airbag CHEVROLET KODIAK 2007 User Guide

A rear seat is a safer place to secure a
forward-facing child restraint. Never put a
rear-facing child restraint in the right front
passenger’s seat unless the airbag is off.
Here is why:
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint
can be seriously injured or killed if the
passenger’s airbag inates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
inating airbag. Do not use a rear-facing
child restraint in this vehicle unless the
passenger’s airbag has been turned off.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Even though the airbag off switch is
designed to turn off the passenger’s
frontal airbag, no system is fail-safe,
and no one can guarantee that an airbag
will not deploy under some unusual
circumstance, even though it is turned off.
We recommend that rear-facing child
restraints be transported in vehicles with
a rear seat that will accommodate a
rear-facing child restraint, whenever
possible.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front static seat or the
right front bench seat, always move the
passenger seat as far back as it will go.
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{CAUTION:
If the airbag readiness light ever comes
on when you have turned off the airbag,
it means that something may be wrong
with the airbag system. The right front
passenger’s airbag could inate even
though the switch is off. If this ever
happens, do not let anyone whom the
national government has identied as a
member of a passenger airbag risk group
sit in the right front passenger’s position
(for example, do not secure a rear-facing
child restraint in the right front
passenger’s seat) until you have your
vehicle serviced. SeeAirbag Off Switch
on page 76andAirbag Readiness Light
on page 165for more on this, including
important safety information.You will be using the lap-shoulder belt. Be sure
to follow the instructions that came with the
child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint
when and as the instructions say.
1. If your vehicle has a right front passenger’s
airbag seeAirbag Off Switch on page 76.
If your vehicle has a right front passenger’s
airbag and your child restraint is
forward-facing, always move the seat as
far back as it will go before securing it in
this seat. SeeBucket Seats on page 9.
Never use a rear-facing child restraint in
this seat unless the airbag is off.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and
shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt
through or around the restraint. The child
restraint instructions will show you how.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child
restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to
tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the
shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are
using a forward-facing child restraint, you may
find it helpful to use your knee to push down on
the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
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.If you were using a child restraint in a vehicle
equipped with a right front passenger’s airbag, turn
on the right front passenger’s airbag when you
remove the child restraint from the vehicle unless
the person who will be sitting there is a member
of a passenger airbag risk group. SeeAirbag
Off Switch on page 76.
{CAUTION:
If the right front passenger’s airbag is
turned off for a person who is not in
a risk group identied by the national
government, that person will not have the
extra protection of an airbag. In a crash,
the airbag will not be able to inate and
help protect the person sitting there. Do
not turn off the passenger’s airbag unless
the person sitting there is in a risk group.
SeeAirbag Off Switch on page 76for
more on this, including important safety
information.
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Airbag System
If it says AIR BAG on the middle part of the
steering wheel and AIR BAG on the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger’s
seat, your vehicle has an airbag for the driver
and an airbag for the right front passenger.
If it says AIR BAG on the middle part of the
steering wheel, but it does not say AIR BAG on
the instrument panel in front of the right front
passenger’s seat, your vehicle has an airbag for
the driver only.
If it says AIR BAG on the middle part of the
steering wheel, but there is no right front
passenger seat, your vehicle has an airbag for
the driver only.
If it does not say AIR BAG on the middle part of
the steering wheel, your vehicle does not have
airbags.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce
the risk of injury from the force of an inflating
airbag. But these airbags must inflate very quickly
to do their job and comply with federal regulations.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. Airbags are
designed to deploy in moderate to severe
frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to inate in rollover,
rear crashes, or in many side crashes.
And, for some unrestrained occupants,
airbags may provide less protection
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
in frontal crashes than more forceful
airbags have provided in the past.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a
safety belt properly — whether or not
there is an airbag for that person.
{CAUTION:
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 before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt,
even with airbags. The driver should
sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle.If your vehicle has an airbag for the right front
passenger, please read this:
{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 42andInfants and Young
Children on page 45.
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There is an airbag
readiness light on
the instrument panel,
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 165for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the steering
wheel.
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
{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.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
Airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are
designed to inflate 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 inflate 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. The threshold level can vary, however,
with specific vehicle design, so that it can
be somewhat above or below this range.Frontal airbags may inflate at different crash
speeds. For example:•If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could inflate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
•If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inflate 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 inflate 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 inflate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into
the object.
Frontal airbags are not intended to inflate during
vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many
side impacts.
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In any particular crash, no one can say whether
an airbag should have inflated simply because
of the damage to a vehicle or because of what
the repair costs were. Inflation is determined
by what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact,
and how quickly the vehicle slows down.
What Makes an Airbag Inate?
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 inflator, which inflates the
airbag. The inflator, 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.
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.
The airbag supplements 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 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 those airbags.
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.
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What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?
After an airbag inflates, it quickly deflates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbag inflated. Some components of the airbag
module — the steering wheel hub for the driver’s
airbag or the instrument panel for the right
front passenger’s bag — 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 deflated airbags. Airbag inflation
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 inates, 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 inates, 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.
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