
WARNING!
●
Being too close to the steering wheel or instrument
panel during front air bag deployment could cause
serious injury, including death. Air bags need room
to inflate. Sit back, comfortably extending your
arms to reach the steering wheel or instrument
panel.
●
Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of
an air bag. A deploying passenger front air bag can
cause death or serious injury to a child 12 years
or younger, including a child in a rear-facing child
restraint.
●
Never install a rear-facing child restraint in the
front seat of a vehicle. Only use a rear-facing child
restraint in the rear seat. If the vehicle does not
have a rear seat, do not transport a rear-facing
child restraint in that vehicle.
Driver And Passenger Front Air Bag
Features
The Advanced Front Air Bag system has multistage
driver and front passenger air bags. This system
provides output appropriate to the severity and type
of collision as determined by the Occupant Restraint
Controller (ORC), which may receive information from
the front impact sensors (if equipped) or other system
components.
The first stage inflator is triggered immediately during
an impact that requires air bag deployment. A low
energy output is used in less severe collisions. A higher
energy output is used for more severe collisions.
This vehicle may be equipped with a driver and/or front
passenger seat belt buckle switch that detects whether
the driver or front passenger seat belt is buckled. The
seat belt buckle switch may adjust the inflation rate of
the Advanced Front Air Bags.
This vehicle may be equipped with driver and/or front
passenger seat track position sensors that may adjust
the inflation rate of the Advanced Front Air Bags based
upon seat position.
This vehicle is equipped with a right front passenger
Occupant Classification System (“OCS”) that is
designed to provide Passenger Advanced Front Air Bag
output appropriate to the occupant’s seated weight
input, as determined by the OCS.
WARNING!
●
No objects should be placed over or near the air
bag on the instrument panel or steering wheel
because any such objects could cause harm if the
vehicle is in a collision severe enough to cause the
air bag to inflate.
●
Do not put anything on or around the air bag
covers or attempt to open them manually. You may
damage the air bags and you could be injured
because the air bags may no longer be functional.
The protective covers for the air bag cushions
are designed to open only when the air bags are
inflating.
●
Relying on the air bags alone could lead to more
severe injuries in a collision. The air bags work
with your seat belt to restrain you properly. In
some collisions, air bags won’t deploy at all.
Always wear your seat belts even though you have
air bags.
Front Air Bag Operation
Front Air Bags are designed to provide additional
protection by supplementing the seat belts. Front air
bags are not expected to reduce the risk of injury in
rear, side, or rollover collisions. The front air bags will
not deploy in all frontal collisions, including some that
may produce substantial vehicle damage — for example,
some pole collisions, truck underrides, and angle offset
collisions.
On the other hand, depending on the type and location
of impact, front air bags may deploy in crashes with
little vehicle front-end damage but that produce a
severe initial deceleration.
Because air bag sensors measure vehicle deceleration
over time, vehicle speed and damage by themselves
are not good indicators of whether or not an air bag
should have deployed.
Seat belts are necessary for your protection in all
collisions, and also are needed to help keep you in
position, away from an inflating air bag.
When the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) detects
a collision requiring the front air bags, it signals the
inflator units. A large quantity of non-toxic gas is
generated to inflate the front air bags.
The steering wheel hub trim cover and the upper
passenger side of the instrument panel separate and
fold out of the way as the air bags inflate to their full
size. The front air bags fully inflate in less time than it
takes to blink your eyes. The front air bags then quickly
deflate while helping to restrain the driver and front
passenger.
SAFETY 261
6