78 SEATS AND RESTRAINTSfor the airbags to inflate and helprestrain the occupants. The vehiclehas electronic sensors that help theairbag system determine the severityof the impact. Deployment thresholdscan vary with specific vehicle design.Frontal airbags are designed to inflatein moderate to severe frontal or nearfrontal crashes to help reduce thepotential for severe injuries, mainly tothe driver's or front outboardpassenger's head and chest.Whether the frontal airbags will orshould inflate is not based primarilyon how fast the vehicle is traveling.It depends on what is hit, thedirection of the impact, and howquickly the vehicle slows down.Frontal airbags may inflate atdifferent crash speeds depending onwhether the vehicle hits an objectstraight on or at an angle, andwhether the object is fixed or moving,rigid or deformable, narrow or wide.Frontal airbags are not intended toinflate during vehicle rollovers, in rearimpacts, or in many side impacts.In addition, the vehicle has advancedtechnology frontal airbags. Advancedtechnology frontal airbags adjust therestraint according to crash severity.Knee airbags are designed to inflate inmoderate to severe frontal or nearfrontal impacts. Knee airbags are notdesigned to inflate during vehiclerollovers, in rear impacts, or in manyside impacts.The vehicle also has a seat positionsensor that enables the sensingsystem to monitor the position of thefront outboard passenger seat. Thepassenger seat position sensor and thepassenger seat belt buckle provideinformation that is used to determineif the passenger knee airbag shouldinflate.Seat-mounted side impact airbags aredesigned to inflate in moderate tosevere side crashes depending on thelocation of the impact. Seat-mountedside impact airbags are not designedto inflate in frontal impacts, nearfrontal impacts, rollovers, or rearimpacts. A seat-mounted side impactairbag is designed to inflate on theside of the vehicle that is struck.Roof-rail airbags are designed toinflate in moderate to severe sidecrashes depending on the location ofthe impact. In addition, these roof-railairbags are designed to inflate duringa rollover or in a severe frontalimpact. Roof-rail airbags are notdesigned to inflate in rear impacts.Both roof-rail airbags will inflate wheneither side of the vehicle is struck,if the sensing system predicts that thevehicle is about to roll over on itsside, or in a severe frontal impact.In any particular crash, no one cansay whether an airbag should haveinflated simply because of the vehicledamage or repair costs.What Makes an AirbagInflate?In a deployment event, the sensingsystem sends an electrical signaltriggering a release of gas from theinflator. Gas from the inflator fills theairbag causing the bag to break out ofthe cover. The inflator, the airbag, andrelated hardware are all part of theairbag module.
