Dodge 2007 Dakota User Manual

Page 48

• Driver and Front Passenger Seat Belt Pretensioners
• Passenger Airbag Disable (PAD) Indicator Light (Ex-

tended Cab Vehicles Only)

• Passenger Side frontal Airbag ON/OFF Switch (Ex-

tended Cab Vehicles Only).

How the Airbag System Works

• The Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) determines

if a frontal collision is severe enough to require the
airbags to inflate. The front airbag inflators are de-
signed to provide different rates of airbag inflation
from direction provided by the ORC. The ORC may
also modify the rate of inflation based on the occupant
size provided by the Occupant Classification Module.
The ORC will not detect roll over.

The ORC also monitors the readiness of the electronic
parts of the system whenever the ignition switch is in
the START or RUN positions. These include all of the

items listed above except the steering wheel and
column, and knee bolsters. If the key is in the OFF
position, in the ACC position, or not in the ignition,
the airbags are not on and will not inflate.

During a moderate-to-severe rear impact the ORC may
deploy the seat belt pretensioners alone.

Also, the ORC turns on the AIRBAG warning
light and PAD indicator light in the instrument
panel for 6 to 8 seconds for a self-check when
the ignition is first turned on. After the self-

check, the AIRBAG warning light will turn off. If the
ORC detects a malfunction in any part of the system, it
turns on the AIRBAG warning light either momentarily
or continuously. A single chime will sound if the light
comes on again after initial start up.

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE