Filter
Top Products
The side impact airbags are intended to inflate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A 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. Side impact airbags are not intended
to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers, or rear impacts. A side impact airbag is
intended to deploy on the side of the vehicle
that is struck, unless the passenger sensing
system has turned off the passenger’s
seat-mounted side impact airbag. See Passenger
Sensing System on page 80 for more information.
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 in frontal and near-frontal impacts.
For 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. The sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the inflator, which inflates the
airbag. The inflator, airbag and related hardware
are all part of the airbag modules. Frontal
airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and the instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle,
near the side window.
77