1998 Buick Century Owner's Manual - Page 31

What makesan 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 airbag modules inside the steering wheel and in the instrumentpanel in front of the right front passenger. What will you see after air bag inflates? an After an air bag inflates, itquickly deflates, so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Somecomponents 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 contactwith you may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from ventsin the deflatedair bags. Air bag inflation doesn't prevent the driver from seeing orfrom being ableto steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving vehicle. the 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 instrumentpanel. Air bags supplement the protection provided by safety belts.Air bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over theoccupant's upper body, stopping theoccupant 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 those air bags.Air bags should never be regarded as anything morethan a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions. 1-23