2004 Pontiac Vibe Owner's Manual - Page 58

When Should an Air Bag Inflate? 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." In addition, your vehicle has "dual stage" frontal air bags, which adjust the amount of restraint according to crash severity. For moderate frontal impacts, these air bags inflate at a level less than full deployment. For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs. 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. The side impact air bags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact air bag will inflate if the crash severity is above the system's designed "threshold level." The threshold level can vary with specific vehicle design. Side impact air bags are not designed to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. A side impact air bag will only deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck. It is possible that, in a crash involving the front of your vehicle, only one of the two frontal air bags in your vehicle will deploy. This is rare, but it can happen in a crash just severe enough to make a frontal air bag inflate. 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. For frontal air bags, inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact air bags, inflation is determined by the location and severity of the impact. 1-52