2000 Saab 9-3 Owner's Manual - Page 25

Safety Scrapping or working on airbag and belt pretensioners WARNING • Under no circumstances should any modifications be made that affect the steering wheel or the airbag's electrical circuitry. • Before starting any welding work on the car, always disconnect the negative (-) battery lead and cover the conductor. • Airbags and belt pretensioners must be deployed under controlled conditions before the car is scrapped or any of the system's components are removed. Airbags or belt pretensioners that have been deployed as a result of an accident must be replaced by new ones. • Airbag-system components must never be transferred for use in another vehicle. • All work involving the scrapping or replacement of airbags or belt pretensioners must only be carried out by knowledgeable personnel. 25 Frequently asked questions on function of the airbag Do you still need to wear a safety belt if airbags are fitted? Yes, always! The airbag merely supplements the car's normal safety system. Moreover, the airbag will only be actuated in a moderate to severe frontal, or near-frontal collision, which means, of course, that it provides no protection in minor frontal collisions, major rear-end or side-on collisions or if the car rolls over. The safety belts help reduce the chance of the car occupants from being thrown around and injured inside the car. But they also ensure that, if a collision occurs in which the airbags are inflated, the airbag will make the optimum contact with the occupant, i.e. square on from the front. If the occupant meets the airbag in an offset position, the protection afforded will be reduced. In addition, airbags provide no protection against a secondary impact occurring in the same incident. So there is no doubt about the benefit of wearing safety belts at all times. Do not sit too close to the airbag: it needs room to inflate. The airbag inflates very quickly and powerfully in order to protect an adult person in a serious frontal collision. How do I position the seat to leave room for the airbag to inflate? Don't have your seat too far forward. Recline the seat back to increase the distance between you and the airbag. For short drivers, special accessory pedal extensions are available through your Saab dealer. Airbags inflate extremely rapidly and with great force - to be fast enough to protect an adult in the seat. When does the airbag inflate? The airbag will only be inflated under certain predetermined conditions in a moderate to severe frontal, or near-frontal collision, depending on such factors as the force and angle of the impact, the speed of the car on impact, and the resistance to deformation of the impacting object. The airbag can only be activated once in the same incident. Do not attempt to drive the car after an airbag has been inflated, even if it is possible. What won't trigger the airbag? The airbag will not be activated in all front-end collisions. For instance, if the car has hit something relatively soft and yielding (e.g. a snow drift or a hedge) or a solid object at a low impact speed, the airbag will not necessarily be triggered.