1998 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 32

What makesan air bag inflate? In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing When shouldan air bag inflate? system detects that the vehicle in a crash.The sensing is system triggersa release of gas from the inflator, which An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe inflates the air bag. inflator, air bag related The and frontal or near-frontal crash. air bagwill inflate The the only if the impact speed is above the system's designed hardware areall part of the air bag modules inside steering wheel and the instrumentpanel in front of in "threshold level."If your vehicle goes straight into a the right front passenger. wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is about 9 to 15 mph( 14 to 24 km/h). The threshold level so can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, that it can be somewhat aboveor below this range. If your If somethingis between an occupant and an air bag, the bag might not inflate properlyitor might force the object into that person. The path of an inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don't put anything between an occupant and an air bag, and don't attach or put anything on the steering wheel hub or on or near any other air bag covering. vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The air bag is not designedto inflate in rollovers, side impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. In any particular crash, no can say whether an air one bag should have inflated simply because the damage of to a vehicle or because what the repair costs were. of Inflation is determined by the angle of the impactand how quicklythe vehicle slows down in frontal or near-frontal impacts. 1-25