1997 Oldsmobile Bravada Owner's Manual - Page 29

1997 Oldsmobile Bravada Manual

Get 1997 Oldsmobile Bravada PDF manuals and user guides View all 1997 Oldsmobile Bravada manuals

Page 29 highlights

When should an airbag inflate? An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crash. The air bag will inflate only if the impact speed is above the system's designed "threshold level.'' If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is about 14 to 18 mph (23 to 29 k t d 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 air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant. What makes an airbag inflate? In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. Thesensing system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware are all part of the air bag module inside the steering wheel. How does an air bag restrain? 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. The air bag system is designed to work properly under a wide range of conditions, including off-road usage. Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See "Off-Road Driving" in the Index for more tips on off-road driving. In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contactthe steering wheel. 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. But air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts 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 belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162
  • 163
  • 164
  • 165
  • 166
  • 167
  • 168
  • 169
  • 170
  • 171
  • 172
  • 173
  • 174
  • 175
  • 176
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 180
  • 181
  • 182
  • 183
  • 184
  • 185
  • 186
  • 187
  • 188
  • 189
  • 190
  • 191
  • 192
  • 193
  • 194
  • 195
  • 196
  • 197
  • 198
  • 199
  • 200
  • 201
  • 202
  • 203
  • 204
  • 205
  • 206
  • 207
  • 208
  • 209
  • 210
  • 211
  • 212
  • 213
  • 214
  • 215
  • 216
  • 217
  • 218
  • 219
  • 220
  • 221
  • 222
  • 223
  • 224
  • 225
  • 226
  • 227
  • 228
  • 229
  • 230
  • 231
  • 232
  • 233
  • 234
  • 235
  • 236
  • 237
  • 238
  • 239
  • 240
  • 241
  • 242
  • 243
  • 244
  • 245
  • 246
  • 247
  • 248
  • 249
  • 250
  • 251
  • 252
  • 253
  • 254
  • 255
  • 256
  • 257
  • 258
  • 259
  • 260
  • 261
  • 262
  • 263
  • 264
  • 265
  • 266
  • 267
  • 268
  • 269
  • 270
  • 271
  • 272
  • 273
  • 274
  • 275
  • 276
  • 277
  • 278
  • 279
  • 280
  • 281
  • 282
  • 283
  • 284
  • 285
  • 286
  • 287
  • 288
  • 289
  • 290
  • 291
  • 292
  • 293
  • 294
  • 295
  • 296
  • 297
  • 298
  • 299
  • 300
  • 301
  • 302
  • 303
  • 304
  • 305
  • 306
  • 307
  • 308
  • 309
  • 310
  • 311
  • 312
  • 313
  • 314
  • 315
  • 316
  • 317
  • 318
  • 319
  • 320
  • 321
  • 322
  • 323
  • 324
  • 325
  • 326
  • 327
  • 328
  • 329
  • 330
  • 331
  • 332
  • 333
  • 334
  • 335
  • 336
  • 337
  • 338
  • 339
  • 340
  • 341
  • 342
  • 343
  • 344
  • 345
  • 346
  • 347
  • 348
  • 349
  • 350
  • 351
  • 352
  • 353
  • 354
  • 355
  • 356
  • 357
  • 358
When should an
air bag inflate?
An
air bag
is designed to inflate
in
a moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crash.
The air bag will inflate
only
if
the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.’’
If
your vehicle goes straight into
a
wall that doesn’t move or
deform, the threshold level is
about
14
to
18
mph
(23
to
29
ktdh).
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
air bag is
not designed to inflate
in
rollovers,
side
impacts or rear 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.
The air bag system is designed to work properly under a
wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe
safe
driving
speeds,
especially on rough terrain.
As
always, wear your safety belt. See “Off-Road
Driving“
in
the Index for more tips on off-road driving.
What makes an
air bag
inflate?
In
an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is
in
a
crash.
The sensing
system triggers
a
release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware
are
all part of
the air bag module inside the
steering wheel.
How
does an air bag
restrain?
In
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants
can
contact
the steering wheel.
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.
But
air bags would not
help you
in
many types of collisions, including
rollovers,
rear impacts 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 belts, and then only
in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.