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. Frontal airbags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. Seatmounted side impact and roof-rail airbags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body.
Rollover capable roof-rail airbags are designed to help contain the head and chest of occupants in the outboard seating positions in the first and second rows. The rollover capable roof-rail airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of full or partial ejection in rollover events, although no system can prevent all such ejections.
But airbags would not help in many types of collisions, primarily because the occupant's motion is not toward those airbags. See When Should an Airbag Inflate? on page 3‑24 for more information.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts.
See also:
Diagnostics
OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics will perform a vehicle check every month. It will check the engine, transmission, antilock brakes, and major vehicle systems. It also checks the tire pressures, if the vehic ...
Brake Assist
This vehicle has a brake assist feature designed to assist the driver in stopping
or decreasing vehicle speed in emergency driving conditions. This feature uses the
stability system hydraulic brak ...
Dome Lamps
The dome lamps are located in the overhead console.
They come on when any door is opened and turn off after all the doors are closed.
Turn the instrument panel brightness knob located below the dome ...