Chevrolet Sonic Owner's 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?.
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:
Passenger Sensing System
United States
Canada
The passenger sensing system turns off the front outboard passenger frontal airbag
and knee airbag (if equipped) under certain conditions. No other airbag is affected
by the passenger sensing system. See Passenger Sensing System for important
information.
The ...
Odor Correction
Eliminating Air Conditioning Odor
Odors may be emitted from the air conditioning system primarily at start
up in hot, humid climates. The following conditions may cause the odor:
Debris is present in the HVAC module.
Microbial growth on the evaporator core
When the blower ...
Battery Charging
Special Tools
EL 50313 Battery Tester
For equivalent regional tools, refer to Special Tools.
Diagnostic Aids
For best results, use an automatic taper-rate battery charger with a
voltage capability of 16 V.
The charging area should be well ventilated.
Do not charge a bat ...
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