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When Should an Airbag Inflate?
Frontal airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes to help reduce the
potential for severe injuries mainly to the driver’s or right
front passenger’s head and chest. However, they are only
designed to inflate if the impact exceeds a predetermined
deployment threshold. Deployment thresholds are used
to predict how severe a crash is likely to be in time for the
airbags to inflate and help restrain the occupants.
Whether the frontal airbags will or should deploy is not
based on how fast the vehicle is traveling. It depends
largely on what you hit, the direction of the impact,
and how quickly the vehicle slows down.
Frontal airbags may inflate at different crash speeds.
For example:
• If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could inflate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
• If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inflate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object that does not deform.
• If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole), the
airbags could inflate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
• If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle, the
airbags could inflate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
Thresholds can also vary with specific vehicle design.
Frontal airbags are not intended to inflate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
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