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Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inflate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle may or may not have roof-mounted
airbags and a rollover sensor. See Airbag System
on page 72. These “rollover capable” airbags are
intended to inflate in moderate to severe side
crashes or during a rollover. A roof-mounted side
impact airbag will inflate if the crash severity is
above the system’s designed “threshold level.”
The threshold level can vary with specific vehicle
design. Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
not intended to inflate in rear impacts. Both
roof-mounted rollover airbags will deploy when
either side of the vehicle is struck or during a
rollover.
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 roof-mounted side impact airbags,
inflation is determined by the location and severity
of the impact.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
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 inflator, which inflates the airbag.
For the frontal airbags, the inflator, 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 inflator, and the airbags
are located in the ceiling of the vehicle, near
the side windows.
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