Pontiac 2003 Vibe - Manual (Page 33)

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When should an air bag inflate?
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.
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.
The side impact air bags are designed to inflate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact air bag
will inflate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.” The threshold level can vary
with specific vehicle design. Side impact air bags are not
designed to inflate in frontal or near
- frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant. A side impact air bag will only
deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
It is possible that, in a crash involving the front of your
vehicle, only one of the two frontal air bags in your
vehicle will deploy. This is rare, but it can happen in a
crash just severe enough to make a frontal air bag
inflate.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. For
frontal air bags, inflation is determined by the vehicle
speed, the angle of the impact and how quickly the
vehicle slows down in frontal and near
- frontal impacts.
For side impact air bags, inflation is determined by the
location and severity of the impact.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For both
frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing system
triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which inflates
the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware
are all part of the air bag modules inside the steering
wheel, instrument panel and the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door.