1996 Chevrolet S10 Pickup Owner's Manual - Page 32

If your vehicle strikes something that will moveor deform, such as a parked car,the threshold level will be higher. The airbag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. 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 makes an 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 of system triggers a chemical reaction 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 module packed inside the steering wheel. How does an air bag restrain? The air bag system is designedto work properly under a wide range of conditions, including off-road usage. Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See "Off-Road Driving" in the Index for more tips on off-road driving. In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel. The air bag supplements the protection providedby safety belts. Air bagsdistribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. Butair bags would not help you in manytypes of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion not toward the air bag. is Air bags should never be regardedas anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and thenonly in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions. 1-21