airbag BUICK LACROSSE 2007 User Guide
[x] Cancel search | Manufacturer: BUICK, Model Year: 2007, Model line: LACROSSE, Model: BUICK LACROSSE 2007Pages: 512
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Airbag System
Your vehicle has a frontal airbag for the driver and a
frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your
vehicle may also have roof-mounted side impact
airbags. Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
available for the driver and the passenger seated
directly behind the driver and for the right front
passenger and the passenger seated directly
behind that passenger.
If your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact
airbags, the word AIRBAG will appear on
the airbag covering on the ceiling near the
side windows.
Airbags are designed to supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Even though today’s
airbags are also designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an in ating bag, all
airbags must in ate very quickly to do their job.Here are the most important things to know about
the airbag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a
crash if you are not wearing your safety
belt — even if you have airbags. Wearing
your safety belt during a crash helps
reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it.
Airbags are “supplemental restraints” to
the safety belts. All airbags are designed
to work with safety belts but do not
replace them.
Frontal airbags for the driver and right
front passenger are designed to deploy in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to in ate in
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
rollover, rear crashes, or in many side
crashes. And, for some unrestrained
occupants, frontal airbags may provide
less protection in frontal crashes than
more forceful airbags have provided in
the past.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
designed to in ate in moderate to severe
crashes where something hits the side of
your vehicle. They are not designed to
in ate in frontal, in rollover or in rear
crashes. Everyone in your vehicle should
wear a safety belt properly — whether or
not there is an airbag for that person.
{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact airbags
in ate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
in ating airbag, as you would be if you
were leaning forward, it could seriously
injure you. Safety belts help keep you in
position for airbag in ation before and
during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal airbags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while
still maintaining control of the vehicle.
Occupants should not lean on or sleep
against the door.
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{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it in ates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults,
but not for young children and infants.
Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system nor
its airbag system is designed for them.
Young children and infants need the
protection that a child restraint system can
provide. Always secure children properly
in your vehicle. To read how, seeOlder
Children on page 39orInfants and Young
Children on page 42.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the
airbag symbol.The system checks the airbag electrical system
for malfunctions. The light tells you if there is
an electrical problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light
on page 182for more information.
Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s frontal airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the driver and the person seated directly
behind the driver, it is located in the ceiling
above the side windows.
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Page 70 of 512
If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the right front passenger and the person
directly behind that passenger, it is located in
the ceiling above the side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant
and an airbag, the bag might not in ate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an in ating airbag must
be kept clear. Do not put anything between
an occupant and an airbag, and do not
attach or put anything on the steering
wheel hub or on or near any other airbag
covering. And, if your vehicle has
roof-mounted side impact airbags, never
secure anything to the roof of your vehicle
by routing the rope or tie down through any
door or window opening. If you do, the path
of an in ating side impact airbag will be
blocked. The path of an in ating airbag
must be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag In ate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
airbags are designed to in ate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are
designed to in ate only if the impact exceeds a
predetermined deployment threshold. Deployment
thresholds take into account a variety of desired
deployment and non-deployment events and are
used to predict how severe a crash is likely to be in
time for the airbags to in ate and help restrain the
occupants. Whether your frontal airbags will or
should deploy is not based on how fast your vehicle
is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit, the
direction of the impact and how quickly your vehicle
slows down.In addition, your vehicle has “dual-stage” frontal
airbags, which adjust the restraint according to
crash severity. Your vehicle has electronic frontal
sensors which help the sensing system distinguish
between a moderate frontal impact and a more
severe frontal impact. For moderate frontal impacts,
these airbags in ate at a level less than full
deployment. For more severe frontal impacts, full
deployment occurs. If the front of your vehicle goes
straight into a wall that does not move or deform,
the threshold level for the reduced deployment is
about 12 to 16 mph (19 to 26 km/h), and the
threshold level for a full deployment is about
18 to 22 mph (29 to 35.5 km/h). The threshold level
can vary, however, with speci c vehicle design, so
that it can be somewhat above or below this range.
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Frontal airbags may in ate at different crash
speeds. For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms,
the airbags could in ate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits an object that
does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole)
the airbags could in ate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle hits a wide object
(like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to in ate during vehicle rollovers,
rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle may or may not have roof-mounted
side impact airbags. SeeAirbag System on
page 66. Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
intended to in ate in moderate to severe side
crashes. A roof-mounted side impact airbag will
in ate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed threshold level. The threshold level can
vary with speci c vehicle design. Roof-mounted
side impact airbags are not intended to in ate in
frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers or rear
impacts. A roof-mounted side impact airbag is
intended to deploy on the side of the vehicle
that is struck.
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In any particular crash, no one can say whether
an airbag should have in ated simply because
of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the
repair costs were. For frontal airbags, in ation is
determined by what the vehicle hits, the angle
of the impact, and how quickly the vehicle slows
down. For roof-mounted side impact airbags,
in ation is determined by the location and severity
of the impact.
What Makes an Airbag In ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag
sensing system detects that the vehicle is in a
crash. The sensing system triggers a release of
gas from the in ator, which in ates the airbag. The
in ator, airbag, and related hardware are all part of
the airbag modules inside the steering wheel and in
the instrument panel in front of the right front
passenger. For vehicles with roof-mounted side
impact airbags, there are also airbag modules in
the ceiling of the vehicle, near the side windows.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the
steering wheel or the instrument panel. In moderate
to severe side collisions, even belted occupants
can contact the inside of the vehicle. Airbags
supplement the protection provided by safety belts.
Airbags distribute the force of the impact more
evenly over the occupant’s upper body, stopping
the occupant more gradually. But the frontal airbags
would not help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts, and many side
impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is
not toward the airbag. Side impact airbags would
not help you in many types of collisions, including
many frontal or near frontal collisions, rollovers,
and rear impacts.
Airbags 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 for the driver’s and right front passenger’s
frontal airbags, and only in moderate to severe side
collisions for vehicles with side impact airbags.
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What Will You See After an Airbag
In ates?
After a frontal airbag in ates, it quickly de ates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbag in ated. Roof-mounted side impact airbags
may still be at least partially in ated minutes after
the vehicle comes to rest. Some components of the
airbag module — the steering wheel hub for the
driver’s airbag, the instrument panel for the right
front passenger’s airbag, or the ceiling of your
vehicle near the side windows for vehicles with
roof–mounted side impact airbags — may be hot for
a short time. The parts of the airbag that come into
contact with you may be warm, but not too hot to
touch. There may be some smoke and dust coming
from the vents in the de ated airbags. Airbag
in ation does not prevent the driver from seeing out
of the windshield or being able to steer the vehicle,
nor does it prevent people from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag in ates, there may be
dust in the air. This dust could cause
breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing
trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as soon as it is
safe to do so. If you have breathing
problems but cannot get out of the vehicle
after an airbag in ates, then get fresh air
by opening a window or a door. If you
experience breathing problems following
an airbag deployment, you should seek
medical attention.
Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on, and
turn on the hazard warning ashers when the
airbags in ate. You can lock the doors again, turn
the interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off by using the controls for those features.
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In many crashes severe enough to in ate an airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur
from the right front passenger airbag.
Airbags are designed to in ate only once. After
airbags in ate, you will need some new parts
for the airbag system. If you do not get them,
the airbag system will not be there to help
protect you in another crash. A new system
will include airbag modules and possibly other
parts. The service manual for your vehicle
covers other parts that need to be replaced.
Your vehicle has a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information
after a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and
Event Data Recorders on page 489.
Let only quali ed technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean that
your airbag system will not work properly. See
your dealer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system. The
passenger airbag status indicator on the instrument
panel will be visible when you turn your ignition key
to RUN or START.
The passenger airbag
status indicator will
light ON and OFF for
several seconds as a
system check.
If you use remote start to start your vehicle from a
distance, if your vehicle has this feature, you may
not see the system check. When the system check
is complete, either the word ON or the word OFF
will be visible. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 183.
The passenger sensing system will turn off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag under certain
conditions. The driver’s airbags are not part of
the passenger sensing system.
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