2005 Saab 9-3 Owner's Manual - Page 31

Safety 29 Airbag Airbag system components • Airbag in steering wheel • Airbag in instrument panel in front of passenger seat • Side airbags in front seat backrests Convertible: The side airbags help protect the head also • Inflatable curtains along length of headlining (from front to rear roof pillars) (Sport Sedan only) • Safety belt pretensioners for front seats (all) and outer rear seats (Convertible only). The airbag system supplements the protection provided by the safety belts to further enhance the safety of occupants taller than 55 in. (140 cm). When the system is activated at the moment of impact, the airbag inflates and then deflates through holes in the back. The whole operation takes roughly 0.1 second, quicker than the blink of an eye. The steering wheel and passenger airbags are so-called smart airbags. The driver and passenger airbag system compensates for safety belt usage and the force of the crash at the moment of impact. WARNING To reduce risk of death or serious injury: • Always wear your safety belt. • Always adjust your seat so that you are as far back as possible but still able to operate the pedals and reach the steering wheel and controls comfortably. • Passengers 12 and under or shorter than 55 inches (140 cm) must always travel in the rear seat as the car is fitted with a passenger airbag. • Never fit a child seat in front of the passenger airbag. There are two impact sensors on the front bumper, under the lacquered shell. Very soon after the moment of impact, these register that the car is involved in a crash. Using this information and data from the central sensor in the control module, the control module determines whether or not to inflate the airbags. The control module also controls whether other components of the airbag system are to be deployed: safety belt pretensioners, inflatable curtains (Sport Sedan) and roll over bars (Convertible). Which airbag system components are deployed depends on a number of factors, such as the force of the crash and the angle of impact. If the airbag system registers forces equivalent to a high-speed crash (airbags inflated to Stage II), the inflatable curtains will also be activated (Sport Sedan) see page 35. If a fault arises in the airbag system during a journey, the airbag warning lamp on the main instrument panel will come on and the Saab Information Display (SID) will display: Airbag malfunction. Contact Saab dealer.