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.
Seat–mounted 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? for more information.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts.
See also:
If No Steam Is Coming from the Engine Compartment
The ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE or the ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE message,
along with a low coolant condition, can indicate a serious problem.
If there is an engine overheat warning, but see o ...
Delayed Locking
With this feature, you can delay the
actual locking of the doors.
When the power door lock switch is
pressed when the key is not in the
ignition and the driver door is
opened, a chime will so ...
How the System Works
The SBZA symbol lights up in the side mirrors when the system detects a vehicle
in the side blind zone, indicating it may be unsafe to change lanes. Before making
a lane change, check the SBZA dis ...