1995 Chevrolet Corvette Owner's Manual - Page 31

When shouldan air bag inflate? The airbag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal ornear-frontal crashes. The air will inflate bag only if the impact speed is above the system's designed "threshold level." If your vehicle goes straight into a wall thatdoesn't move or deform, the threshold level is about 9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 km/h). The threshold level so can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, that it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your vehicle strikessomething that will move or deform, such as a parkedcar, the threshold level will be higher. The air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts, orrear impacts, because inflation would not help theoccupant. It is possiblethat in a crashonly one of the two air bags in your Corvette will deploy. This is rare,but can happen in a crash just severe enough to make an air bag inflate. In any particular crash,no one cansay whether an air bag shouldhave inflated simply because of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angleof the impactand the vehicle's deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indication of this. What makes an air inflate? bag In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing system detects that the vehicle is suddenly stopping as aresult of a crash. The sensing system triggers achemical reaction of the sodium azide sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates theair bag. The inflator, air bag, and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules packed inside the steering wheel and inthe instrument panel in front of the passenger. How does an air bag restrain? In moderate to severe frontal or near-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 the forceof the impactmore evenlyover the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupantmore gradually. But air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers and rear and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not towardthe air bag. Air bags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate tosevere frontal or near-frontal collisions. 1-20