Dodge 2008 Sprinter - Manual (Page 45)

43
Safety
Occupant safety
2
The front airbags are not triggered un-
less a second activation threshold is ex-
ceeded, i.e. if there is a greater rate of
vehicle deceleration in a longitudinal di-
rection.
Criteria for triggering of emergency
tensioning retractors and airbags
To determine whether it is necessary to
trigger an emergency tensioning retrac-
tor or airbag, the airbag control unit eval-
uates the duration and direction of
deceleration or acceleration during the
initial phase of the collision.
The emergency tensioning retractor and
airbag activation thresholds are variable
and are adapted to the rate of the vehi-
cle deceleration. This process is pre-
emptive in nature as the airbag must be
deployed during – and not at the end of
– the collision.
i
Airbags are not triggered in all types of
accident. They are actually controlled
by complex sensor technology and eval-
uation logic. This process is pre-emptive
in nature as airbag deployment must
take place during the impact and must
be adapted to provide calculated, addi-
tional protection for the vehicle occu-
pants. Not all airbags are triggered in an
accident.
The various airbag systems work inde-
pendently of each other. However, all
systems depend on the type (head-on
or side impact) and severity (in particu-
lar vehicle deceleration or acceleration)
of accident determined in the initial
phase of the accident.
nf_BA.book Page 43 Friday, January 25, 2008 3:53 PM