Automotive vehicle including a security arrangement provided with an inflatable protective bag

Claim 1

An automotive vehicle comprising a dashboard, side-by-side driver's and passenger's seats, steering control means for the vehicle including a steering handle positioned in close proximity to the driver's seat, the space between said dashboard and a driver being free, the dashboard having a top portion facing the windshield and a front portion facing the driver's and passenger's seats and comprising a compartment and a flap for closing said compartment, said flap being positioned in said front portion, a protective bag formed of supple material in said compartment, said bag being at least partially gas tight, the vehicle further comprising a gas source, means for coupling the bag to the gas source and means for automatically releasing the gas source in response to abnormal behavior of the vehicle, said bag having a folded non-operating first state in which it is entirely housed within the compartment prior to automatic release of the gas source, and an inflated operating second state in which it extends out of the compartment after automatic release of the gas source, said bag comprising a central portion which in the operating state is arranged so as to spread out over substantially the entire area of the dashboard, the central portion in such state being interposed between occupants of both driver's and passenger's seats and the dashboard.