airbag CHEVROLET OPTRA 2005 1.G User Guide

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 designed to work
with safety belts but do not replace them.
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy only in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to inate in
rollover, rear or low-speed frontal 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.
Side impact airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to inate only in
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
moderate to severe crashes where something
hits the side of your vehicle. They are not
designed to inate 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 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. Front occupants should not lean on or
sleep against the door.
1-49

{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 1-25orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-27.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 3-29
for more information.
1-50

Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.The right front passenger’s airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
1-51

If your vehicle has one, the driver’s side impact airbag
is in the side of the driver’s seatback closest to the door.If your vehicle has one, the passenger’s side impact
airbag is in the side of the passenger’s seatback closest
to the door.
1-52

{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the airbag 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. Do not let seat covers block
the ination path of a side impact airbag.
When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal 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.
If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that
does not move or deform, the threshold level is
about 9 to 14 mph (14 to 23 km/h). (The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so
that it can be somewhat above or below this range.)
1-53

Airbags may inflate at different crash speeds.
For example:
•If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbag
could inflate at a different crash speed than if
the object were moving.
•If the object deforms, the airbag could inflate at
a different crash speed than if the object does
not deform.
•If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbag 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
airbag could inflate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger) are
not intended to inflate during vehicle rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because inflation
would not likely help the occupants.Your vehicle may or may not have a side impact airbag.
SeeAirbag System on page 1-48. Side impact airbags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe side
crashes. A side impact airbag will inflate if the crash
severity is above the system’s designed “threshold
level.” The threshold level can vary with specific vehicle
design. Side impact airbags are not designed to
inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers or rear
impacts, because inflation would not likely help the
occupant. A side impact airbag will only deploy on the
side of the vehicle that is struck.
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. For frontal airbags, inflation is determined by
the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side
impact airbags, inflation is determined by the location
and severity of the impact.
1-54

What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For
both frontal and side impact airbags, the sensing system
triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the airbag. The inflator, the airbag and related
hardware are all part of the airbag modules. Frontal
airbag modules are located inside the steering wheel
and instrument panel. For vehicles with side impact
airbags, the airbag modules are located in the
seatback closest to the driver’s and/or right front
passenger’s door.
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 insideof the vehicle. 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 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 frontal
or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear 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 for the driver’s and right front passenger’s
frontal airbags, and only in moderate to severe
side collisions for vehicles with a driver’s and right front
passenger’s side impact airbag.
1-55

What Will You See After an Airbag
Inates?
After the airbag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the airbag
inflated. Some components of the airbag module will be
hot for a short time. These components include the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s frontal airbag and the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s frontal
airbag. For vehicles with side impact airbags, the side of
the seatback closest to the driver’s and/or right front
passenger’s door will be hot. The parts of the bag that
come into contact with you may be warm, but not
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from the vents in the deflated airbags.
Airbag inflation does not prevent the driver from seeing
or being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop
people from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, there is 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.
1-56

In many crashes severe enough to inflate an airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger airbag.
•Airbags are designed to inflate only once. After an
airbag inflates, you will need some new parts for
your 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 the need to
replace other parts.
•Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information after
a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and Event
Data Recorders on page 7-9.
•Let only qualified technicians work on your airbag
system. Improper service can mean that your
airbag system will not work properly. See your
dealer for service.
Notice:If you damage the covering for the driver’s
or the right front passenger’s airbag, or the airbag
covering on the driver’s and right front passenger’s
seatback, the airbag may not work properly. You
may have to replace the airbag module in the
steering wheel, both the airbag module and the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s
airbag, or both the airbag module and seatback for
the driver’s and right front passenger’s side
impact airbag. Do not open or break the airbag
coverings.
1-57

Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system for the
right front passenger position. The passenger airbag
status indicator will be visible when you turn your ignition
key to ON or START. The words ON and OFF or the
symbol for on and off, will be visible on the rearview
mirror during the system check. When the system check
is complete, either the word ON or the word OFF, or
the symbol for on or the symbol for off will be visible.
SeePassenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-30.The passenger sensing system will turn off the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag under certain conditions.
The driver’s airbag and the side airbags (if equipped)
are not part of the passenger sensing system.
The passenger sensing system works with sensors that
are part of the right front passenger’s seat. The
sensors are designed to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine if the
passenger’s frontal airbag should be enabled (may
inflate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
General Motors recommends that child restraints
be secured in a rear seat, including an infant riding in a
rear-facing infant seat, a child riding in a forward-facing
child seat and an older child riding in a booster seat.
Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accommodate
a rear-facing child restraint. A label on your sun visor
says, “Never put a rear-facing child seat in the
front.” This is because the risk to the rear-facing child is
so great, if the airbag deploys. Passenger Airbag Status Indicator – United States
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator – Canada
1-58