1996 Pontiac Sunfire Owner's Manual - Page 30

1996 Pontiac Sunfire Manual

Get 1996 Pontiac Sunfire PDF manuals and user guides View all 1996 Pontiac Sunfire manuals

Page 30 highlights

How does an air bag restrain? In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, even belted occupants contact the steering wheel or can the instrument panel.The air bag supplements the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of the impactmore evenly overthe occupant's upper body, stoppingthe occupant more gradually. But air bags would not help you in many typesof collisions, including rollovers,rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion isnot toward the air bag. Air bags should never be regarded anything as in more than a supplementto safety belts, and then only moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions. What will you seeafter an air bag inflates? After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in the steering wheel hub for the driver's air bag, orthe instrument panel for the right front passenger's bag, will be hot for a short time.The part of the bag that comes into contact with you may be warm, but it will never be too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle. /d CAUTION: When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air. This dust could cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the vehicle shbuld get out as soon as it is safe todo so. If you have breathing problems but can't getout of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, thenget fresh air by opening a window or door. I In many crashes severe enough to inflate an airbag, windshields are broken by vehicle deformation. Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the right front passenger air bag. 0 The air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they inflate, you'll need some new parts foryour 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 replaceother parts. 1-23

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162
  • 163
  • 164
  • 165
  • 166
  • 167
  • 168
  • 169
  • 170
  • 171
  • 172
  • 173
  • 174
  • 175
  • 176
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 180
  • 181
  • 182
  • 183
  • 184
  • 185
  • 186
  • 187
  • 188
  • 189
  • 190
  • 191
  • 192
  • 193
  • 194
  • 195
  • 196
  • 197
  • 198
  • 199
  • 200
  • 201
  • 202
  • 203
  • 204
  • 205
  • 206
  • 207
  • 208
  • 209
  • 210
  • 211
  • 212
  • 213
  • 214
  • 215
  • 216
  • 217
  • 218
  • 219
  • 220
  • 221
  • 222
  • 223
  • 224
  • 225
  • 226
  • 227
  • 228
  • 229
  • 230
  • 231
  • 232
  • 233
  • 234
  • 235
  • 236
  • 237
  • 238
  • 239
  • 240
  • 241
  • 242
  • 243
  • 244
  • 245
  • 246
  • 247
  • 248
  • 249
  • 250
  • 251
  • 252
  • 253
  • 254
  • 255
  • 256
  • 257
  • 258
  • 259
  • 260
  • 261
  • 262
  • 263
  • 264
  • 265
  • 266
  • 267
  • 268
  • 269
  • 270
  • 271
  • 272
  • 273
  • 274
  • 275
  • 276
  • 277
  • 278
  • 279
  • 280
  • 281
  • 282
  • 283
  • 284
  • 285
  • 286
  • 287
  • 288
  • 289
  • 290
  • 291
  • 292
  • 293
  • 294
  • 295
  • 296
  • 297
  • 298
  • 299
  • 300
  • 301
  • 302
  • 303
  • 304
  • 305
  • 306
  • 307
  • 308
  • 309
  • 310
  • 311
  • 312
  • 313
  • 314
  • 315
  • 316
  • 317
  • 318
  • 319
  • 320
  • 321
  • 322
  • 323
  • 324
  • 325
  • 326
  • 327
  • 328
  • 329
  • 330
  • 331
  • 332
  • 333
  • 334
  • 335
  • 336
  • 337
  • 338
  • 339
  • 340
  • 341
  • 342
  • 343
  • 344
  • 345
  • 346
  • 347
  • 348
  • 349
  • 350
  • 351
  • 352
  • 353
  • 354
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 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
side
impacts,
primarily
because
an
occupant’s
motion
is not toward
the
air
bag.
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
the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs
so
quickly
that some people may not even realize the
air
bag
inflated.
Some components
of
the
air bag module in
the steering wheel hub
for
the
driver’s air bag,
orthe
instrument
panel for the right front passenger’s bag,
will
be
hot for a
short
time. The part
of
the
bag that comes
into contact with
you may be warm, but
it will never be
too
hot to touch. There will
be some smoke and dust
coming from vents in
the
deflated
air
bags.
Air
bag
inflation
will
not prevent the driver from seeing or from
being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
/d
CAUTION:
When
an
air
bag
inflates,
there
is
dust
in
the
air.
This dust could cause breathing problems
for
people with
a
history
of
asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in
the
vehicle shbuld get out as
soon
as it
is
safe
to
do
so.
If
you have breathing problems but
can’t
get out
of
the vehicle after
an
air bag
inflates,
then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
I
In
many crashes severe enough to inflate
an
air bag,
windshields
are
broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right
front
passenger
air
bag.
0
The
air bags are designed
to
inflate only once. After
they inflate, you’ll need
some
new
parts
foryour 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.
1-23