2000 SUBARU FORESTER Owners Manual

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propriate for the child
’s age, height and weight.
Secure ALL types of child restraint devices (including forward facing child seats) in the REAR seats at all times.According to accident statistics, children are safer when properlyrestrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seatingpositions.For instructions and precautions concerning the child restraint
system, see the “Child restraint systems ” section in this chapter.
NEVER INSTALL A REARWARD FACING CHILD SEAT IN THE
FRONT SEAT. DOING SO RISKS SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TOTHE CHILD BY PLACING THE CHILD ’S HEAD TOO CLOSE TO
THE SRS AIRBAG. Never allow a child to stand up, or to kneel on the front pas-
senger’ s seat, or never hold a child on your lap or in your arms.
The SRS airbag deploys with considerable force and can injure oreven kill the child.
HB0306
HB0291
Put children in the REAR seat prop- erly restrained at all times.
Never install rearward facing child seat in the front passenger
’s seat.

2-30
HB0307
Never allow a child to stand up, or to kneel on the front passenger’s
seat
HB0308
Never hold a child on your lap or in your arms.
WARNING
Do not put any objects over the steering wheel pad and dash-
board. If the SRS airbag deploys, those objects could interfere
with its proper operation and could be propelled inside the vehi-
cle and cause injury. Do not attach accessories to the windshield, or fit an extra-
wide mirror over the rear view mirror. If the SRS airbag deploys,those objects could become projectiles that could seriously in-jure vehicle occupants.
HS0245
HS0244
Do not put any objects over the steering wheel pad and dashboardDo not attach accessories to the windshield, or fit an extra-wide mir-
ror over the rear view mirror.

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CAUTION
When the SRS airbag deploys, some smoke will be released.
This smoke could cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble. If you or your pas-
sengers have breathing problems after SRS airbag deploys, get
fresh air promptly. A deploying SRS airbag releases hot gas. Occupants could get
burnt if they come into direct contact with the hot gas.
The sup p lemental restraint system (SRS) c onsists of two airb ag s (d river’s
and front p asseng er ’s SRS airb ag s).
These SRS airbags are designed only as a supplement to the prima-ry protection provided by the seatbelt.
The d river ’s SRS airb ag is stowed in the c enter p ortion of the steering
wheel. The p asseng er ’s SRS airb ag is stowed near the top of the d ash-
b oard und er an “SRS AIRBAG ” mark.
In a mod erate to severe frontal c ollision, the d riv er’s and front p assen-
g er ’s SRS airb ag s d ep loy and sup p lement the seatb elts b y red uc ing the
imp ac t on the d river ’s and front p asseng er ’s head and c hest.
NOTE When you sell your vehicle, we urge you to explain to the buyer that
it is equipped with SRS airbags by alerting him to the applicablesection in this owner ’s manual.

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Components
HS2000BB
SRS airbag operation
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system components around the steering wheel and dashboard with bare hands right after deploy-ment. Doing so can cause burns because the components can bevery hot as a result of deployment.

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HS2001BB
The SRS airb ag c an func tion only when the ig nition
switc h is in the
“ ON ” p osition.
If the front sub sensors insid e the b oth front fend ers and the imp ac t
sensors in the airb ag c ontrol mod ule d etec t a c erta in p red etermined
amount of forc e d uring a frontal c ollision, the c on trol mod ule send s
sig nals to the airb ag mod ules instruc ting them to i nflate the SRS air-
b ag s. Then b oth airb ag mod ules p rod uc e g as, whic h i nstantly inflates
d river ’s and p asseng er ’s SRS airb ag s. After the d ep loyment, the SRS
airb ag s immed iately start to d eflate so that the d r iver’s vision is not
ob struc ted . The time req uired from d etec ting imp ac t to the d eflating
SRS airb ag after d ep loyment is shorter than the b li nk of eye.
The front p asseng er ’s SRS airb ag d ep loys tog ether with d river ’s SRS
airb ag even when no one oc c up ies the front p asseng e r’s seat.
Althoug h it is hig hly unlikely that the SRS airb ag would ac tivate in a
non-ac c id ent situation, should it oc c ur, the SRS ai rb ag will d eflate
q uic kly, not ob sc uring vision and will not interfer e with the d river’s
ab ility to maintain c ontrol of the vehic le.
When the SRS airb ag d ep loys, a sud d en, fairly loud inflation noise will
b e heard and some smoke will b e released . These oc c urrenc es are

2-34normal result of the d ep loyment. This smoke d oes no
t ind ic ate a fire in
the vehic le.
The SRS airb ag is d esig ned to d ep loy in the event o f an ac c id ent in-
volving a mod erate to severe frontal c ollision. It is b asic ally not d e-
sig ned to d ep loy in lesser frontal imp ac ts b ec ause the nec essary
p rotec tion c an b e ac hieved b y the seatb elt alone. A lso, it is b asic ally
not d esig ned to d ep loy in sid e or rear imp ac ts or i n roll-over ac c i-
d ents b ec ause d ep loyment of the SRS airb ag would no t help the oc -
c up ant in those situations.
The SRS airb ag is d esig ned to func tion on a one-tim e-only b asis.
SRS airb ag d ep loyment d ep end s on the level of forc e exp erienc ed in
the p asseng er c omp artment d uring a c ollision. That level d iffers from
one typ e of c ollision to another, and it may have n o b earing on the
visib le d amag e d one to the vehic le itself. n Examples of accident in which the SRS airbag will most likely
deploy.
A head -on c ollision ag ainst a thic k c onc rete wall a t a vehic le sp eed of
12 to 19 mp h (20 to 30 km/h) ac tivates the SRS airb ag . The SRS air-
b ag will also b e ac tivated when the vehic le is exp o sed to a frontal im-
p ac t similar in fashion and mag nitud e to the ab ove- mentioned c olli-
sion.
HS2003BA

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n
Examples of the types of accidents in which it is possible that
the SRS airbag will deploy.
The SRS airb ag may b e ac tivated when the vehic le su stains a hard
imp ac t in the und erc arriag e area from the road surf ac e (suc h as when
the vehic le p lung es into a d eep d itc h, is severely b ump ed or knoc ked
hard ag ainst an ob stac le on the road suc h as a c urb ).
HS2005BA
HS2004BA
n Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS airbag is
unlikely to deploy.
There are many typ es of c ollisions whic h mig ht not nec essarily req uire
SRS airb ag d ep loyment. If the vehic le strikes an ob jec t, suc h as a
telep hone p ole or sig n p ole, or if it slid es und er a truc k’s load b ed , or
if it sustains an ob liq ue offset frontal imp ac t, th e SRS airb ag may not
d ep loy d ep end ing on the level of ac c id ent forc es in volved .
HS0240HS0239
HS0238
The vehicle strikes a tele- phone pole or similar ob- ject.
The vehicle slides under a truck’
s load bed. The vehicle sustains anoblique offset frontal im- pact.

2-36n
Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS airbag
will basically not deploy.
The SRS airb ag is b asic ally not d esig ned to d ep loy if the vehic le is
struc k from sid e or from b ehind , or if it rolls ont o its sid e or roof, or if it
is involved in a low-sp eed frontal c ollision.
HS0243HS0242
HS0241
The vehicle is struck from behind.
The vehicle is struck fromthe side. The vehicle rolls onto itsside or roof.
In an ac c id ent where the vehic le is imp ac ted more t
han onc e, the
SRS airb ag d ep loys only onc e on the first imp ac t.
Examp le: In the c ase of a d oub le c ollision, first w ith another vehic le,
then ag ainst a c onc rete wall in immed iate suc c essio n, the SRS airb ag
is ac tivated on the first imp ac t b ut not on the sec ond .
HB1070BB