TOYOTA PRIUS 2002 1.G Repair Manual
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22p013
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) front airbags are designed to pro-
vide further protection for the driver
and front passenger in addition to the
primary safety protection provided by
the seat belts.
In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS front airbags work together with
the seat belts to help reduce injury by
inflating. The SRS front airbags help to
reduce injuries mainly to the driver ’s or
front passenger ’s head or chest directly
hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
The front passenger airbag is activated
even with no passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt properly.Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seat belt restraint
system by the driver and passenger when
the SRS airbags are inflated.
CAUTION
A driver or front passenger who is
too close to the steering wheel or
dashboard during airbag deployment
can be killed or seriously injured. To-
yota strongly recommends that:
The driver sit as far back as pos-
sible from the steering wheel while
still maintaining control of the ve-
hicle.
The front passenger sit as far back
as possible from the dashboard.
All vehicle occupants be properly
restrained using the available seat
belts.
22p010
This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the “ACC” or
“ON” position. It goes off after about
6 seconds. This means the SRS front
airbags are operating properly.
The warning light system monitors the air-
bag sensor assembly, front airbag sen-
sors, side airbag sensors, front seat belt
pretensioner assemblies, warning light, in-
terconnecting wiring and power sources.
(For details, see “Service reminder indica-
tors and warning buzzers” on page 91 in
Section 2
−4.)
SRS driver and front
passenger airbags
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22p014
The SRS front airbag system is de-
signed to activate in response to a se-
vere frontal impact within the shaded
area between the arrows in the illustra-
tion.
The SRS front airbags will deploy if the
severity of the impact is above the de-
signed threshold level, comparable to an
approximate 25 km/h (15 mph) collision
when impacting straight into a fixed barrier
that does not move or deform.If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS front air-
bags may not deploy.
However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or
sign pole, which can move or deform on
impact, or if it is involved in an underride
collision (e.g. a collision in which the nose
of the vehicle “underrides”, or goes under,
the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible that in some collisions at the
lower zone of airbag sensor detection and
activation, the SRS airbags and seat belt
pretensioners will not operate all together.
For the safety of all occupants, always
wear your seat belts properly.
22p015b
Collision from
the side
Vehicle rollover
Collision from
the rear
The SRS front airbags are not designed
to inflate if the vehicle is involved in a
side or rear collision, if it rolls over, or
if it is involved in a low speed frontal
collision.
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22p016b
Hitting a curb, edge
of pavement or
hard materialFalling into or jump-
ing over a deep hole
Landing hard or vehicle falling
The SRS front airbags may deploy if a
serious impact occurs to the underside
of your vehicle. Some examples are
shown in the illustration.
22p017a
The SRS airbag system consists mainly of
the following components and their loca-
tions are shown in the illustration. 1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Airbag module for front passenger (air- bag and inflator)
4. Airbag sensor assembly
5. Airbag module for driver (airbag and inflator)
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor. In a severe frontal impact, the sensors
detect deceleration and the system trig-
gers the airbag inflators. At this time a
chemical reaction in the inflators quickly
fills the airbags with non
−toxic gas to help
restrain the forward motion of the occu-
pants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a
fairly loud noise and release some smoke
and residue along with non −toxic gas. This
does not indicate a fire. This gas is nor-
mally harmless; however, for those who
have delicate skin, it may cause a minor
skin irritation. Be sure to wash off any
residue as soon as possible to prevent
any potential skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happens in a
fraction of a second, so the airbags must
inflate with considerable force. While the
system is desi gned to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swelling.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel
hub, dashboard) may be hot for several
minutes, but the airbags themselves will
not be hot. The airbags are designed to
inflate only once.
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A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the
vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a pas-
senger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged by absorbing some of the force
of the inflating airbag.CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the driver side and
front passenger side seat belt sys-
tems. The front seat occupants can
be killed or seriously injured by the
inflating airbags if they do not wear
the available seat belts properly.
During sudden braking just before
a collision, an unrestrained driver
or front passenger can move for-
ward into direct contact with or
close proximity to the airbag which
may then deploy during the colli-
sion. To ensure maximum protection
in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts properly. Wear-
ing a seat belt during an accident
reduces the chances of death or
serious injury or being thrown out
of the vehicle. For instructions and
precautions concerning the seat
belt system, see “Seat belts—” on
page 40 in this section.
Improperly seated and/or restrained
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing front airbags. An infant or child
who is too small to use a seat belt
should be properly secured using a
child restraint system. Toyota
strongly recommends that all in-
fants and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and proper-
ly restrained. The rear seat is the
safest for infants and children. For
instructions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
“Child restraint—” on page 61 in
this section.