2004 Pontiac GTO Owner's Manual - Page 55

When Should an Air Bag Inflate? {CAUTION: If something is between an occupant and an air bag, the bag might not inflate properly or it might force the object into that person causing severe injury or even death. The path of an inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don't put anything between an occupant and an air bag, and don't attach or put anything on the steering wheel hub or on or near any other air bag covering. The driver's and right front passenger's frontal air bags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate only if the impact speed is above the system's designed "threshold level". If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that does not move or deform, the threshold level is about 11 to 17 mph (18 to 28 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 as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The driver's and right front passenger's frontal air bags are not designed to inflate in rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side 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 a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. 1-49