FIAT 500 User Manual

Page 94

AIR BAG

The car is provided with front air bags for the driver
and the passenger, driver's knees air bag and side
bags - window bags.

FRONT AIR BAGS

The front air bags (driver, passenger driver's knee
bag) protect the occupants of the front seats in the
event of moderate to serious front impacts by
positioning the bag between the occupant and the
steering wheel or the dashboard.
Therefore non-activation in other types of collisions
(side collisions, rear shunts, roll-overs, etc.) is not
a system malfunction.
An electronic control unit causes the bag to inflate in
the event of a head-on crash.
The bag will inflate instantaneously placing itself
between the front occupants body and the
structures which could cause injury. It will deflate
immediately afterwards.
The front airbags (driver's, passenger's, driver's knees
air bags) are not a replacement for but
complementary to the belts, which you are
recommended to always wear, as specified by law in
Europe and most non-European countries.
In the event of an impact, those not wearing a seat
belt will move forward and come into contact with
the bag which is still inflating. The protection offered
by the cushion is reduced in such a case.

Front air bags may not be activated in the following
situations:
❒ front collisions against highly deformable objects

not affecting the front surface of the car (e.g.
bumper collision against guard rail, etc.);

❒ car wedging under other vehicles or protective

barriers (e.g. trucks or guard rails);

they may not provide any additional protection
compared with seat belts, so their activation would
be inappropriate. Lack of deployment in such cases is
consequently not the sign of a fault.

WARNING

Do not apply stickers or other objects
on the steering wheel, on the dashboard

in the passenger side airbag area, on side
upholstery on roof and on the seats. Never put
objects (e.g. mobile phones) on the passenger's
side dashboard since they could interfere with
correct inflation of the air bag and also cause
serious injury to the passengers.

The front air bags (driver, passenger, driver's knee
bags) are designed and calibrated to protect front
seat passengers wearing seat belts.
Their volume at the moment of maximum inflation
fills most of the space between the steering wheel
and the driver, between the lower post guard and the
knees on passenger side and between the dashboard
and the passenger.

GETTING TO KNOW

YOUR CAR

SAFETY

STARTING AND

DRIVING

WARNING LIGHTS

AND MESSAGES

IN AN EMERGENCY

SERVICING AND

MAINTENANCE

TECHNICAL

SPECIFICATIONS

INDEX