2003 Oldsmobile Alero Owner's Manual - Page 64
2003 Oldsmobile Alero Manual
Page 64 highlights
If your vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side 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 becauseof what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. 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 air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and many side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward those 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 Makes an Air Bag Inflate? In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The sensing system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel in irorli ui ine rigni ironi passenger. 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 air bag iniiated. 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. 1-57