1994 Buick LeSabre Owner's Manual - Page 38

When is an air bag expected to inflate? The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will only inflate if the velocityof the impact is above the designed threshold level. When impacting straight into a wall that does not move or deform, the threshold level for most GM vehicles is between9 and 15 mph (14 and 23 km/h). However, this velocity threshold depends on the vehicle design and may be several miles-per-hour faster or slower. addition, this threshold velocity will In be considerably higher the vehicle strikes an object if on such as a parked car which will move and deform impact. The air bag is also not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts,or rear impacts where the inflation would provide no occupant protection benefit. Where is the air bag? The driver's air bag is in the middle steering of the wheel. The right-front passenger's air bag is located in the instrument panel on the passenger's side. It is possible that in a crash, only of the two air bags one in your LeSabre will deploy. This is rare, but can happen in a crash severe enough to make an bag inflate. just air In any particular crash, the determinationwhether the of air bag should have inflated cannot be based solely on the level of damage on the vehicle(s). Inflation is determined by the angle the impact and the vehicle's of deceleration, of which vehicle damage is one only indication. Repair cost is not a good indicator of whether an air bag should have deployed.