PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

WARNING

: Airbags do not inflate slowly or gently, and the risk of injury from a deploying airbag is the greatest close to the trim covering the airbag module.

WARNING

: All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.

WARNING

: Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.

WARNING

: Never place your arm over the airbag module, as a deploying airbag can result in serious arm fractures or other injuries.

WARNING

: Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.

Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.

If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat upon which the child seat is installed all the way back.

WARNING

: Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the airbag supplemental restraint systems or its fuses as you could be seriously injured or killed. Contact your authorized dealer as soon as possible.

WARNING

: Several airbag system components get hot after inflation. Do not touch them after inflation as this may result in serious injury.

WARNING

: If the airbag has deployed, the airbag will not function again and must be replaced immediately. If the airbag is not replaced, the unrepaired area will increase the risk of injury in a crash.

The airbags are a supplemental restraint system and are designed to work with the safety belts to help protect the driver and right front passenger from certain upper body injuries. Airbags do not inflate slowly; there is a risk of injury from a deploying airbag.

Note: You will hear a loud bang and see a cloud of harmless powdery residue if an airbag deploys. This is normal.

The airbags inflate and deflate rapidly upon activation. After airbag deployment, it is normal to notice a smoke-like, powdery residue or smell the burnt propellant. This may consist of cornstarch, talcum powder (to lubricate the bag) or sodium compounds (for example, baking soda) that result from the combustion process that inflates the airbag. Small amounts of sodium hydroxide may be present which may irritate the skin and eyes, but none of the residue is toxic.

While the system is designed to help reduce serious injuries, contact with a deploying airbag may also cause abrasions or swelling. Temporary hearing loss is also a possibility as a result of the noise associated with a deploying airbag. Because airbags must inflate rapidly and with considerable force, there is the risk of death or serious injuries, such as fractures, facial and eye injuries or internal injuries, particularly to occupants who are not properly restrained or are otherwise out of position at the time of airbag deployment. Thus, it is extremely important that occupants be properly restrained as far away from the airbag module as possible while maintaining vehicle control.

Routine maintenance of the airbags is not required.

SOS POST-CRASH ALERT SYSTEM™

The system flashes the turn signal lamps and sounds the horn (intermittently) in the event of a serious impact that deploys an airbag equipped on your vehicle, such as front, side, side curtain or Safety Canopy.

The horn and lamps will turn off when:

• you press the hazard control button • you press the panic button (if equipped) on the remote entry transmitter, or • your vehicle runs out of power.

• Driver and passenger airbags
• Front passenger sensing system
• Side airbags
• Crash sensors and airbag indicator
• Airbag disposal