NISSAN FRONTIER 2013 D40 / 2.G Consumer Safety Air Bag Information Guide

Table of Contents
Air Bag Protection ________________________________________________1
Child Safety
_____________________________________________________10
Seat Belt Safety
_________________________________________________13
NISSAN’s Customer Care Program
________________________________15
NISSAN’s Commitment to Customer Satisfaction __________________17


2013
NISSAN CONSUMER
SAFETY & AIR BAG
INFORMATION GUIDE
The 2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide provides
information for 2013 NISSAN vehicles available at time of publication.
This publication will be amended as new vehicles are introduced.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 1
AIR BAG PROTECTION



WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AIR BAGS
Air bags are a supplemental restraint system designed to enhance the protection provided
by the seat belt system during certain types of collisions. Supplemental driver and front
passenger air bags are standard on every NISSAN vehicle. Supplemental side-impact,
curtain side-impact, and curtain side-impact/rollover air bags are available on many 2013
NISSAN vehicles. See your vehicle owner’s manual for information about these air bag
systems, if so equipped.

Please remember, always wear your seat belt, and that a rear-facing child restraint must
never be used in the front passenger seat if the vehicle is equipped with a front passenger
air bag. See page 10 of this guide for important information about child restraint use.

FASTER THAN THE EYE CAN BLINK
In a collision, a lot can happen in just one second. Generally, at 0.01 seconds an air bag
begins to inflate. At 0.04 seconds, it is fully inflated. By 0.1 seconds, it has done its job
and is deflating. Considering the speed of these events, it is not surprising that many
people involved in a frontal
collision do not realize that their air bags did inflate.
0.01 SECONDS INFLATING BEGINS 0.04 SECONDS AIR BAG IS INFLATED 0.1 SECONDS DEFLATING BEGINS

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 2
THE NISSAN ADVANCED AIR BAG SYSTEM
All 2013 NISSAN vehicles (except for the 2013 NV *) are equipped with the NISSAN
Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) for the driver and front passenger seats. Typically, this
system, which has dual-stage inflators,** monitors information from various crash sensors,
the front seat belt buckle sensors, and the occupant classification sensor.

The front passenger air bag may be automatically turned off under some conditions,
depending on the pressure or weight detected by sensors in the passenger seat. See the
vehicle owner’s manual for more information. If the front passenger air bag is off, the front
passenger air bag status light will be illuminated.***

The front passenger air bag status light does not indicate a malfunction of the front
passenger air bag. If the front passenger air bag status light is illuminated while the seat is
occupied by an adult, the occupant may need to shift his or her seating position so the
system can turn on the front passenger air bag and turn off the status light.

Remember, all air bags are supplemental restraint systems. You must always use seat belts
and child restraints properly, as explained in the vehicle owner’s manual and your child
restraint manufacturer’s instructions.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF AN AIR BAG: YOUR SEAT BELT
Your chances of surviving a collision will improve greatly if one simple piece of advice is
followed: always wear your seat belt. Do not count on just the air bags for occupant
protection; they are merely a supplemental restraint system.

Seat belts help to protect the occupants of your vehicle during collisions in which the air
bags are not designed to activate. Moreover, in situations where the air bags are activated,
seat belts enhance their effectiveness and can help reduce the risk of injury from an
inflating air bag. Seat belts will also help protect the occupants of your vehicle during
multiple-impact collisions, while the air bags work only one time if a collision is severe
enough to activate them. Please see the SEAT BELT SAFETY and CHILD SAFETY
sections of this guide and the vehicle owner’s manual for more information.

* The NV Full Size vehicle lineup is equipped with dual-stage front air bags and seat belt buckle
sensors, but they do not have an occupant classification sensor (and the associated front
passenger air bag status light).

**Dual-stage inflators vary the inflation rate based on the severity of the collision (for example, less
forceful inflation for moderate impacts and a high force of inflation for more severe impacts). In
addition, based on information from the seat belt buckle sensors that detect whether the seat belts
are fastened, the deployment of the front air bags is adjusted. Only one front air bag may inflate in a
crash, depending on the crash severity, and whether the front occupants are belted or unbelted.

***When the system detects that the seat is unoccupied, the passenger air bag status light will not
illuminate even though the front passenger air bag is OFF.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 3
EFFECTIVE USE OF SEAT BELTS AND AIR BAGS



Seat belts and supplemental air bags are most effective when vehicle occupants are sitting
upright and well back in the seat with both feet on the floor. Keep in mind that air bags
inflate with great force. Being unrestrained, leaning forward, sitting sideways, or being out
of position in any way puts you at a greater risk of injury or death in a crash. You may also
receive serious or fatal injuries from the air bag system if you are up against it when it
inflates. Always sit back against the seatback with both feet on the floor and as far away as
practical from the steering wheel or dashboard and always wear your seat belt. Please see
the SEAT BELT SAFETY section of this guide and the vehicle owner’s manual for more
information.

HOW AND WHEN FRONT AIR BAGS WORK
While the inner workings of a supplemental front air bag system are complicated,
understanding what makes the front air bags deploy is rather easy: the vehicle’s front air
bag sensor system is designed to detect rapid deceleration usually associated with
moderate to severe frontal collisions within a limited range of angles. The vehicle’s
deceleration rate is related to various factors, such as speed of the vehicles involved, the
weight and stiffness of the vehicles/objects involved, contact locations, and the angle of
impact, to name a few. Once the sensor system is activated, the front air bags inflate with a
harmless gas almost instantly.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 4
The front air bags will not usually activate in side-impact collisions, rear-end collisions,
rollovers, while driving on rough roads, or during hard braking. However, deceleration rates
in some situations can be similar to those found in frontal impacts and may result in front
air bag activation.

WHEN THE FRONT AIR BAGS INFLATE
Please remember, for the supplemental front air bags to be most effective, you must always
buckle up and sit at a suitable distance back to allow room for the air bags to inflate. For
the front air bags to do their job, they must inflate with great force. As mentioned earlier in
this guide, this may cause serious or even fatal injury if, for example, you are unrestrained
out of position in any way, sitting or leaning too close to the steering wheel or dashboard
during inflation. Even when seated properly, there is a possibility of injury from an inflating
front air bag. This usually consists of minor skin abrasions or burns, but may be more
serious. Overall, these injuries are minimal compared to the injuries the front air bags are
designed to prevent. After the front air bags have inflated, you may notice a light smoke
within the cabin. This is a normal by-product of the rapid chemical reaction necessary to
inflate the front air bags and, although harmless, it may cause minor irritations.

REPLACING THE AIR BAGS
Air bags are not reusable. After a collision in which your air bags have activated, have the
respective air bag system inspected and replaced by your NISSAN dealer as soon as
possible.

OTHER SPECIFICS ABOUT AIR BAGS
ƒ If the air bag warning light continues to remain on or flashes after you start the vehicle,
see your NISSAN dealer as soon as possible.
ƒ After inflation, air bag components are hot, so avoid contact.
ƒ Do not place objects on or near the steering wheel or dashboard where the air bags
inflate.
ƒ Child restraints for infants must be used in a rear-facing direction and therefore
must not be used in the front seat. Never install a rear-facing child restraint in the
front passenger seat of a vehicle equipped with a front passenger air bag.
ƒ See the vehicle owner’s manual for other important information.
WELL BACK AND UPRIGHT

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 5
AN AIR BAG WORKS ONLY ONCE
2
12
1



In a multiple-impact collision, air bags help to protect only during the first
impact severe enough to activate the system.

If, as in the illustration above, for example, the collision labeled #1 is severe
enough to activate the front air bags, the front air bags would not be reactivated
in collision #2.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 6
FRONTAL COLLISIONS WITH OTHER VEHICLES




If the front end of your car should
go under a vehicle, the impact
probably will not activate the front
air bags.



A severe frontal collision involving
another vehicle, stationary or
moving, probably will activate the
front air bags.





The front air bags may or may not
be activated in a frontal collision
that occurs at an angle.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 7
OTHER FRONTAL COLLISIONS






If your vehicle should strike an
object in the road, such as a rock,
debris or hole, the front air bags
probably will not activate.


Hitting a pole is a situation in
which the front air bags may or
may not activate, depending on
the severity of the impact.




A severe collision with an
immovable object probably
will activate the front air bags.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 8
SIDE-IMPACT, CURTAIN SIDE-IMPACT, AND CURTAIN SIDE-
IMPACT/ROLLOVER AIR BAG SYSTEMS
Supplemental side-impact air bags, curtain side-impact air bags, and curtain side-
impact/rollover air bags are available on many 2013 NISSAN vehicles. Side-impact air
bags (if so equipped) are located on the side of the seatbacks of the front seats. Curtain
side-impact air bags (if so equipped) and curtain side-impact/rollover air bags (if so
equipped) are located in the left and right side roof rails or in the upper part of the front
door panels.

Side-impact air bags and curtain side-impact air bags are designed to inflate in higher-
severity side collisions, on the side where the vehicle is impacted. However, they may
inflate if the forces in another type of collision are similar to those of a higher-severity side-
impact. Curtain side-impact/rollover air bags are designed to inflate in certain types of
side-impact collisions and rollovers.

Curtain side-impact air bags and curtain side-impact/rollover air bags are different mainly
in their sensing systems: curtain side-impact air bags are activated primarily in a lateral
collision, whereas curtain side-impact/rollover air bags are activated in either a lateral
collision or a rollover. Since a rollover event lasts longer than a side-impact event, curtain
side-impact/rollover air bags are designed to remain inflated longer than curtain side-
impact air bags.

Side-impact air bags and curtain side-impact air bags, along with the use of seat belts,
help to cushion the impact force to the head and chest of the front occupants. In most
NISSAN vehicles, curtain side-impact air bags also help to cushion the impact force to the
head of rear outboard-seated occupants. These air bags can help save lives and reduce
serious injury. However, an inflating side-impact air bag, curtain side-impact air bag, or
curtain side-impact/rollover air bag may cause abrasions or other injuries.

Seat belts should be worn correctly and vehicle occupants seated upright. Side impact air
bags, curtain side-impact air bags, and curtain side-impact/rollover air bags inflate quickly
in order to help protect the occupants. The force of an air bag inflating can increase the
risk of injury if the occupant is too close to, or is against these air bag modules during
inflation.

Like front air bags, an inflated side-impact air bag as well as an inflated curtain side-impact
air bag will deflate soon after the collision is over. As noted above, an inflated curtain side-
impact/rollover air bag will remain inflated for a short time afterward. See REPLACING
THE AIR BAGS earlier in this guide.

2013 NISSAN Consumer Safety & Air Bag Information Guide 9
SIDE AND OTHER COLLISIONS





*Curtain side-impact/rollover air bags (if so equipped) probably will also inflate, depending on the
collision.
On vehicles equipped with curtain side-
impact/rollover air bags, the curtain air
bags on both sides of the vehicle are
designed to activate in certain types of
rollovers. This function is in addition to
the side-impact protection function
described above. The front air bags are
not likely to activate in this situation.


The air bags probably will not activate
if your vehicle is struck from the rear.

On vehicles equipped with side-impact
and curtain side-impact air bags, the air
bags on the side the vehicle was
impacted probably will activate
depending on the collision.* The front
air bags are not likely to activate in this
situation.