1997 GMC Suburban Owner's Manual - Page 45

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. 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 airbags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not towardthose air bags. Air bags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions. What will you see after an air bag inflates? After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, quickly so that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. 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 coming from vents in the deflated air bags.Air bag inflation doesn't prevent the driver from seeing orfrom being able to steerthe vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving the vehicle. When an air bag inflates, thereis dust in the air. This dust could cause breathing problemsfor people witha history of asthma or other breathing trouble.To avoid this, everyone in the vehicle shouldget out as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have breathing problems but can't get out of the vehicle afteran air bag inflates, then get fresh air by opening a window or door. In many crashes severeenough to inflate an air bag, windshields are broken by vehicle deformation. Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the right front passenger airbag. 0 Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they inflate, you'll need some new parts for your air bag system. If you don't get them, the air bag system won't be there to help protect you in another crash. A new system will include air bag modules and possibly other parts. The service manual for your vehicle covers the need to replace other parts. 1-35