Loading ...
Loading ...
Loading ...
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, rear impacts, or in many side 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 how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal and
near-frontal impacts.
What Makes an Air Bag Inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The
sensing system triggers a release of gas from the
inflator, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag
and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel
in
irorli
ui
ine
rigni ironi passenger.
How
Does an Air Bag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Air bags supplement the
protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually.
But air bags would not help you in many types
of
collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is
not toward those air bags. Air bags should never be
regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety
belts, and then only
in
moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal collisions.
What
Will
You
See After an
Air
Bag
Inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates,
so
quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
iniiated. some components
of
the air bag module
-
the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag or the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s
bag
-
will be hot for a short time. The parts of the
bag that come into contact with you may be warm,
but not
too
hot to touch.
1-57
Loading ...
Loading ...
Loading ...