1993 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 29

Seats & Safety Belts 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 instrument panel. 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. Butair bags would not provide protection in many types of collisions, including rollovers and 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 belt protection in m . 9 2 8 moderate to severe frontal and near-frontal collisions. What will you see after an air bag inflation? After the air bag has inflated, it will then quickly deflate. This occurs so quickly that some people may not even realize that the air bag inflated. The air bag will not impede the driver's vision or ability to steer the vehicle, nor will it hinder the occupants from exiting the vehicle. There will be small amounts of smoke coming from vents in thedeflated air bags. Some components of the air bag module in the steering wheel hub for the driver's air bag or the instrument panel for the passenger's bag may be hot for a short time, but the portion of the bag that comes into contact with you will not be hot to the touch. The nitrogen gas used to inflate the air bag will have vented into the passenger compartment, and the will bag be deflated within seconds after the collision. Nitrogen makesup about 80% of the air we breathe and is not hazardous. As the nitrogen vents from the bag, small particles are also vented into the passenger compartment. In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag, windshields are brokenby vehicle deformation. Additional windshield breakage may occur in vehicles with passenger air bags because the windshield acts as a reaction surface for the inflatingair bag.