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Safety features of your vehicle
523
• Air bag deployment depends on a
number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact and the
density and stiffness of the vehicles
or objects which your vehicle
impacts during a collision. The
determining factors are not limited
to those mentioned above.
• The front air bags will completely
inflate and deflate in an instant. It is
virtually impossible for you to see
the air bags inflate during an acci-
dent. It is much more likely that you
will simply see the deflated air bags
hanging out of their storage com-
partments after the collision.
• To help provide protection, the air
bags must inflate rapidly. The
speed of air bag inflation is a con-
sequence of extremely short time
in which to inflate the air bag
between the occupant and the
vehicle structures before the occu-
pant impacts those structures.This
speed of inflation reduces the risk
of serious or life-threatening
injuries and is thus a necessary
part of air bag design.
However, the rapid air bag inflation
can also cause injuries which can
include facial abrasions, bruises
and broken bones because the
inflation speed also causes the air
bags to expand with a great deal of
force.
• There are even circumstances
under which contact with the air
bag can cause fatal injuries, espe-
cially if the occupant is positioned
excessively close to the air bag.
You can take steps to reduce the risk
of being injured by an inflating air
bag. The greatest risk is sitting too
close to the air bag.An air bag needs
about 10 inches (25 cm) of space to
inflate. NHTSA recommends that
drivers allow at least 10 inches
(25 cm) between the center of the
steering wheel and the chest.
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