airbag BUICK RAINIER 2007 User Guide

7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If the airbag is off, the off indicator will come
on and stay on when the key is turned to
RUN or START.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove
the child restraint from the vehicle and reinstall
the child restraint.
If, after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to
make sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not
pressing the child restraint into the seat cushion.If this happens, slightly recline the vehicle’s
seatback and adjust the seat cushion if possible.
Also make sure the child restraint is not trapped
under the vehicle head restraint. If this happens,
adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the
child restraint in a rear seat position in the
vehicle and check with your dealer.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the
vehicle’s safety belt and let it go back all the way.
The safety belt will move freely again and be
ready to work for an adult or larger child
passenger.
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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 designed for either side impact or
rollover deployment. 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 sidewall trim near the
driver’s and right front passenger’s window.
Even if you have no right front passenger seat in
your vehicle there is still an active frontal airbag
in the right side of the instrument panel. Do
not place cargo in front of this airbag.{CAUTION:
Be sure that cargo is not near an airbag.
In a crash, an inating airbag might force
that object toward a person. This could
cause severe injury or even death.
Secure objects away from the area in
which an airbag would inate. For more
information, seeWhere Are the Airbags?
on page 71andLoading Your Vehicle
on page 330.
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 inating bag, all
airbags must inate very quickly to do their job.
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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
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
to inate in 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 inate in moderate to severe
crashes where something hits the side of
your vehicle. They are not designed to
inate in frontal or in rear crashes. If the
vehicle is equipped with rollover capable
airbags, it has been designed to deploy
the roof-mounted side impact airbags in
the event of a vehicle rollover. Everyone
in your vehicle should wear a safety belt
properly — whether or not there is an
airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Both frontal and roof-mounted side impact
airbags inate with great force, faster than
the blink of an eye. If you are too close to
an inating airbag, as you would be if you
were leaning forward, it could seriously
injure you. Safety belts help keep you in
position for airbag ination 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.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close
to, any airbag when it inates 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 40orInfants and Young Children
on page 43.
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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 181for 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 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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If your vehicle has a roof-mounted 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 inate
properly or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury or even
death. The path of an inating 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 inating side
impact airbag will be blocked. The path
of an inating airbag must be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
airbags are designed to inate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are
designed to inate 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 inate 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 helps the sensing system
distinguish between a moderate frontal impact
and a more severe frontal impact. For moderate
frontal impacts, these airbags inate 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
9 to 16 mph (14 to 26 km/h), and the threshold
level for a full deployment is about 18 to 25 mph
(29 to 40 km/h). The threshold level can vary,
however, with specic vehicle design, so that it can
be somewhat above or below this range.
Frontal airbags may inate at different crash
speeds. For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate 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 inate 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 inate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into
the object.
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Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle has seat position sensors which
enables the sensing system to monitor the position
of the driver’s seat and the right front passenger’s
seat. Seat position sensors provide information
that is used to determine if the airbags should
deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment.
Your vehicle may or may not have roof-mounted
airbags and a rollover sensor. SeeAirbag
System on page 68. These “rollover capable”
airbags are intended to inate in moderate
to severe side crashes or during a rollover.
A roof-mounted airbag will inate if the crash
severity is above the system’s designed “threshold
level.” The threshold level can vary with specic
vehicle design. Roof-mounted airbags are not
intended to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
or rear impacts. Both roof-mounted airbags will
deploy when either side of the vehicle is struck
or during a rollover.In any particular crash, no one can say whether
an airbag should have inated simply because
of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the
repair costs were. For frontal airbags, ination is
determined by what the vehicle hits, the angle
of the impact, and how quickly the vehicle slows
down. For roof-mounted airbags, ination is
determined by the location and severity of
the impact.
The airbag 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.
SeeOff-Road Driving on page 299for tips on
off-road driving.
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What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag
sensing system detects that the vehicle is
in a crash. Additionally, in the case of a “rollover
capable” roof-mounted side impact airbag, the
sensing system detects that the vehicle is about to
roll over. The sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the inator, which inates the
airbag. The inator, 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 rollover airbags, the airbag modules,
the inator, and the airbags are located 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.
Roof-mounted rollover airbags would not help
you in many types of collisions, including many
frontal or near frontal collisions, 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 or rollovers for vehicles
with roof-mounted rollover airbags.
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