If your rearview mirror has one of the indicators pictured in the following illustrations, your vehicle has a passenger sensing system. The indicator will be visible when you turn your ignition key to RUN or START. The words ON and OFF or the symbol for on and off, will be visible on the rearview mirror during the system check. When the system check is complete, either the word ON or the word OFF, or the symbol for on or the symbol for off will be visible. See Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . If your rearview mirror does not have either of the indicators pictured below, then your vehicle does not have the passenger sensing system.
Passenger Air Bag Status Indicator - United States
Passenger Air Bag Status Indicator - Canada
The passenger sensing system will turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag under certain conditions. The driver's air bag is not part of the passenger sensing system. In addition to the passenger sensing system, your vehicle has an air bag off switch located on the instrument panel.
The passenger sensing system works with sensors that are part of the right front passenger's seat and safety belt. The sensors are designed to detect the presence of a properly seated occupant and determine if the passenger's frontal air bag should be enabled (may inflate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. General Motors recommends that child restraints be secured in a rear seat, including an infant riding in a rear-facing infant seat, a child riding in a forward-facing child seat and an older child riding in a booster seat. Never put a child in a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger seat unless the passenger air bag status indicator shows off. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger seat unless the air bag is off.
Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger's airbag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating airbag. Be sure the airbag is off before using a rear-facing child restraint in the right front seat position.
Even though the passenger sensing system is designed to turn off the passenger's frontal airbag if the system detects a rear-facing child restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible. If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat, always move the front passenger seat as far back as it will go. It is better to secure the child restraint in a rear seat.The passenger sensing system is designed to turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag if:
| • | the right front passenger seat is unoccupied |
| • | the system determines that an infant is present in a rear-facing infant seat |
| • | the system determines that a small child is present in a forward-facing child restraint |
| • | the system determines that a small child is present in a booster seat |
| • | a right front passenger takes his/her weight off of the seat for a period of time |
| • | the right front passenger seat is occupied by a smaller person, such as a child who has outgrown child restraints |
| • | the air bag off switch is in the off position |
| • | or if there is a critical problem with the air bag system or the passenger sensing system |
When the passenger's frontal air bag has been turned off either by the passenger sensing system or by the air bag off switch, the off indicator will light and stay lit to remind you that the air bag is off.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint following the child restraint manufacturer's directions and refer to Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position or the front seat instructions under "Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System" in the Index.
If after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make sure that the vehicle's seatback is not pressing the child restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly recline the vehicle's seatback and adjust the seat cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint is not trapped under the vehicle head restraint. If this happens, adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, use the air bag off switch to turn off the air bag or secure the child in the child restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle if one is available and check with your dealer. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.
The passenger sensing system is designed to enable (may inflate) the right front passenger's frontal air bag anytime the system senses that a person of adult size is sitting properly in the right front passenger's seat. When the passenger sensing system has allowed the air bag to be enabled, the on indicator will light and stay lit to remind you that the air bag is active.
For some children who have outgrown child restraints and for very small adults, the passenger sensing system may or may not turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag, depending upon the person's seating posture and body build. Everyone in your vehicle who has outgrown child restraints should wear a safety belt properly -- whether or not there is an air bag for that person.
If a person of adult-size is sitting in the right front passenger's seat, but the off indicator is lit, it could be because that person is not sitting properly in the seat or the air bag off switch is in the off position. If this happens and the switch is in the proper position, turn the vehicle off and ask the person to place the seatback in the fully upright position, then sit upright in the seat, centered on the seat cushion, with the person's legs comfortably extended. Restart the vehicle and have the person remain in this position for about two minutes. This will allow the system to detect that person and then enable the passenger's air bag.
Caution: If the airbag readiness light in the instrument panel cluster ever comes on and stays on, it means that something may be wrong with the airbag system. If this ever happens, have the vehicle serviced promptly, because an adult-size person sitting in the right front passenger's seat may not have the protection of the airbag(s). See Airbag Readiness Light for more on this, including important safety information.
Aftermarket equipment, such as seat covers, can affect how well the passenger sensing system operates. You may want to consider not using seat covers or other aftermarket equipment if your vehicle has the passenger sensing system. See Adding Equipment to Your Airbag-Equipped Vehicle for more information about modifications that can affect how the system operates.
Caution: Stowing of articles under the passenger seat or between the passenger seat cushion and seatback may interfere with the proper operation of the passenger sensing system.
