General information
The cars considered in this Guide are equipped with a set of tools designed to protect the driver and passengers in the event of a traffic accident. This includes head restraint-equipped seats, seat belts, emergency automatic belt tensioners and airbags for the driver and front passenger.
Some components of the security system, being an integral part of the vehicle structure, do not require additional attention from the vehicle owner. These include a strong steel frame that forms the structure of the cabin, inside which the salon is located; front and rear crumple zones that absorb impact energy in a collision, as well as automatic seat belt tensioners (additional equipment), which automatically tension the belts in the event of an impact.
Seat belts
To ensure the safety of the driver and passengers, all car seats are equipped with seat belts.
A special warning lamp is mounted in the instrument panel of some models, reminding the driver and passengers of the need to fasten their seat belts (see Dashboard).
Driver and Passenger Airbags
Some models come standard with SRS, more commonly known as airbags. The system is designed to protect the driver and front passenger from hitting the steering wheel/dashboard with their head or chest in the event of a severe frontal impact.
Additional equipment may also include side airbags that provide protection for the driver and front passenger in side impacts, as well as head airbags that protect the heads of the driver, as well as front and rear passengers in side impacts and in the event of a vehicle rollover.
The owner of a car equipped with an SRS system must know the most important points about the design and operation of the system elements:
1. The presence of airbags can in no way be used as an excuse for neglecting the use of seat belts. SRS should only be used in conjunction with seat belts and other passive safety equipment;
2. Front airbags do not provide protection in the event of a side impact or a rear impact. In addition, the modules are triggered only during high-intensity directed impacts, i.e. the system does not provide protection for weak frontal collisions;
3. Side safety devices do not provide protection in the event of a frontal collision and rear impact, in addition, they also work only when the side impact energy exceeds a certain threshold value, which is far from always the case when the car is turned over;
4. Airbag deployment may cause injury.
In order to effectively perform its protective function, the airbag must deploy from the collapsed state to the operational state in a very short time. Therefore, the airbag, while protecting the driver/front passenger from serious injury, in some cases saving their lives, can cause injury and sometimes serious injury, even death, if the driver or front passenger was not properly fastened with seat belts or was sitting in abnormal position on the seats.
To reduce the risk of airbag injury, always wear your seat belt and position yourself in the driver's seat as far away from the steering wheel/dashboard as possible.
The position of the seats and their backs
The design of car seats guarantees maximum comfort for the person sitting in them, while at the same time providing conditions for the most effective performance of their functions by seat belts and airbags. The soft padding of the cushions and backrests provides additional protection for the seated person in emergency situations.
The choice of seat position also has an impact on the safety of the person sitting in it. For example, if the seat is too close to the steering wheel/instrument panel, there is an increased risk of injury to the occupant if the airbag deploys, as well as the risk of being thrown through the windshield in a frontal collision.
Increasing the recline of the seatback will worsen the seatbelt's fixation of the body - the more the backrest is tilted back, the higher the likelihood of the body sitting under the lap section of the seatbelt in a severe frontal impact, and the more severe the injuries can be.
Fix the position of the front seat as far as possible (convenient for driving) away from the steering wheel/instrument panel position, bring the backrest to a vertical position.
Headrests
Head restraints prevent injury to the cervical spine and head in a rear impact. The head restraint must be adjusted in height so that its upper cut is flush with the upper edge of the ear of the seated person.
Rules for the use of passive safety equipment for the driver and passengers
General information
The following instructions will guide the reader on how to ensure maximum protection for all occupants of the vehicle.
Doors
After the driver and all passengers have taken their seats in the cabin, make sure that all vehicle doors are tightly closed.
On some models, a special warning lamp is provided, which lights up when one or more car doors are not closed tightly.
Front seats
A driver sitting too close to the instrument panel is at increased risk of injury, including serious injury or death from hitting the steering wheel or deploying an airbag in the event of an accident.
To avoid the risk of injury, properly fasten your seat belt, return the seatback to an upright position and press your back firmly against it while moving the seat as far away from the steering wheel as possible. In this case, of course, the driver must provide himself with a good overview and the ability to conveniently manipulate all the controls of the car. Make sure the front passenger seat is also as far away from the instrument panel as possible.
Positioning the driver's and front passenger's seats too close to the steering wheel/instrument panel in the event of an accident can result in serious injury or even death!
Try to always position the front seats as far away from the airbag modules as possible.
The vast majority of drivers (even short stature) can move the driver's seat as far as possible from the steering wheel, while freely reaching the pedals. However, if you are concerned about the position of the driver's seat being too close to the steering wheel, the compilers of this Guide recommend that the reader pay attention to certain types of auxiliary equipment - at the car manufacturer's branded service stations, you can always get comprehensive information on this issue.
After making sure that the seat is in the correct position, check the security of its fixation. For instructions on adjusting the position of the front seats, see Salon equipment.
Adjust the backrest of the driver's seat, bringing it to the most convenient position for your physique, as close as possible to the vertical position, while leaving enough space between the chest and the steering wheel hub, which is mounted on the airbag. Be aware that placing the driver/front passenger too close to the instrument panel greatly increases the risk of injury from airbag deployment.
If the seatback is tilted too far, the shoulder section of the seat belt will not be pressed against the chest, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of its protective functions. The more the seat back is tilted back, the more likely the occupant's body will slip under the lumbar section in a severe frontal impact, and the more severe the injuries can be. See seat back adjustment instructions. Salon equipment.
Headrests
Before driving, make sure that the position of the head restraints on each of the seats meets the necessary requirements, providing adequate protection of the cervical spine and the head of the occupant in a rear impact. The head restraint must be adjusted in height so that its central part is flush with the back of the head. If this cannot be achieved, the head restraint should be set to its highest position.
Improperly positioned head restraints reduce the effectiveness of their protective functions and increase the risk of serious injury in an accident! Refer to Interior Equipment for head restraint adjustment instructions.
Seat belts
Snap the belt buckle buckle into the buckle, then pull the shoulder section strap up to check that the buckle is securely locked into the buckle. Make sure the strap is not twisted - a twisted strap is dangerous in itself.
Lower the lap section of the belt as far as possible, placing it as low as possible on the hips. By pulling on the shoulder section, take up any slack and try to get the belt snug against your body. If necessary, tighten the belt and achieve a snug fit of its shoulder section to the body. The strap should pass diagonally across the ribcage of the seated person in such a way that the load on impact falls mainly on the strongest upper torso.
Failure to wear seat belts can result in serious injury in the event of an accident!
The driver of the vehicle, having fastened his seat belt, must check that all passengers are also properly fastened.
The correct position of the lap section of the belt will provide the safest repayment of the inertia of the body in the event of an accident, holding it by the strong bones of the hip joint. If the strap passes through the shoulder joint of the arm, the position of the upper anchorage of the strap on the car pillar should be corrected.
To adjust the position of the upper harness anchor, press the release buttons and slide the anchor up or down on the rack-mounted rail until the shoulder section of the harness is correctly positioned in relation to the neck. The mount has four fixed positions.
Never pass the shoulder section of the belt at hand and do not wind it behind your back - this can be fraught with the most serious consequences in an accident!
A malfunctioning seat belt will not provide adequate protection to the driver/passenger in the event of an accident. If you are not sure that the adjustments are correct, have the vehicle manufacturer's workshop check the function of the seat belts. For more information on seat belts, see Salon equipment.
Steering column
The steering column must be adjusted so that the steering wheel is against the driver's chest. The position in which the steering wheel hub is opposite the driver's face is incorrect, since it reduces the protective functions of the front airbag mounted in it. For a description of the steering wheel adjustment procedure, see Salon equipment.
Landing on the seat
General recommendations
After the driver and all passengers have taken their seats in the car, adjusted their seats and put on their seat belts, they should put their body in the correct position, pressing their backs firmly against the seat back and placing their feet firmly on the floor of the cabin. Feet should not come off the floor until the car comes to a complete stop and the engine is turned off.
Poor seating while driving increases the risk of injury in a crash. For example, if passengers are crouched, lying down, turning sideways, leaning forward or sideways, or climbing into the seat with their feet, the risk of serious injury as a result of an accident increases significantly.
In addition, front passengers sitting in the wrong seating position can be seriously injured by the interior trim parts breaking as a result of a crash or by the front airbag deploying.
In a vehicle equipped with side/head airbags, if the front passenger's head is tilted to the side while driving and is in the airbag deployment area, the risk of serious injury or injury in a crash is greatly increased.
Try to maintain the correct seating position throughout the ride, keeping your back firmly pressed against the seat back and placing your feet on the floor. Remember that upright seating and the proper use of seat belts increase the effectiveness of all safety features that the car is equipped with.
Recommendations for pregnant women
Ensuring the safety of a pregnant woman is the best way to save the fetus in the event of an accident, so when driving a car (as driver or passenger) a pregnant woman must wear a seat belt without fail, paying special attention to the correct placement of its sections relative to her body.
When using belts with a diagonal-waist design, remember that the lap section of the belt should be located as low as possible on the hips and in no case be placed on the stomach.
A pregnant woman should also occupy an upright position on the seat. At the same time, the front seat should be moved as far as possible from the instrument panel, which will reduce the risk of injury and injury not only for the mother, but also for the fetus in the event of a traffic accident or deployment of the front airbag.
At each visit to the supervising doctor, consult whether it is desirable for you to drive a car.
Transportation of children
To ensure the safety of transporting young and middle-aged children, special child seats and restraints should be used, detailed instructions for placement and installation of which will be offered to you at the place of purchase of the product. If necessary, seek advice from authorized service stations of the vehicle manufacturer.
Opel genuine child carriers are mandatory equipped with transponders that deactivate the passenger airbags when the accessory is placed in the front passenger seat. The deactivation of the pillows is indicated by the glow of a special control lamp mounted in the assembly of the main ceiling lamp.
Additional Recommendations
It is forbidden to use the same seat belt for fastening two people at the same time. In this case, the belt will not perform its protective functions and in the event of an accident, passengers may be seriously injured.
Do not attach any pads or other objects to the seat belt straps. Attaching attachments or changing the position of the shoulder section can reduce the effectiveness of the seat belts and increase the chance of injury in a crash.
Do not place hard or sharp objects between your body and the front airbag.
Carrying hard or sharp objects on your knees, or driving with a smoking pipe or other sharp objects in your mouth in an accident can result in serious injury.
To prevent the risk of unauthorized deployment of the front airbags, try to keep your hands away from the locations of their modules on the instrument panel and steering wheel hub
On models equipped with side and head airbags, do not attach hard objects to or near the interior panels of the front doors.
Design features of seat belts
Diagonal lap belt
Laying diagram for a diagonal-waist seat belt
To unfasten the belt, press the red button labeled PRESS, which is located on the body of the buckle lock. When winding the belt with the return device drum, hold it by the buckle bracket. After getting out of the car, check that the belt does not get into the door opening and does not get caught when the door is slammed shut.
Belts of a diagonal-waist design are equipped with an inertial-type return device, the drum of which automatically selects the slack in the straps and constantly maintains a slight pre-tension of the belt pressed against the body. Inertial belts practically do not restrict the movements of the person fastened by them and allow him to easily change his position on the seat. In the event of a traffic accident or sudden braking of the vehicle, the locking mechanism of the return device is activated. The drum blocks the belt, eliminating the possibility of dangerous movement of the seated person.
Automatic emergency belt tensioners
On some models, in order to provide additional protection to the driver/passenger, the front seat belts are equipped with devices that, when activated, provide automatic belt tensioning, which provides additional guarantees that the driver and front passenger do not move dangerously in a frontal collision.
The automatic emergency tensioners are activated by directional overloads that occur during a severe frontal collision. At the same time, the front airbags are deployed.
When the pretensioner is activated, the seat belt remains taut until the buckle is released from the buckle last.
The emergency seat belt tensioners are single use devices and must be replaced once they have been deployed.
Operation of a control lamp of systems of additional safety (SRS) warns the driver of possible malfunctions in the emergency belt tensioner devices (see Dashboard).
Principles of functioning of the elements of the additional security system (SRS)
Among the devices and components that form the additional security system (SRS) includes:
1. Two front airbags. The driver's airbag module is housed in the steering wheel hub. The front passenger airbag is placed in a special cavity on the right side of the car's instrument panel. The locations of both modules are marked with warning labels «AIRBAG»;
2. Side airbags (additional equipment), mounted in the outer surfaces of the backs of the front seats;
3. Head airbags (additional equipment), located along the side edges of the ceiling panel and providing additional protection for the heads of the driver and all passengers in case of side impacts and vehicle rollover;
4. Sensors of directional overloads, triggered by strong impacts of the corresponding direction;
5. An electronic self-diagnostic system that, with the ignition on, provides continuous testing of the overload sensors, the control unit, the airbag gas generators and the connecting wiring of the corresponding circuits;
6. Automatic emergency tensioners for front seat belts (see above);
7. The control lamp of refusals of SRS which is built in in the panel of devices (see Dashboard);
8. Spare autonomous power source designed to duplicate the main power supply system in the event of its failure in a car collision.
Front airbags
Directional g-force sensors respond to exceeding a certain limit value that may occur in a severe frontal collision. A diagram of the impact directions that trigger the sensors is shown in the accompanying illustration. At the signal of the sensors, the control unit turns on the gas generators of the airbags, causing them to instantly fill.
During a collision, the seat belt keeps the occupant's lower torso from moving. Front airbags help prevent injury to the driver and front passenger from head and chest impacts on the steering wheel/dashboard.
Because the signals to deploy both airbags come from the same sensors, both airbags deploy at the same time. However, the possibility of initiation of only one of the pillows is not ruled out. This becomes possible when the magnitude of the directional overloads that occurred during the collision was on the verge of the range of operation of the gas generators. In this case, the seat belts provide sufficient protection for the driver and front passenger, while the effect of the airbag deployment will be minimal.
Immediately after the airbags are deployed and perform their functions, gas is released from them, which allows the driver to maintain visibility and freely manipulate all vehicle controls.
The total duration of the process from the moment the signal is given by the overload sensors to the release of gas from the pillows takes a fraction of a second. The airbags deploy so quickly that the human ear is simply unable to perceive the sound of gas generators when the airbags are filled.
After a traffic accident in which the airbags were deployed, the interior of the car looks slightly smoky. In fact, this is a suspension of finely dispersed powder, which is usually sprinkled with pillow shells in the folded state. People with a respiratory disease may experience some discomfort when inhaling airborne products released by pillow gas generators.
Control lamp of failures SRS
The SRS warning lamp is built into the car's dashboard (see Dashboard) and is designed to warn the driver about failures detected by the self-diagnosis system in the additional security system. On some modifications of the car, the operation of the warning lamp indicates possible malfunctions in the side airbag units or automatic emergency seat belt tensioners.
When the ignition is turned on (ignition key turned to position «ON» [II]) the control lamp lights up for a short time, then immediately goes out, which confirms that all system components are functioning correctly.
In the event of an arbitrary operation of the warning lamp at any other time, the owner of the car should, as soon as possible, seek help from the specialists of the service station of the manufacturer (Opel). Such situations include the following:
1. The control lamp does not turn on when the ignition key is turned to the ON position (II);
2. The control lamp continues to burn after implementation of start of the engine;
3. The control lamp turned on and burns in a constant or flashing mode while the car is moving.
In the presence of the above symptoms of malfunctions, the additional security system may fail in the event of an accident.
Neglecting the signals of the SRS warning lamp can lead to the most serious consequences if the airbags fail during an accident!
Side and head airbags
On some models, side airbags for the driver and front passenger, as well as head airbags can be installed as an option, providing protection for the heads of the driver and all passengers, both in side impacts and in the event of a vehicle rollover. The side airbag modules are built into the outer ends of the front seat backrests. The locations of both side airbags are labeled «SIDE AIRBAG». Head cushion gas generators are located on the side edges of the ceiling panel. The SRS warning lamp on the vehicle's instrument panel comes on when there is a malfunction in the auxiliary airbag initiation circuits.
In case of a strong side impact, directional overload sensors detect the excess of the emerging loads of a certain threshold value and issue an information signal to the control unit, which generates a command to deploy the gas generator of the corresponding side airbag. In this case, if the impact came from the side of the passenger seat, the passenger side airbag will work even if there is no passenger in the front seat.
For the most effective protection from airbags, the driver and front passenger should sit up straight and wear their seat belts.
Optional head airbags on some models (curtains) provide protection for the heads of the driver and all passengers in side impacts and vehicle rollovers.
Maintenance of SRS elements
The pyrotechnic modules of the airbags and the automatic emergency tensioner of the seat belts require little or no regular checks and maintenance. However, the owner of a suitably equipped vehicle must remember the following:
1. After the airbags have deployed, they must be replaced together with the system control unit. Do not attempt to dismantle used airbags yourself. These operations should be performed only in the conditions of a car service workshop;
2. If the operation of the SRS warning lamp indicates a failure in the system, you should immediately contact the nearest service station of the vehicle manufacturer, where a complete diagnosis and necessary remedial repairs of the system will be made. Otherwise, the airbags/emergency belt pretensioners may not deploy in the event of an accident and fail to perform their protective function;
3. Only specially trained personnel are allowed to work with the nodes of the additional security system. It is forbidden to dismantle the airbags and emergency seat belt pretensioners from the vehicle. In case of failure of the SRS or after the emergency deployment of the airbags and seat belt tensioners, it is necessary to contact the car manufacturer's workshop for repair or replacement of system components;
4. Do not open the gas generator modules and do not change the wiring of the airbag systems and the automatic emergency tensioner of the seat belts - such interference may lead to involuntary operation of the airbags / pretensioners and cause injury to the performer or people nearby;
5. With the appropriate equipment, do not replace the front seats without first consulting a service station of the vehicle manufacturer. Careless or incorrect replacement or removal of the covers may cause the side airbags to fail to deploy in the event of an accident.
Danger of carbon monoxide poisoning (SO)
Engine exhaust gases contain highly toxic carbon monoxide (SO). With a working exhaust system and proper operation of the car, the exhaust gases of the engine should not enter the passenger compartment. Try to check the technical condition of the exhaust system and the tightness of the connections of its pipelines in the following cases:
1. At the next change of engine oil, when the car is installed on a lift;
2. With a noticeable change in the nature of the background noise emitted by the exhaust system;
3. After an accident in which the parts located under the bottom of the car could be damaged.
Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas. Inhalation of carbon monoxide causes loss of consciousness and can be fatal. Beware of being in a closed, unventilated area or performing work in which you will be forced to breathe air containing high concentrations of carbon monoxide! In enclosed spaces with poor ventilation, such as a garage, the CO concentration can quickly increase to dangerous levels. Therefore, never leave the engine running with the garage door closed. Even with the gate open, do not leave the engine running for a long time. Immediately after starting the engine, you should leave the garage and continue warming up the engine outside.
When driving with the tailgate/trunk lid open, engine exhaust fumes can enter the passenger compartment and create a dangerous situation. If a situation arises where it is not possible to close the door/lid, open all windows fully and turn on the ventilation and air conditioning system.
When inside a vehicle with the engine idling (even outdoors), make the following inclusions:
1. Turn on the interior ventilation system in fresh air mode;
2. Turn on the heater fan at maximum speed;
3. Set the controller to a comfortable level of air temperature.
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