Air CHEVROLET OPTRA 5 2007 1.G User Guide

{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.
{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 38orInfants and Young Children on
page 41.
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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 164for 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.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.
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{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.
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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 (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inflate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.Your vehicle may or may not have side impact
airbags. SeeAirbag System on page 66.
Side impact airbags are intended 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 intended
to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers, or rear impacts. A side impact airbag is
intended to 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 what the vehicle hits, 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.
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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. 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 seating positions with side impact airbags,
there are also airbag modules in the side of
the seatbacks closest to the 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 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 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
frontal airbag, the instrument panel for the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag, and for
seating positions with side impact airbags, the side
of the seatback closest to the door — 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.
Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on,
and turn on the hazard warning flashers when the
airbags inflate. You can lock the doors, turn the
interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
flashers off by using the controls for those
features.
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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 they inflate, 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 the need to replace
other parts.
•Your vehicle has a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information
after a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and
Event Data Recorders on page 400.
•Let only qualified technicians work on your
airbag system. Improper service can mean
that an airbag system will not work properly.
See your dealer for service.
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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 airbag off symbol
will be visible near the
clock, located in the
center of the instrument
panel, during the
system check.
When the system check is complete, the airbag off
symbol will be visible under certain conditions.
SeePassenger Airbag Status Indicator on
page 165. The passenger sensing system will turn
off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped)
under certain conditions. The driver’s airbags are
not part of the passenger sensing system.The passenger sensing system works with a
sensor that is part of the right front passenger’s
seat cushion. The sensor is designed to detect the
presence of a properly-seated occupant and
determine if the passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped)
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. We recommend 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 the 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.
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{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can
be seriously injured or killed if the right
front passenger’s airbag inates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
inating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag and side
impact airbag (if equipped) if the system
detects a rear-facing child restraint, no
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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 secured
in the rear seat, even if the airbag or
airbags are off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat,
always move the front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. It is better to secure
the child restraint in a rear seat.
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