1996 Buick LeSabre Owner's Manual - Page 32

How does an air bag restrain? 1 In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheelor the instrument panel. The air bag supplements the Air protection provided by safety belts. bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body, stopping theoccupant more gradually. But air bags would nothelp you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward the air bag. 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. When an air bag inflates, there dust in the air. is This dust could cause breathing problems for people with a history asthma or other of breathing trouble.To avoid this, everyone in the vehicle should get out soon as it is safe to do so. as If you have breathing problems but can't get out of the vehicle after air bag inflates, then get an fresh air by opening a windowor door. L What will you see after an air bag inflates? After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in the steering wheel hub for the driver's air bag, orthe instrument panel for the right front passenger's bag, will be hot for a short time. Thepart of the bag that comes into contact with you maybe warm, but it will never be too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle. 0 The air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they inflate, you'llneed some new parts for your air bag system. If you don't getthem, 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. Your vehicle is equipped witha crash sensing and diagnostic module, which records information about the air bag system. The module records information about the readiness of the system, when the sensorsare activated and driver's safety belt usage at deployment. 0 1-20