How to Use This Manual
Many people read their owner’s manual from beginning to end when they first receive their new vehicle. If you do this, it will help you learn about the features and controls for your vehicle. In this manual, you’ll find that pictures and words work together to explain things quickly.
Index
A good place to look for what you need is the Index in the back of the manual. It’s an alphabetical list of all that’s in the manual, and the page number where you’ll find it.
This manual includes the latest information at the time it was printed for 1996 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme. We reserve the right to make changes in the product after. that time without further notice. For vehicles first sold in Canada, substitute the name “General Motors of Canada Limited” for Oldsmobile Division whenever it appears in this manual.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is suddenly stopping as a result of a crash. The sensing system triggers a chemical reaction of ,the sodium azide sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the right front passenger.
When should an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate only. if the impact speed is above the system’s designed “threshold level.” If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is about 9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 km/h). The threshold level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air bag should have inflated simply because of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indication of this.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or the instrument panel. The air bag supplements the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward the air bag. Air bags should never be regarded as anydung more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in the steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or the instrument panel for the right front passenger’s bag, will be hot for a short time. The part of the bag that comes into contact with you may be warm, but it will never be too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people. from leaving the vehicle.