1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Owner's Manual - Page 36

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. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and the vehicle's deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indication of this. What makesan air bag inflate? In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects 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 the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the right front passenger. the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would not help you many types of collisions, in including rollovers, rearimpacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward the air bag. Air bags should neverbe regarded as anything more than a supplementto safety belts, and then only in moderate to severefrontal or near-frontal collisions. 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, or the instrument panel for the right front passenger's bag, will be hot for a short time. The part of the bag that comes into contact with you may be warrn, 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 fiom being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle. How does an air bag restrain? In moderate to severe frontal ornear-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or the instrument panel. The air bag supplements the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute 1-21