Description and function of the airbags
The airbags can protect vehicle occupants during frontal and side collisions by reducing their
movement in the direction of the collision.
When an airbag is triggered, it is inflated by a gas generator. This causes the airbag covers to
break, and the airbags inflate forcefully to cover their deployment zones within milliseconds.
Once a vehicle occupant wearing a seat belt starts to sink into the inflated airbag, the gas inside
the airbag starts to escape to cushion the occupant and slow down their movement. This can
reduce the risk of severe and fatal injuries. A triggered airbag will not always prevent other
injuries from occurring, such as swelling, bruising, burning and grazing. The deployment of the
airbag can also produce frictional heat.
Airbags provide no protection for the arms or lower body. Exception: in vehicles with a knee
airbag, the knee area of the driver will be protected.
The most important factors for triggering the airbag are the type of accident, the angle of
impact, the vehicle speed and the type of object with which the vehicle collides. Therefore,
visible damage to the vehicle does not always mean that the airbag should have been triggered.
Whether or not the airbag triggers is determined by the vehicle deceleration rate caused by the
collision and registered by the electronic control unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags will not be triggered, even though the vehicle may
be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the lack of
vehicle damage in an accident do not necessarily give an indication of whether an airbag should
inflate or not. It is not possible to define a range of vehicle speeds and reference values, since the
circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another. It is therefore
impossible to cover every possible kind and angle of impact that would trigger the airbags.
Important factors in the triggering of the airbag include the nature (hard or soft) of the object
that the vehicle hits, the angle of impact, and the vehicle speed.
Airbags only serve as a supplement to the three-point seat belt in some accident situations when
the vehicle deceleration is sufficient to trigger the airbags. Airbags can only be triggered once
and only in certain situations. The seat belts are always there to provide protection in situations
in which the airbags are not triggered or have already been triggered. For example, if the vehicle
collides with a further vehicle following the initial collision, or is hit by another vehicle.
The airbag system is part of the vehicle's overall passive safety concept. The airbag system can
only work effectively when the occupants are wearing their seat belts correctly and have
assumed a proper sitting position
(→ Sitting position, Description).
Components of the vehicle safety concept
The following vehicle safety equipment makes up the vehicle's safety concept to reduce the risk
of severe and fatal injuries. Some of this equipment may not be fitted in your particular vehicle. It
may not be available at all in some countries.
—Optimised seat belts for all seats.
—Belt tensioners for driver and front passenger.
—Belt tension limiter for the driver, front passenger and, if applicable, for the rear outer seats.
—Belt height adjuster for the front seats.
—Warning lamp and, where applicable, belt status display.
—Front airbags for driver and front passenger.
—Side airbags for the driver, front passenger and, if applicable, for the rear outer seats.
—Curtain airbags on the left and right.
—If applicable, knee airbag for the driver.
—Airbag indicator lamp
.
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