WARNINGS: Airbags do not replace seat belts. Moreover, when the vehicle is moving, the driver and front passenger must be wearing seat belts, since in the event of an accident, an airbag that has deployed itself can cause serious injury to an unbelted person. In addition, passengers in the back seat must be wearing seat belts. In the event of an accident, an unbelted passenger in the back seat can cause injury and serious harm to all passengers in the vehicle.
The SRS system includes the following elements:
- driver airbag module located in the steering wheel hub and consisting of a folded airbag shell and a gas generator;
- front passenger airbag module, located in the instrument panel on the passenger side and consisting of a folded airbag shell and a gas generator;
- driver and front passenger side airbag modules (installed depending on the vehicle configuration), located in the outer side parts of the front seat backs and consisting of a folded cushion shell and a gas generator;
- driver and front passenger curtain airbag modules (installed depending on the vehicle configuration), located under the front and rear pillar trims and consisting of a folded cushion shell and a gas generator;
- an electronic control unit installed under the floor tunnel lining and controlling the system;
- front and side impact sensors that transmit acceleration information to the system control unit;
- seat belts.
The force and direction of impact during a traffic accident is determined by the electronic control unit (ECU) of the passive safety system using impact sensors. Based on the signals from the sensors, the control unit activates the airbags.
When a certain force of impact occurs, the ECU, having received signals from the impact sensors, increases the belt tension before activating the airbags, issuing a command to the pyrotechnic elements of the pretensioners. The latter ensure a timely response to emergency deceleration of the car, pulling the driver and passenger to the seat backs, preventing their further movement forward or sideways by inertia and injury from the deployed airbag.
NOTE: The seat belt pretensioner mechanism always deploys before the air bag.
Additional elements of the passive safety system also include head restraints installed on the backs of the driver's, front passenger's and rear seats. The head restraints prevent damage to the cervical vertebrae of people sitting in the car in the event of a strong impact from behind and when the airbags are deployed.
[The original text can be found on the website CHEVYMAN.RU]