2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Pickup Owner's Manual - Page 72

In any particular crash, no one can say whether an airbag 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 how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or near-frontal impacts. The airbag system is designed to 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 on page 4-20 for more tips on off-road driving. Dual Stage Airbags If your vehicle has frontal airbags with dual stage deployment, the amount of restraint will adjust according to crash severity. Your vehicle is equipped with electronic frontal sensors which help the sensing system distinguish between a moderate and a more severe frontal impact. For moderate frontal impacts, these airbags inflate at a level less than full deployment. For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs. If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that does not move or deform, the threshold level for the reduced deployment is about 10 to 16 mph (16 to 25 km/h), and the threshold level for a full deployment is about 20 to 30 mph (32 to 48 km/h). (The threshold level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above or below this range.) Vehicle's with dual stage airbags are also equipped with special sensors which enable the sensing system to monitor the position of both the driver and passenger front seats. The seat position sensor provides information which is used to determine if the airbags should deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment. Single Stage vs. Dual Stage Airbags Depending on the weight of your vehicle you will have either "Single Stage Airbags" or "Dual Stage Airbags". Vehicles that have a passenger sensing system also have dual stage airbags. If the rearview mirror in your vehicle has a passenger airbag status indicator printed on it, your vehicle has the passenger sensing system and therefore, it has dual stage airbags. If the rearview mirror in your vehicle does not have a passenger airbag status indicator printed on it, then your vehicle does not have the passenger sensing system and it has single stage airbags. See Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-36 or Passenger Sensing System on page 1-72. 1-66