1995 Buick Riviera Owner's Manual - Page 32

air bag is not designed to inflate inrollovers, side impacts, or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. It is possible that in a crash only one of the two air bags in your Riviera will deploy. This is rare, but can happen in a crash just severe enough to make an air baginflate. 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 the vehicle's deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indication of this. When should an air bag inflate? The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate only if the impact speed is above the sy-stem's designed "threshold level." If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is about 8 to 11 rnph (13 ta 18 W 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 What makesan air bag inflate? In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is suddenly stopping asa result of a crash. The sensing system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide sealed in theinflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag, and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the right front passenger.