Chevrolet Spark Owners Manual: 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 by distributing the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's 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 3-22.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts.
What Makes an Airbag Inflate?
In a deployment event, the sensing system sends an electrical signal triggering
a release of gas from the inflator. Gas from the inflator fills the airbag causing
the bag to break out of the cover ...
What Will You See after an Airbag Inflates?
After the frontal airbags and seat-mounted side impact airbags inflate, they
quickly deflate, so quickly that some people may not even realize an airbag inflated.
Roof-rail airbags may still be at ...
Other materials:
Windows
Warning
Never leave a child, a helpless adult, or a pet alone in a vehicle,
especially with the windows closed in warm or hot weather.
They can be overcome by the extreme heat and suffer permanent injuries or even
death from heat stroke.
The vehicle aerodynamics are designed to improve fu ...
Driving on Wet Roads
Rain and wet roads can reduce vehicle traction and affect your ability to stop
and accelerate.
Always drive slower in these types of driving conditions and avoid driving through
large puddles and deep-standing or flowing water.
Warning
Wet brakes can cause crashes.
They might not work as wel ...
When It Is Time for New Tires
Factors such as maintenance, temperatures, driving speeds, vehicle loading, and
road conditions affect the wear rate of the tires.
Treadwear indicators are one way to tell when it is time for new tires.
Treadwear indicators appear when the tires have only 1.6mm (1/16 in) or less
of tread r ...
