2-56
Safety system of your vehicle
During a frontal collision, sensors will
detect the vehicle's deceleration. If
the rate of deceleration is high
enough, the control unit will inflate
the front air bags.
The front air bags help protect the
driver and front passenger by
responding to frontal impacts in
which seat belts alone cannot pro-
vide adequate restraint. When need-
ed, the side air bags help provide
protection in the event of a side
impact or rollover.
• Air bags are activated (able to
inflate if necessary) only when the
ignition switch is in the ON posi-
tion.
• Air bags inflate in the event of cer-
tain frontal or side collisions to
help protect the occupants from
serious physical injury.
• Generally, air bags are designed
to inflate based upon the severity
of a collision, its direction, etc.
These two factors determine
whether the sensors produce an
electronic deployment/inflation
signal.
• 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
compartments after the collision.
• In addition to inflating in certain
side collisions, vehicles equipped
with a rollover sensor, side and
curtain air bags will inflate if the
sensing system detects a rollover.
When a rollover is detected, side
and curtain air bags will remain
inflated longer to help provide pro-
tection from ejection, especially
when used in conjunction with the
seat belts.
• 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.
TMa CAN-E 2.qxp 2/1/2019 4:14 PM Page 56