1995 Chevrolet Suburban Owner's Manual - Page 46

When should an air bag inflate? The air bag is designed to inflatein moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate only if the impact speed is above the system's designed "threshold level." If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is about12 to 16 mph (19 to 26 km/h). The threshold level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,so that it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such asa parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts, or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. In any particular crash,no one can say whether an air bag should have inflated simply because of the damage to vehicle a or becauseof what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and the vehicle's deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indicationof this. The airbag system is designed to work properly under a wide range of conditions, includingoff-road usage. Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See "Off-Road Driving" in the Index for more tips on off-road driving. What makes an air bag inflate? In a frontal ornear-frontal impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing system detects that the vehicle is suddenly stopping as a resultof a crash. The sensing system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates theair bag. The inflator, air bag, and related hardware are all part of the airbag module packed inside the steering wheel. How does anair bag restrain? In moderate to severe frontal ornear-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel. The air bag supplements the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rolloversand rear and side impacts,primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward the air bag. Air bags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions. What will you see after anair bag inflates? After the air baginflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in the steering wheel hub will be hot for a short time, but the part of the bag that comes into contact with you will not be hot to the touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air bag. Air bag inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle. 1-31