2000 SUBARU OUTBACK warning

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-9
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HB1073BB
HB1019BB
To turn on the seat heater, p ush the “LO ” or “HI ” p osition on the switc h,
as d esired , d ep end ing on the temp erature. LO: Normal heating
HI: Rap id heating
The ind ic ator loc ated on the switc h c omes on when t he seat heater is in
op eration. When the vehic le ’s interior is warmed enoug h or b efore you
leave the vehic le, b e sure to turn the switc h off.
Rear seats
WARNING
Seatbelts provide maximum restraint when the occupant sits
well back and upright in the seat. Do not put cushions or any other
materials between occupants and seatbacks or seat cushions. If
you do so, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt
sliding up over the abdomen will increase, and both can result in
serious internal injury or death. Never allow passengers to ride on the folded rear seatback, in
the cargo area. Doing so may result in serious injury or death. Never stack luggage or other cargo higher than the top of the
seatback because it could tumble forward and injure passengersin the event of a sudden stop or accident.

1-10
Secure skis and other lengthy items properly to prevent them
from being thrown around inside the vehicle and causing serious
injury during a sudden stop, a sudden steering or a rapid accel-eration.
HB0302
Sit well back and upright.
Armrest (if equipped)
WARNING
To avoid the possibility of serious injury, passengers must never be allowed to sit on the center armrest while the vehicle is in mo-tion.
HB1068BA
To lower the armrest, p ull on the top ed g e of the a rmrest.

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Loading long objects
WARNING
Secure long objects properly to prevent them from shooting
forward and causing serious injury during a sudden stop or
sharp cornering. Tie long objects down with a rope or somethingequivalent. Avoid loading objects longer than 6.6 ft (2 m) and heavier than
55 lb (25 kg). Such objects can interfere with the driver ’s proper
operation of the car, possibly causing an accident and serious
injury.
HB1053BA
HB1052BA
Fold ing d own the armrest and op ening the seatb ac k p anel afford s a
load ing sp ac e for long ob jec ts.
To op en the seatb ac k p anel, p ull the p anel d own whi le p ressing the
release tab d own.
Folding down the rear seat — Station wagon
WARNING
After returning the rear seat to its original position, be certain
to place all of the seatbelts and the tab attached to the seat cush-ion above the seat cushion. And make certain that the shoulderbelts are fully visible. Never permit anyone to ride in the cargo area.

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Seatbelts
Seatbelt safety tips
WARNING
All persons in the vehicle should fasten their seatbelts BE-
FORE the vehicle starts to move. Otherwise, the possibility of se-
rious injury becomes greater in the event of a sudden stop or ac-cident. All belts should fit snugly in order to provide full restraint.
Loose fitting belts are not as effective in preventing or reducing
injury. Each seatbelt is designed to support only one person. Never
use a single belt for two or more persons — even children. Other-
wise, in an accident, serious injury or death could result. Replace all seatbelt assemblies including retractors and at-
taching hardware worn by occupants of a vehicle that has been ina serious accident. The entire assembly should be replaced evenif damage is not obvious. Put children aged 12 and under in the rear seat properly re-
strained at all times. The SRS airbag deploys with considerablespeed and force and can injure or even kill children, especially ifthey are 12 years of age and under and are not restrained or im-properly restrained. Because children are lighter and weaker than
adults, their risk of being injured from deployment is greater. Forthat reason, we strongly recommend that ALL children (includingthose in child seats and those that have outgrown child restraint
devices) sit in the REAR seat properly restrained at all times in achild restraint device or in a seatbelt, whichever is appropriate forthe child ’s height and weight.
Secure ALL types of child restraint devices (including forwardfacing child seats) in the REAR seats at all times.
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.

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Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) function
When sec uring a c hild restraint system on the p asse ng ers’ seats, the
seatb elt must b e c hang ed over to the Automatic Loc k ing Retrac tor (ALR)
mod e.
When the c hild restraint system is removed , make su re that the retrac tor
op erates as an Emerg enc y Loc king Retrac tor (ELR).
For instruc tions on how to c onvert the retrac tor to the ALR mod e and re-
store it to the ELR mod e, see the “Child restraint systems ” sec tion in this
c hap ter. Seatbelt warning light and chime
Your vehic le is eq uip p ed with a seatb elt warning d e vic e at the d river’s
seat.
This d evic e c auses the seatb elt warning lig ht on th e instrument p anel to
lig ht up for ab out six sec ond s when the ig nition sw itc h is turned to the
“ ON ” p osition to remind the d river to wear the seatb elt . If the d river’s
seatb elt is not fastened , a warning c hime sound s at the same time.
Fastening the seatbelt
WARNING
Never use a belt that is twisted or reversed. In an accident, this
can increase the risk or severity of injury. Never place the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the
back. If an accident occurs, this can increase the risk or severity
of injury. Keep the lap belt as low as possible on your hips. In a colli-
sion, this spreads the force of the lap belt over stronger hipbones instead of across the weaker abdomen. Seatbelts provide maximum restraint when the occupant sits
well back and upright in the seat. To reduce the risk of sliding un-der the seatbelt in a collision, the front seatbacks should be al-ways used in the upright position while the vehicle is running. Ifthe front seatbacks are not used in the upright position in a colli-
sion, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt slid-

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Front and rear seatbelts (except rear center seatbelt on station wagon)
OM-H0044OM-H0043
1. Ad just the seat p osition:
Driver’ s seat: Ad just the seatb ac k to the up rig ht p osition. Move the
seatb ac k as far from the steering wheel as p rac tic a l while still main-
taining full vehic le c ontrol.Front passenger ’s seat: Ad just the seatb ac k to the up rig ht p osition.
Move the seat as far b ac k as p ossib le.
2. Sit well b ac k in the seat.
3. Pic k up the tong ue p late and p ull the b elt out sl owly. Do not let it
g et twisted . If the b elt stop s b efore reac hing the b uc kle, return the
b elt slig htly and p ull it out more slowly. If the b elt still c annot b e un-
loc ked , let the b elt retrac t slig htly after g iving a strong p ull on it, then
p ull it out slowly ag ain.
4. Insert the tong ue p late into the b uc kle until you hear a c lic k.
5. To make the lap p art tig ht, p ull up on the should er b elt. And p lac e
the lap b elt as low as p ossib le on your hip s, not o n your waist.
Rear center seatbelt on station wagon
WARNING
Fastening the seatbelt with the webbing twisted can increase
the risk or severity of injury in an accident. When fastening the
belt after it is out from the retractor, especially when inserting thesmaller tongue plate into the mating buckle (smaller one on right-

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Adjusting the front seat shoulder belt anchor height
WARNING
When wearing the front seatbelts, make sure the shoulder portion of the webbing does not pass over your neck. If it does, adjustthe seatbelt anchor to a lower position. Placing the shoulder beltover the neck may result in neck injury during sudden braking orin a collision.
HB1029BB
The should er b elt anc hor heig ht should b e ad justed to the p osition b est
suited for you. To lower the anc hor heig ht, p ush th e release b utton and
slid e the anc hor d own. To raise the anc hor heig ht, slid e the anc hor up .
Pull d own on the anc hor to make sure that it is loc ked in p lac e.
Always ad just the anc hor heig ht so that the should e r b elt p asses over
the mid d le of the should er without touc hing the nec k.

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Front seatbelt pretensioners
WARNING
To obtain maximum protection, occupants should sit in an up-
right position with their seatbelts properly fastened. Refer to
“Seatbelts” section in this chapter.
Do not modify, remove or strike the front seatbelt retractor as-
semblies or surrounding area. This could result in accidental ac-tivation of the seatbelt pretensioners or could make the system
inoperative, possibly resulting in serious injury. Seatbelt preten-sioners have no user-serviceable parts. For required servicing of
front seatbelt retractors equipped with seatbelt pretensioners,
see your nearest SUBARU dealer. When discarding front seatbelt retractor assemblies or scrap-
ping the entire car due to collision damage or for other reasons,
consult your SUBARU dealer.
HB0373
Seatbelt retractor assembly (Pretensioner)
The d river
’s and front p asseng er ’s seatb elts have a seatb elt p reten-
sioner. The seatb elt p retensioners are d esig ned to b e ac tivated in the
event of an ac c id ent involving a mod erate to severe frontal c ollision.
The p retensioner sensor also serves as a SRS fronta l airb ag sensor. If
the sensor d etec ts a c ertain p red etermined amount o f forc e d uring a
frontal c ollision, the front seatb elt is q uic kly d r awn b ac k in b y the re-
trac tor to take up the slac k so that the b elt more effec tively restrains