1994 Cadillac Fleetwood Owner's Manual - Page 47

Where is the air bag? The driver's air bag is in middle of the steering wheel. The right-front the passenger's air bag is located in the instrument panel on thepassenger's side. When is an air bag expected to inflate? The airbag is designedto inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will only inflate if the velocity of the impact is abovethe designed threshold level. When impactingstraight into a wallthat does not move or deform, the threshold level for most GM vehicles is between and 15 mph (14 and 23 km/h). However,this 9 velocity threshold depends on thevehicle design and may be several miles-per-hour faster or slower. In addition, this threshold velocity willbe considerably higherif the vehicle strikes an object suchas a parked car which will move deform on impact. The air bag is also designed and not to inflate in rollovers,side impacts, or rear impacts where the inflation would provideno occupant protection benefit. It is possiblethat in a crash, only of the two air bags in your one Fleetwood will deploy. This is rare, butcan happen in a crash just severe enough to make an air baginflate. In any particular crash, the determination of whether the air bag should have inflated cannot bebased solely on the level of damage on the vehicle(s). Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and the vehicle's deceleration, of which vehicledamage is onlyone indication. Repair cost isnot a goodindicator of whether an air bag should have deployed. What makesan air bag inflate? In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,the air bag sensing systemdetects that the vehicle is suddenly stopping as a result of a crash. The sensing system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates a cloth bag. The inflator, cloth bag,and related hardware are all part of the airbag inflator modules packed insidethe steering wheel and in the instrumentpanel in front of the passenger. 34