airbag System on page 1-51.
Seat-mounted side impact and roof-rail airbags
are intended to inflate in moderate to severe side
crashes. Seat-mounted side impact and roof-rail airbags
will inflate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed threshold level. The threshold level can
vary with specific vehicle design.
Seat-mounted side impact and roof-rail airbags are not
intended to inflate in frontal impacts, near-frontal
impacts, rollovers, or rear impacts. A seat-mounted side
impact airbag is intended to deploy on the side of the
vehicle that is struck. A roof-rail airbag is intended
to deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inflated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, inflation is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For seat-mounted side
impact and roof-rail airbags, deployment is determined by
the location and severity of the side impact.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
In a deployment event, the sensing system sends an
electrical signal triggering a release of gas from
the inflator. Gas from the inflator fills the airbag
causing the bag to break out of the cover and deploy.
The inflator, the airbag, and related hardware are all
part of the airbag module.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are airbag
modules in the side of the front seatbacks closest to the
door. For vehicles with roof-rail airbags, there are
airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle, near the
side windows that have occupant seating positions.
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