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Both roof-rail airbags will inflate when either side of the vehicle is struck,
if the sensing system predicts that the vehicle is about to roll over on its
side, or in a severe frontal impact.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an airbag should have
inflated simply because of the vehicle damage or repair costs.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
In a deployment event, the sensing system sends an electrical signal
triggering a release of gas from the
inflator. Gas from the inflator fills the airbag causing the bag to break out of the cover. The inflator, the airbag, and related hardware are all part of the
airbag module.
For airbag locations, see Where Are the Airbags? 0 86.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions, even belted
occupants can contact the steering
wheel or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the inside of the vehicle.
Airbags supplement the protection
provided by seat belts by distributing the force of the impact more evenly
over the occupant's body.
Rollover capable roof-rail airbags are
designed to help contain the head and chest of occupants in the outboard
seating positions in the first and
second rows. The rollover capable
roof-rail airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of full or partial
ejection in rollover events, although no system can prevent all such
ejections.
But airbags would not help in many
types of collisions, primarily because the occupant's motion is not toward those airbags. See When Should an
Airbag Inflate? 0 88.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to seat belts.
What Will You See after an Airbag Inflates?
After frontal, knee, and seat-mounted side impact airbags inflate, they
quickly deflate, so quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbags inflated. Roof-rail airbags may still be at least partially inflated for
some time after they inflate. Some
components of the airbag module may be hot for several minutes. For
location of the airbags, see Where Are the Airbags? 0 86.
The parts of the airbag that come into contact with you may be warm, but
not too hot to touch. There may be some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the deflated airbags.
Airbag inflation does not prevent the driver from seeing out of the
windshield or being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it prevent people
from leaving the vehicle.
90 SEATS AND RESTRAINTS
{ Warning
When an airbag inflates, there may be dust in the air. This dust could
cause breathing problems for
people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble. To avoid
this, everyone in the vehicle should get out as soon as it is safe to do
so. If you have breathing problems but cannot get out of the vehicle
after an airbag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or a door. If you experience breathing
problems following an airbag deployment, you should seek medical attention.
The vehicle has a feature that may
automatically unlock the doors, turn on the interior lamps and hazard
warning flashers, and shut off the fuel system after the airbags inflate. The
feature may also activate, without
airbag inflation, after an event that exceeds a predetermined threshold.
After turning the ignition off and then on again, the fuel system will return
to normal operation; the doors can be
locked, the interior lamps can be
turned off, and the hazard warning flashers can be turned off using the
controls for those features. If any of these systems are damaged in the
crash they may not operate as normal.
{ Warning
A crash severe enough to inflate the airbags may have also damaged
important functions in the vehicle, such as the fuel system, brake and steering systems, etc. Even if the
vehicle appears to be drivable after a moderate crash, there may be
concealed damage that could make it difficult to safely operate the
vehicle.
Use caution if you should attempt to restart the engine after a crash has occurred.
PLUG-IN vehicles have a high voltage battery and a standard 12-volt battery. If an airbag inflates or the vehicle has been in a crash, the sensing system
may shut down the high voltage
system. When this occurs, the high
voltage battery is disconnected and the vehicle will not start. Before the
vehicle can be operated again, it must be serviced at your dealer.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate the airbag, windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the front outboard
passenger airbag.
. Airbags are designed to inflate
only once. After an airbag inflates, you will need some new parts for
the airbag system. If you do not get them, the airbag system will
not be there to help protect you in another crash. A new system will
include airbag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for the vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
. The vehicle has a crash sensing and diagnostic module which
records information after a crash. See Vehicle Data Recording and
Privacy 0 428 and Event Data