1998 Cadillac Eldorado Owner's Manual - Page 44

How does an air bag restrain? In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal cobsions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel the or instrument panel.Air bags supplement the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute 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 in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts andside impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward those air bags. Air bags should never be regardedas anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and thenonly in moderate to severe frontalor near-frontal collisions. A CAUTION: When an air bag inflates, thereis dust in the air. This dust could cause breathing problemsfor people with a history asthma or other of breathing trouble.To avoid this, everyone in the so. vehicle should get out as soon it is safe to do as If you have breathing problems but can't get out of the vehicle after an bag inflates, then get air fresh air by opening a window or door. Your vehicle has a feapre that will automatically unlock the doors and turn the interior lamps on when the air bags inflate (ifbattery power is available). You can lock the doors again and turn the interior lamps off by using the door lock and interior lamp controls. In many crashes severeenough to inflate an air bag, windshields arebroken by vehicle deformation. Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the right front passenger air bag. What will you see after an air bag inflates? After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates,so quickly that some people may not even realize the bag inflated. air Some components of the air bag module -- 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 parts of the bag that come into contact with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust comingfrom vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag inflation doesn't prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle,nor does it stop peoplefrom leaving the vehicle. 1-24