2000 SUBARU LEGACY Owners Manual

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-53
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SRS frontal airbag
WARNING
NEVER INSTALL A REARWARD FACING CHILD SEAT IN THE
FRONT SEAT. DOING SO RISKS SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO THE 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. The SRS airbag deploys with considerable speed and force.
Occupants who are out of proper position when the SRS airbag
deploys could suffer very serious injuries. Because the SRS air-bag needs enough space for deployment, the driver should al-ways sit upright and well back in the seat as far from the steeringwheel as practical while still maintaining full vehicle control and
the front passenger should move the seat as far back as possibleand sit upright and well back in the seat. It is also important to wear your seatbelt to help avoid injuriesthat can result when the SRS airbag contacts an occupant not inproper position such as one thrown toward the front of the carduring pre-accident braking.
HB0306 HB0307
Never install rearward facing child seat in the front passenger
’s seat.
Never allow a child to stand up, or to kneel on the front passenger ’s
seat

1-54
HB0308
Never hold a child on your lap or in your arms.HS0233
Adjust the seatback to upright position. Sit well back and upright.
Move the seat as far from the steering wheel as practical.
HB0290
Adjust the seatback to upright position. Sit well back and upright.
Move the seat as far back as possible.
WARNING
Do not put any objects over the steering wheel pad and dash-
board. If the SRS frontal airbag deploys, those objects could in-
terfere with its proper operation and could be propelled inside the
vehicle 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.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-55
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HB1047BB
The d river’s SRS frontal airb ag is stowed in the c enter p ortio n of the
steering wheel. The p asseng er ’s SRS frontal airb ag is stowed near the
top of the d ashb 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 frontal airb ag s d ep loy and sup p lement the sea tb 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.
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.

1-56SRS airbags deploy as soon as a collision occurs. After deployment, SRS airbags start to deflate immediately so that the driver
’s
vision is not obstructed.
OM-H0384
Driver’
s side Passenger ’s side
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 frontal airb ag mod ules instruc ting t hem to inflate the
SRS frontal airb ag s. Then b oth airb ag mod ules p rod u c e g as, whic h
instantly inflates d river ’s and p asseng er ’s SRS frontal airb ag s. After
the d ep loyment, the SRS airb ag s immed iately start t o d eflate so that
the d river ’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 link of eye.
The front p asseng er ’s SRS frontal airb ag d ep loys tog ether with d riv-
er ’s SRS frontal airb ag even when no one oc c up ies the front p assen-
g er ’s seat.
When the SRS frontal airb ag s d ep loy, the d river ’s and front p assen-
g er ’s seatb elt p retensioners op erate at the same time.
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.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-57
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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
normal result of the d ep loyment. This smoke d oes no t ind ic ate a fire in
the vehic le.
The SRS frontal airb ag is d esig ned to d ep loy in the event of an ac c i-
d ent involving a mod erate to severe frontal c ollisi on. It is b asic ally not
d esig ned to d ep loy in lesser frontal imp ac ts b ec aus e 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 frontal airb ag would not help
the oc c up ant in those situations. The SRS airb ag is d esig ned to func -
tion on a one-time-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 frontal 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 fron tal airb ag and the
seatb elt p retensioner. The SRS frontal airb ag and s eatb elt p retension-
er will also b e ac tivated when the vehic le is exp os ed to a frontal im-
p ac t similar in fashion and mag nitud e to the ab ove- mentioned c olli-
sion.
HB1055BA

1-58n
Examples of the types of accidents in which it is possible that
the SRS frontal airbag will deploy.
The SRS frontal airb ag and seatb elt p retensioner ma y b e ac tivated
when the vehic le sustains a hard imp ac t in the und e rc arriag e area
from the road surfac e (suc h as when the vehic le p lu ng es into a d eep
d itc h, is severely b ump ed or knoc ked hard ag ainst a n ob stac le on the
road suc h as a c urb ).
HB1057BA
HB1056BA
n Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS frontal
airbag is unlikely to deploy.
There are many typ es of c ollisions whic h mig ht not nec essarily req uire
SRS frontal airb ag d ep loyment. If the vehic le strik es an ob jec t, suc h
as a telep hone p ole or sig n p ole, or if it slid es u nd er a truc k’s load
b ed , or if it sustains an ob liq ue offset frontal im p ac t, the SRS frontal
airb ag may not d ep loy d ep end ing on the level of ac c id ent forc es in-
volved .
HB0311
HB1042BB
HB1041AB The vehicle sustains an oblique offset frontal impact.

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n
Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS frontal
airbag will basically not deploy.
The SRS frontal 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 i t rolls onto its sid e or
roof, or if it is involved in a low-sp eed frontal c ollision.
HB1044AB
The vehicle is struck from the side.
HB0313
HB1043BB
In an ac c id ent where the vehic le is imp ac ted more t han onc e, the
SRS frontal airb ag d ep loys only onc e on the first i mp 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 frontal
airb ag is ac tivated on the first imp ac t b ut not on the sec ond .
HB1070BB

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SRS side airbag (if equipped)
WARNING
The SRS aide airbag is designed as only a supplement to the
primary protection provided by the seatbelt. It does not do away with the need to fasten seatbelts. It is also important to wear your
seatbelt to help avoid injuries that can result when an occupant isnot seated in a proper upright position. Do not sit or lean unnecessarily close to either front door. The
SRS side airbag is stored in both front seat seatbacks next to the
door, and it provides protection by deploying rapidly (faster thanthe blink of an eye) in the event of a side impact collision. Howev-
er, the force of SRS side airbag deployment may cause injuries ifyour head or other body parts are too close to the SRS side air-bag. Do not rest your arm on either front door or its internal trim. It
could be injured in the event of SRS side airbag deployment. Never allow a child to kneel on the front passenger ’s seat fac-
ing the side window or to wrap his/her arms around the front seat
seatback. In the event of an accident, the force of SRS side airbag
deployment could seriously injure or even kill the child becausehis/her head or arms or other body parts are close to the side air-bag. Since your vehicle is also equipped with a passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag, children aged 12 and under should be placed inthe rear seat anyway and should be properly restrained at alltimes.