Fiat Barchetta Owner's Handbook Manual - Air Bag

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AIR BAG

Description and operation

The front airbag (driver and passen-

ger) is a safety device which is imme-

diately triggered in the event of a front

impact. 

It consists of an instantly inflatable

bag housed in a special compartment

located:

– in the centre of the steering wheel

on the driver’s side;

– in the dashboard on the passen-

ger’s side (larger bag).

The front airbag (driver and passen-

ger) is a device which protects the oc-

cupants of the car during a head-on

collision of a medium-high degree. 

The system was designed to protect

from injury caused by the body crash-

ing to the steering wheel or the dash-

board. 

In a collision, an electronic control

unit processes the signals from a de-

celeration sensor and, where required,

inflates the airbag.

The bag inflates instantly and acts as

a soft protective barrier between the

front seat passengers and the struc-

tures in front of them that could cause

injury. The bags deflate immediately af-

terwards. 

A passenger not wearing the seat

belt may crash into the bag before it is

fully inflated. In this case, the protec-

tion is considerably decreased. 

The airbag, as a consequence, is not

a replacement for the use of seat belts

but rather a complement. We rec-

ommend that seat belts are worn at all

times as prescribed by legislation in Eu-

rope and most other countries world-

wide. 

In the event of front collisions at low

speed, the restraining action of the

seat belts is sufficient and the airbag

is not inflated. 

For impacts against very deformable

or mobile objects (traffic sign poles,

heaps of gravel or snow, parked vehi-

cles), side impacts, wedging under oth-

er vehicles or barriers (e.g. under a

truck or guard rail), the airbag is not

necessary and may even be undesir-

able. In the event of frontal impacts in-

volving, for example, the mudguard

against a guard-rail, the airbags are not

triggered as they would not offer ad-

ditional protection with respect to the

seat belts and may be undesirable. 

The fact that the airbag is not trig-

gered in these situations, this does not

signify a malfunction. 

fig. 76

P5S00671m