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1-30 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
following the instructions provided by its
manufacturer.
3. Insert the tongue plate into the buckle
until you hear a click. Take care not to
twist the seatbelt.
Make sure the shoulder belt is positioned
across the center of child s shoulder and
that the lap belt is positioned as low as
possible on the child s hips.
4. To remove the booster seat, press the
release button on the seatbelt buckle and
allow the belt to retract.Installation of child restraint
systems by use of lower and
tether anchorages (LATCH)
Never use a belt that is twisted or
reversed. In an accident, this can
increase the risk or severity of in-
jury to the child.
100142
Never place the shoulder belt un-
der the child s arm or behind the
child s back. If an accident oc-
curs, this can increase the risk or
severity of injury to the child.
The seatbelt should fit snugly in
order to provide full restraint.
Loose fitting belts are not as ef-
fective in preventing or reducing
injury.
Place the lap belt as low as possi-
ble on the child s hips. A high-po-
sitioned lap belt will increase the
risk of sliding under the lap belt
and of the lap belt sliding up over
the abdomen, and both can result
in serious internal injury or death.
Make sure the shoulder belt is po-
sitioned across the center of
child s shoulder. Placing the
shoulder belt over the neck may
result in neck injury during sud-
den braking or in a collision.
Child restraint systems and seat-
belts can become hot in a vehicle
that has been closed up in sunny
weather; they could burn a small
child. Check the child restraint
system before you place a child in
it.
Do not leave an unsecured child
restraint system in your vehicle.
Unsecured child restraint sys-
tems can be thrown around inside
of the vehicle in a sudden stop,
turn or accident; they can strike
and injure vehicle occupants as
well as result in serious injuries or
death to the child.
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-31
CONTINUED
Some types of child restraint systems can
be installed on the rear seat of your vehi-
cle without use of the seatbelts. Such child
restraint systems are secured to the des-
ignated anchorages provided on the vehi-
cle body. The lower and tether anchorag- es are sometimes referred to as the
LATCH system (
Lower Anchors and Teth-
ers for CHildren).
Your vehicle is equipped with four lower
anchorages (bars) and three upper an-
chorages (tether anchorages) for accom-
modating such child restraint systems.
The lower anchorages (bars) are used for
installing a child restraint system only on
the rear seat window-side seating posi-
tions. For each window-side seating posi-
tion, two lower anchorages are provided.
Each lower anchorage is located where
the seat cushion meets the seatback. The tether anchorages (upper anchorag-
es) are provided for all the seating posi-
tions (middle and both window-side ones)
of the rear seat.
You will find marks
at the bottom of
the rear seat seatbacks. These marks in-
When you install a child restraint
system, follow the manufacturer
s
instructions supplied with it. After
installing the child restraint system,
check to ensure that it is held se-
curely in position. If it is not held
tight and secure, the danger of your
child suffering personal injury in the
event of an accident may be in-
creased.
100691
100144
100694
100614
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1-32 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
dicate the positions of the lower anchorag-
es (bars).
Each lower anchorage is located where
the seat cushion meets the seatback.
1. Use the marks to locate the two
lower anchorages (bars) for the position
where you want to install the child restraint
system. 2. While following the instructions sup-
plied by the child restraint system manu-
facturer, connect the lower hooks onto the
lower anchorages located at
marks
on the bottom of the rear seatback. When
the hooks are connected, make sure the
adjacent seatbelts are not caught. 3. [If your child restraint system is of a
flexible attachment type (which uses teth-
er belts to connect the child restraint sys-
tem properly to the lower anchorages)]
While pushing the child restraint into the
seat cushion, pull both left and right lower
tether belts up to secure the child restraint
system firmly by taking up the slack in the
belt.
4. Connect the top tether hook to the teth-
er anchorage and firmly tighten the tether.
For information on how to set the top teth-
er, read the following
Top tether anchor-
ages .
100615
100520100616
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-33
CONTINUED
5. Before seating a child in the child re-
straint system, try to move seat back and
forth and right and left to verify that it is
held securely in position.
6. To remove the child restraint system,
follow the reverse procedures of installa-
tion.
If you have any question concerning this
type of child restraint system, ask your
SUBARU dealer.
Top tether anchorages
Your vehicle is equipped with three top
tether anchorages so that a child restraint
system having a top tether can be in-
stalled in the rear seat. When installing a
child restraint system using top tether,
proceed as follows, while observing the in- structions by the child restraint system
manufacturer.
Since a top tether can provide additional
stability by offering another connection
between a child restraint system and the
vehicle, we recommend that you use a top
tether whenever one is required or avail-
able.
Anchorage location
Sedan
1) For left seat
2) For center seat
3) For right seat
100149
1
23
100695
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1-34 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
Three upper anchorages are installed on
the rear shelf behind the rear seat.
Wagon
1) For left seat
2) For center seat
3) For right seat
There is an anchorage for the center seat-
ing position at the rear edge of the roof,
and anchorages for each of the two win-
dow-side seating positions on the rear
wall of the cargo area.
To hook the top tether
Sedan
1. Attach the child restraint top tether
hook to the appropriate upper anchorage.
2. Tighten the top tether securely.
Please contact your SUBARU dealer if
you have any question regarding the in-
stallation of a child restraint system.
Wagon
1. Remove the headrest at the window-
side seating position where the child re-
straint system has been installed with the
lower anchorages or seatbelt; lift up the
headrest while pressing the release but-
ton. Store the headrest in the cargo area.
Avoid placing the headrest in the passen-
ger compartment to prevent it from being
thrown around in the passenger compart-
ment in a sudden stop or a sharp turn.
2 1 3
100696
100689
100151
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-35
CONTINUED
2. (For both window-side seating posi-
tions) Remove the cap from the anchor fit-
ting cover by prying it with a screwdriver.
Center
Window-side
3. Attach the child restraint top tether
hook to the appropriate upper anchorage.
4. Tighten the top tether securely.
Please contact your SUBARU dealer if
you have any question regarding the in-
stallation of a child restraint system.
*SRS airbag (Supplemental
Restraint System airbag)
*SRS: This stands for supplemental re-
straint system. This name is used be-
cause the airbag system supplements the
vehicle
s seatbelts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seatbelt(s) by the
driver and front passenger when any of
the SRS frontal and side airbags deploys.
Vehicle with driver s and
front passenger s SRS air-
bags and lap/shoulder re-
straints
Your vehicle is equipped with a supple-
mental restraint system in addition to a
lap/shoulder belt at each front seating po-
sition.
The supplemental restraint system (SRS)
consists of two airbags (driver s and front
passenger s frontal airbags) or four air-
bags (driver s and front passenger s fron-
tal airbags and driver s and front passen-
ger s side airbags).
These SRS airbags are designed only
as a supplement to the primary protec-
tion provided by the seatbelt.
100297
100692
Always remove the headrest when
mounting a child restraint system
with a top tether. Otherwise, the top
tether cannot be fastened tightly.
100690
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1-36 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
The system also controls front seatbelt
pretensioners. For operation instructions
and precautions concerning the seatbelt
pretensioner, see the Front seatbelt pre-
tensioners section in this chapter.
To obtain maximum protection in
the event of an accident, the driv-
er and all passengers in the vehi-
cle should always wear seatbelts
when the vehicle is moving. The
SRS airbag is designed only as a
supplement to the primary protec-
tion provided by the seatbelt. It
does not do away with the need to
fasten seatbelts. In combination
with the seatbelts, it offers the
best combined protection in case
of a serious accident.
Not wearing a seatbelt increases
the chance of severe injury or
death in a crash even when the ve-
hicle has the SRS airbag.
For instructions and precautions
concerning the seatbelt system,
see the Seatbelts section in this
chapter.
Do not sit or lean unnecessarily
close to the SRS airbag. Because
the SRS airbag deploys with con-
siderable speed faster than the
blink of an eye and force to pro-
tect in high speed collisions, the
force of an airbag can injure an
occupant whose body is too close
to SRS airbag.
It is also important to wear your
seatbelt to help avoid injuries that
can result when the SRS airbag
contacts an occupant not in prop-
er position such as one thrown
forward during pre-accident brak-
ing.
Even when properly positioned,
there remains a possibility that an
occupant may suffer minor injury
such as abrasions and bruises to
the face or arms because of the
SRS airbag deployment force.
The SRS airbags deploy with con-
siderable speed and force. Occu-
pants who are out of proper posi-
tion when the SRS airbag deploys
could suffer very serious injuries.
Because the SRS airbag needs
enough space for deployment, the
driver should always sit upright
and well back in the seat as far
from the steering wheel as practi-
cal while still maintaining full ve-
hicle control and the front passen-
ger should move the seat as far
back as possible and sit upright
and well back in the seat.
Do not place any objects over or
near the SRS airbag cover or be-
tween you and the SRS airbag. If
the SRS airbag deploys, those ob-
jects could interfere with its prop-
er operation and could be pro-
pelled inside the vehicle and
cause injury.
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-37
CONTINUED
NOTE
When you sell your vehicle, we urge
you to explain to the buyer that it is
equipped with SRS airbags by alerting
him or her to the applicable section in
this owners manual.
Put children aged 12 and under in
the rear seat properly restrained
at all times. The SRS airbag de-
ploys with considerable speed
and force and can injure or even
kill children, especially 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 de-
ployment is greater.
100082
For that reason, we strongly rec-
ommend that ALL children (in-
cluding those in child seats and
those that have outgrown child re-
straint devices) sit in the REAR
seat properly restrained at all
times in a child restraint device or
in a seatbelt, whichever is appro-
priate for the child s age, height
and weight.
Secure ALL types of child re-
straint devices (including forward
facing child seats) in the REAR
seats at all times.
According to accident statistics,
children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seating posi-
tions than in the front seating po-
sitions.
For instructions and precautions
concerning the child restraint sys-
tem, see the Child restraint sys-
tems section in this chapter.
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 passenger s
seat, or never hold a child on your
lap or in your arms. The SRS air-
bag deploys with considerable
force and can injure or even kill
the child.
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 trou-
ble. If you or your passengers
have breathing problems after
SRS airbag deploys, get fresh air
promptly.
A deploying SRS airbag releases
hot gas. Occupants could get
burned if they come into direct
contact with the hot gas.