1996 Lexus ES 300 Owners Manual - Page 70

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT For your safety, be sure to always wear your seat belts. In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect deceleration and the system triggers the airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction in the inflators momentarily fills the airbags with non-toxic nitrogen gas to help restrain the forward motion of the occupants. When the airbags inflate, they produce a fairly loud noise and release some smoke along with nitrogen gas. This is not harmful and does not indicate a fire. Be sure to wash off any residue as soon as possible to prevent minor skin irritation. Deployment of the airbags happens in a fraction of a second, so the airbags must inflate with considerable force. While the system is designed to reduce serious injuries, it may also cause minor burns or abrasions and swellings. Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel hub, dashboard) may be hot for several minutes, but the airbags themselves will not be hot. The airbags are designed to operate only once. A crash severe enough to inflate the airbags may break the windshield as the vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a passenger airbag the windshield may also be damaged by absorbing some of the force of the inflating airbag. The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if it is involved in a low-speed frontal collision. The center airbag sensor assembly consists of a safing sensor and center airbag sensor. 62