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?  for more information.

Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts.

    See also:

    Playing a CD or DVD-A Disc
    Press the MEM/DVD/AUX button if there is a disc in the player. It begins playing. Information about the disc and current track is shown on the display depending on the data stored. Selectin ...

    When the System Does Not Seem to Work Properly
    Occasional missed alerts can occur under normal circumstances and will increase in wet conditions. The system does not need to be serviced due to an occasional missed alert. The number of mi ...

    Rear Vision Camera Location
    The camera is located above the license plate. The area displayed by the camera is limited. It does not display objects that are close to either corner or under the bumper and can vary de ...