1993 Chevrolet Camaro Owner's Manual - Page 32

Seats & Safety Belts 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 velocity of the impact isabove the designed threshold level. When impacting straight into a wall that does not moveor deform, the threshold level for most GM vehicles is between 9 and 14 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. In addition, this threshold velocity will be considerably higherif the vehicle strikes an object such as a parked car which will move and deform on 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. In any particular crash, determination the of whether the air bag should have inflated cannot be based solely on the level of damage on the vehicle(s). Inflation is determinedby the angle of the impact and the vehicle's deceleration, of which vehicle damage is only one indication. Repair costis not a good indicator of whether an air bag should have deployed. What makes an airbag inflate? In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity, sensors strategical located on the vehicle detect that the vehicle is suddenly stoppingas a result of a crash. These sensors complete an electrical circuit, triggering a chemical reaction of the sodium azide sealedin the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates a cloth bag. The inflator, cloth bag, and related hardware are all part of the air bag inflator modules packed inside the steering wheel andin the instrument panelin front of the passenger.