CHEVROLET 2011 Corvette - Manual (Page 93)

Black plate (27,1) Chevrolet Corvette Owner Manual - 2011
Seats and Restraints 3-27
Your vehicle may have one or two
seat position sensors, depending
on what model you have. The
seat position sensor(s) enable
the sensing system to monitor
the position of the driver seat
(all models except ZO6 and ZR1)
and the right front passenger seat
(all models). Seat position sensor(s)
provide information that is used to
determine if the airbags should
deploy at a reduced level or at full
deployment.
Your vehicle may or may not have
seat-mounted side impact airbags.
See Airbag System on page 3‑22.
Seat-mounted side impact airbags
are intended to inflate in moderate
to severe side crashes.
Seat-mounted side impact airbags
will inflate if the crash severity is
above the system's designed
threshold level. The threshold level
can vary with specific vehicle
design.
Seat-mounted side impact airbags
are not intended to inflate in frontal
impacts, near-frontal impacts,
rollovers, or rear impacts.
A seat-mounted side impact airbag
is intended to deploy on the side of
the vehicle that is struck.
In any particular crash, no one
can say whether an airbag should
have inflated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because
of what the repair costs were. For
seat-mounted side impact airbags,
deployment is determined by the
location and severity of the side
impact.
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 and deploy. The inflator,
the airbag, and related hardware are
all part of the airbag module.
Frontal airbag modules are located
inside the steering wheel and
instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags,
there are airbag modules in the side
of the front seatbacks closest to
the door.