Chevrolet 2004 Avalanche, Owner'S Manual

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When Should an Air Bag Inflate?
Frontal Air Bags
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate only
if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.”
In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal air
bags, which adjust the amount of restraint according to
crash severity. For moderate frontal impacts, these
air bags inflate at a level less than full deployment.
For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall
that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level for
the reduced deployment is about 10 to 16 mph
(16 to 25 km/h), and the threshold level for a full
deployment is about 20 to 25 mph (32 to 40 km/h).
The threshold level can vary, however, with specific
vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above
or below this range.
If your vehicle strikes something that will move or
deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be
higher. The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
air bags are not designed to inflate in rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because inflation
would not help the occupant.
Seat Position Sensors
Vehicles with dual stage air bags are also equipped
with special sensors which enable the sensing system
to monitor the position of both the driver and passenger
front seats. The seat position sensor provides
information which is used to determine if the air bags
should deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment.
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