Side Airbags

The side airbags help protect the torso and pelvis of the driver, front passenger, or an outer rear seat occupant during a moderate-to-severe side impact.

Detail

Make sure you and your front seat and rear outboard passengers always sit upright. Leaning into the path of a side airbag can prevent the airbag from deploying properly and increases the risk of serious injury.

Do not attach accessories on or near the side airbags. They can interfere with the proper operation of the airbags, or hurt someone if an airbag inflates.

Do not cover or replace the front seat-back covers without consulting a dealer.
Improperly replacing or covering front seat-back covers can prevent your side airbags from properly deploying during a side impact.

Housing Locations

Operation

When a side airbag deploys with little or no visible damage

Because the airbag system senses sudden acceleration, a strong impact to the side of the vehicle’s framework can cause a side airbag to deploy. In such cases, there may be little or no damage, but the side impact sensors detected a severe enough impact to deploy the airbag.

When a side airbag may not deploy, even though visible damage appears severe

It is possible for a side airbag not to deploy during an impact that results in apparently severe damage. This can occur when the point of impact was toward the far front or rear of the vehicle, or when the vehicle’s crushable body parts absorbed most of the crash energy. In either case, the side airbag would not have been needed nor provided protection even if it had deployed.