The driver's and right front passenger's frontal airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate only if the impact exceeds a predetermined deployment threshold. Deployment thresholds take into account a variety of desired deployment and non-deployment events and are used to predict how severe a crash is likely to be in time for the airbags to inflate and help restrain the occupants. Whether your frontal airbags will or should deploy is not based on how fast your vehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit, the direction of the impact and how quickly your vehicle slows down.
If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that does not move or deform, the threshold level is about 9 to 16 mph (14 to 26 km/h). (The threshold level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above or below this range.)
Airbags may inflate at different crash speeds. For example:
| • | If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbag could inflate at a different crash speed than if the object were moving. |
| • | If the object deforms, the airbag could inflate at a different crash speed than if the object does not deform. |
| • | If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the airbag could inflate at a different crash speed than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall). |
| • | If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the airbag could inflate at a different crash speed than if the vehicle goes straight into the object. |
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger) are not intended to inflate during vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts because inflation would not likely help the occupants.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an airbag should have inflated simply because of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or near-frontal impacts.
The airbag system is designed to work properly under a wide range of conditions, including off-road usage. Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See Off-Road Driving with Your Four-Wheel-Drive Vehicle for more tips on off-road driving.
