Dodge 2008 Sprinter User Manual

Page 45

Safety

Occupant safety

The front airbags are not triggered un-
less a second activation threshold is ex-
ceeded, i.e. if there is a greater rate of
vehicle deceleration in a longitudinal di-
rection.

Criteria for triggering of emergency
tensioning retractors and airbags

To determine whether it is necessary to
trigger an emergency tensioning retrac-
tor or airbag, the airbag control unit eval-
uates the duration and direction of
deceleration or acceleration during the
initial phase of the collision.

The emergency tensioning retractor and
airbag activation thresholds are variable
and are adapted to the rate of the vehi-
cle deceleration. This process is pre-
emptive in nature as the airbag must be
deployed during – and not at the end of
– the collision.

Airbags are not triggered in all types of

accident. They are actually controlled

by complex sensor technology and eval-

uation logic. This process is pre-emptive

in nature as airbag deployment must

take place during the impact and must

be adapted to provide calculated, addi-

tional protection for the vehicle occu-

pants. Not all airbags are triggered in an

accident.
The various airbag systems work inde-

pendently of each other. However, all

systems depend on the type (head-on

or side impact) and severity (in particu-

lar vehicle deceleration or acceleration)

of accident determined in the initial

phase of the accident.

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