How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel.
Air
bags supplement the protection
provided by safety belts.
Air
bags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would
not help you in many types
of
collisions, including
rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily
because an occupant’s motion is not toward those air
bags. Air bags should never be regarded as anything
more than a supplement to safety belts, and then
only
in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What
will
you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates,
so
quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
inflated. Some components of the air bag module
--
the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s
bag
--
will be hot for a short time. The parts of the bag
that come into contact with
you
may be warm, but not
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag
inflation doesn’t prevent the driver from seeing or from
being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
I
When an air bag inflates, there is 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 can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they
inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air bag
system. If
you
don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
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