What is an Airbag and how does it work?
Airbags, which are an original part of cars, are the general name given to the systems that are filled with gas during car collisions and aim to protect the driver and passengers in the car. The principle of activation of airbags is briefly as follows: In cases where the severity of the collision is above a certain level, sensors in various parts of the car send an electrical signal to the tube with NaN3 (sodium azide). With the signal sent, a small spark is created in the tube, and NaN3 dissolves from the heat created. The released nitrogen gets filled into the airbag, causing the airbag to inflate. The airbags, which are filled with air in a short time during the collision, aim to let the passengers overcome the accident with the least damage as a result of a possible accident. By extinguishing in a few seconds it makes possible and ensures the evacuation of the passengers in the car.
Car Seat Covers and Airbags
One of the biggest concerns for consumers is whether or not the airbag will work and will be activated in an eventual accident, knowing that the car seat covers are mounted over the original car seats where the airbag is located.

The pioneer of the firsts in the sector, Otom; In order to eliminate these questions, has carried out various R&D studies, conducted many experiments and examined the moment of opening of the airbags in the seat at the same time with the seat cover. In the light of our R&D process and experience; We have created the necessary technological infrastructure for our product to work properly. We have provided a perfect sewing system by choosing the appropriate material combination for the car’s original seat and the Otom brand car seat cover to react to the airbag simultaneously. We are proud to certify the quality and safety of our Otom brand auto covers by passing the security of our sewing system through the safety test at the internationally accredited APV-T Center, one of the best crash safety test centers in the world based in Australia.

Our airbag seam safety system, which successfully passed the crash safety test, consists of 5 steps:

Airbag Security Sewing System in 5 Steps

1. Material Quality Standard: The material subject to the test is a thick sponge laminated synthetic leather whose standards are maintained through our wide supply channels. The airbag explosion test was performed on our custom fit seat cover made of laminated synthetic material.
2. Airbag Special Security Stitch: Airbag security stitches are applied under the control of our production engineers with special sewing machines for original automotive seats and equipment. The sample subject to the test was stitched with the machine mentioned above. To distinguish their unique sewing technique, our airbag custom-stitched products are labeled with special barcodes. This label, which has a unique barcode for each product produced by our brand, confirms that the airbag specific security stitching technique is used and ensures that our products are distinguished from those produced by other companies.
3. Quality Controls: The materials subject to the test are supplied by our production engineers and purchasing department at current quality standards. The quality stabilization of the materials is provided through the “random quality inspection” method, which is carried out periodically.
4. Testing in the range of -35 C / + 80 C: The sample in question has been individually tested at -35 degrees Celsius and +80 degrees Celsius in order to ensure the maximum reliability of the test at different temperatures, and it was observed that airbag seams were opened at the desired speed values at both ambient temperatures. The sample of seat chosen for the test is the seat of a Suzuki Alto 2008 model.
5. Airbag Opening Speed: In line with the tests carried out at the ambient temperatures mentioned above, it was examined that the sample in question did not cause any delay under the reaction ratio of 4.38 m / s while the seat cover being installed, and it was proven that there was no decrease in the airbag opening speed.

Important Note: The opening of the airbags in the car seats depends on many parameters, such as the vehicle’s brand and model, the speed of the vehicle, whether the seat belts are put on or not by the passengers in the car, the angle of the collision, the correct mounting of the seat covers by professionals, the correct positioning of the airbag seams of the car seat cover to match the airbag parts on the seats, the product lifetime and also consumer usage.
Otom seat covers aim to offer reliable products to the users with the airbag safety seam described above. The test in question was carried out by the APV-T TECT CENTER with the above-mentioned materials, only on the mentioned vehicle brand seat and model and at said ambient temperatures.
Due to the above-mentioned variables, Otom does not warrant the opening of the airbags and therefore does not accept any responsibility for any damage caused.