2003 SUBARU IMPREZA Owners Manual

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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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 materi-
als between occupants and seatbacks or seat
cushions. If you do so, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt slidingup over the abdomen will increase, and bothcan result in serious internal injury or death.
WARNING
Never stack luggage or other cargo higher
than the top of the seatback because it couldtumble forward and injure passengers in theevent of a sudden stop or accident.

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Armrest (if equipped)
To lower the armrest, pull on the top edge of the
armrest.
WARNING
To avoid the possibility of serious injury, pas- sengers must never be allowed to sit on thecenter armrest while the vehicle is in motion.
Loading long objects
Folding down the armrest and opening the seatback
panel affords a loading space for long objects.
To open the seatback panel, pull the release tab.
WARNING
Secure long objects properly to prevent
them from shooting forward and causing seri-
ous injury during a sudden stop or sharp cor-
nering. Tie long objects down with a rope orsomething equivalent. Avoid loading objects longer than 6.6 ft (2
m) and heavier than 55 lb (25 kg). Such

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objects can interfere with the driver’s proper
operation of the car, possibly causing an acci-
dent and serious injury. Headrest adjustment – Wagon
To raise the headrest, pull it up. To lower it, push the
head rest down while depressing the release buttonon the top of the seatback.
When the seats are not occupied, lower the head-
rests to improve rearward visibility.

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Rear center seating position
To raise the head restraint, pull it up.
To lower it, push the headrest down while pressing
the release button on the top of the seatback.
When the rear-center seating position is occupied,
place the headrest in its highest position. When the
rear center seating position is not occupied, lower
the headrest to improve rearward visibility.
Folding down the rear seat – Wagon

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1. Lower the headrests.
2. Unlock the seatback by pulling the release knoband then fold the seatback down.
To return the seatback to its original position, raise
the seatback until it locks into place and make sure
that it is securely locked.
WARNING
After returning the rear seat to its original
position, be certain to place all of the seat- belts and the tab attached to the seat cushion
above the seat cushion. And make certain thatthe shoulder belts are fully visible. Never allow passengers to ride on the
folded rear seatback or in the cargo area. Do-ing so may result in serious injury or death. Secure lengthy items properly to prevent
them from shooting forward and causing seri-
ous injury during a sudden stop. Seatbelts
Seatbelt safety tips
WARNING
All persons in the vehicle should fasten
their seatbelts BEFORE the vehicle starts to
move. Otherwise, the possibility of serious in- jury becomes greater in the event of a sudden stop or accident. All belts should fit snugly in order to pro-
vide 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 ormore persons — even children. Otherwise, in
an accident, serious injury or death could re-sult. Replace all seatbelt assemblies including re-
tractors and attaching hardware worn by oc- cupants of a vehicle that has been in a serious
accident. The entire assembly should be re-
placed even if damage is not obvious. Put children aged 12 and under in the rear
seat properly restrained at all times. The SRSairbag deploys with considerable speed and force and can injure or even kill children, es-

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pecially if they are 12 years of age and under and are not restrained or improperly re-strained. Because children are lighter and
weaker than adults, their risk of being injured
from deployment is greater. For that reason,we strongly recommend that ALL children (in- cluding those in child seats and those that
have outgrown child restraint devices) sit inthe REAR seat properly restrained at all times
in a child restraint device or in a seatbelt,whichever is appropriate for the child ’s height
and weight. Secure ALL types of child restraint devices
(including forward facing 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 TO THE
CHILD BY PLACING THE CHILD ’S HEAD TOO
CLOSE TO THE SRS AIRBAG.
According to accident statistics, children are
safer when properly restrained in the rearseating positions than in the front seating
positions. For instructions and precautions
concerning the child restraint system, see the “ Child restraint systems ” section in this chap-
ter.
Infants or small children
Use a child restraint system that is suitable for your
vehicle. See information on “Child restraint systems ”
in this chapter.
Children
If a child is too big for a child restraint system, the
child should sit in the rear seat and be restrained
using the seatbelts. According to accident statistics,
children are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seating posi-tions. Never allow a child to stand up or kneel on theseat.
If the shoulder portion of the belt crosses the face or
neck, adjust the shoulder belt anchor height (win- dow-side seating positions only) and then if neces-
sary move the child closer to the belt buckle to help
provide a good shoulder belt fit. Care must be taken
to securely place the lap belt as low as possible onthe hips and not on the child ’s waist. If the shoulder
portion of the belt cannot be properly positioned, a
child restraint system should be used. Never placethe shoulder belt under the child ’s arm or behind the
child’ s back.

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Expectant mothers
Expectant mothers also need to use the seatbelts.
They should consult their doctor for specific recom-
mendations. The lap belt should be worn securely
and as low as possible over the hips, not over thewaist. Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR)
The driver ’s seatbelt has an Emergency Locking Re-
tractor (ELR).
The emergency locking retractor allows normal
body movement but the retractor locks automaticallyduring a sudden stop, impact or if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
Automatic/Emergency Locking Retractor (A/ELR)
Each passenger ’s seatbelt has an Automatic/Emer-
gency Locking Retractor (A/ELR). The Automatic/
Emergency Locking Retractor normally functions asan Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR). The A/ELR
has an additional locking mode “Automatic Locking
Retractor (ALR) mode ” intended to secure a child
restraint system. When the seatbelt is once drawn
out completely and is then retracted even slightly,
the retractor locks the seatbelt in that position and
the seatbelt cannot be extended. As the belt is re-
winding, clicks will be heard which indicate the re-
tractor functions as an ALR. When the seatbelt is re-
tracted fully, the ALR mode is released.
When securing a child restraint system on the rear seats by the use of the seatbelt, the seatbelt mustbe changed over to the Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) mode.
When the child restraint system is removed, make
sure that the seatbelt retracts fully and the retractor
returned to the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR)mode.
For instructions on how to convert the retractor to

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the ALR mode and restore it to the ELR mode, see the “Child restraint systems ” section in this chapter.
Seatbelt warning light and chime
Your vehicle is equipped with a seatbelt warningdevice at the driver ’s seat, as required by current
safety standards.
This device causes the seatbelt warning light on the
instrument panel to light up for about six seconds
when the ignition switch is turned to “ON” to remind
the driver to wear the seatbelt. If the driver ’s seatbelt
is not fastened, a warning chime sounds at thesame 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. Keep the lap belt as low as possible on your
hips. In a collision, this spreads the force of the lap belt over stronger hip bones instead ofacross the weaker abdomen.
Seatbelts provide maximum restraint when
the occupant sits well back and upright in the
seat. To reduce the risk of sliding under the
seatbelt in a collision, the front seatbacksshould be always used in the upright position
while the vehicle is running. If the front seat-
backs are not used in the upright position in a
collision, the risk of sliding under the lap belt
and of the lap belt sliding up over the abdo-men will increase, and both can result in seri-ous internal injury or death. Do not put cushions or any other materials
between occupants and seatbacks or seat
cushions. If you do so, the risk of slidingunder the lap belt and of the lap belt slidingup over the abdomen will increase, and bothcan result in serious internal injury or death.