2012 SUBARU FORESTER airbag

lift the front passenger’s seat cushion
using his/her feet. . Do not place any article under the front
passenger ’s seat, or squeeze any article
from behind and under the seat. This may
lift the seat cushion. . Do not squeeze any article between
the front passenger ’s seat and side trim/
pillar, door or center console box. This
may lift the seat cushion. ! If the passenger ’s frontal airbag OFF
indicator illuminates and the ON
indicator turns off even when the
front passenger ’s seat is occupied
by an adult
This can be caused by the adult incor-
rectly sitting in the front passenger ’s seat.
Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position. Ask the front passenger to set
the seatback to the upright position, sit up
straight in the center of the seat cushion,
correctly fasten the seatbelt, position his/
her legs out forward, and adjust the seat to
the rearmost position. Turn the ignition
switch to the “ON ”position. If the OFF
indicator remains illuminated while the ON
indicator remains off, take the followingactions. . Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.. Ensure that there are no articles, books, shoes, or other objects trapped
under the seat, at the rear of the seat, or
on the side of the seat. .
Ensure that the backward-forward po-
sition and seatback of front passenger ’s
seat are locked into place securely by
moving the seat back and forth. . Next, turn the ignition switch to the
“ ON ”position and wait 6 seconds to allow
the system to complete self-checking.
Following the system check, both indica-
tors turn off for 2 seconds. Now, the ON
indicator should illuminate while the OFF
indicator remains off.
If the OFF indicator still remains illumi-
nated while the ON indicator remains off,
ask the occupant to move to the rear seat
and immediately contact your SUBARU
dealer for an inspection. ! Effect vehicle modifications made
for persons with disabilities may
have on SUBARU advanced frontal
airbag system operation (U.S. only)
Changing or moving any parts of the front
seats, rear seat, seatbelts, front bumper,
front side frame, radiator panel, instrument
panel, combination meter, steering wheel,
steering column, tire, suspension or floor
panel can affect the operation of the
SUBARU advanced airbag system. If
you have any questions, you may contact the following SUBARU distributors.
of Columbia>
Subaru of America, Inc.
Customer Dealer Services Department
P.O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000
1-800-SUBARU3 (1-800-782-2783)
Servco Subaru Inc., dba Subaru Hawaii
2850 Pukoloa Street, Suite 202, Honolulu,
HI 96819 808-839-2273 Shen
’s Corporation dba Prestige Automo-
bile
491, East Marine Drive, Route 1 Dededo, Guam 671-633-2698

Trebol Motors
P.O. Box 11204, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910 787-793-2828
There are currently no SUBARU distribu-
tors in any other U.S. territories. If you are
in such an area, please contact the
SUBARU distributor or dealer from which Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-43
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1-44Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
you bought your vehicle. !Operation
A) Driver ’s side
B) Passenger ’s side
1) SRS AIRBAGs deploy as soon as a collision occurs.
2) After deployment, SRS AIRBAGs start to deflate immediately so that the driver ’s vision is not
obstructed.

The SRS airbag can function only when
the ignition switch is in the“ON ”position.
The SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
system is designed to determine the
activation or deactivation condition of the
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the total load on the frontpassenger ’s seat monitored by the front
passenger ’s occupant detection system
weight sensor. For this reason, only thedriver ’s SRS frontal airbag may deploy in
the event of a collision, but this does not
mean failure of the system.
If the front sub sensors and the impact
sensors in the airbag control module
detect a predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, the control
module sends signals to the airbag
module(s) (only driver ’s module or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s modules)
instructing the module(s) to inflate the
SRS frontal airbag(s). The driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags use
dual stage inflators.
The two inflators of each airbag are
triggered either sequentially or simulta-
neously, depending on the severity of
impact, in the case of the driver ’s SRS
frontal airbag and depending on the
severity of impact and the total load on
the seat in the case of the front passen-ger ’s SRS frontal airbag. After deploy- ment, the SRS airbag immediately starts
to deflate so that the driver
’s vision is not
obstructed. The time required from detect-
ing impact to the deflation of the SRS
airbag after deployment is shorter than the
blink of an eye.
Both when only the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag deploys and the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags deploy,
the driver ’s and front passenger ’s seatbelt
pretensioners operate at the same time.
Although it is highly unlikely that the SRS
airbag would activate in a non-accident
situation, should it occur, the SRS airbag
will deflate quickly, not obscuring vision
and will not interfere with the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle.
When the SRS airbag deploys, a sudden,
fairly loud inflation noise will be heard and
some smoke will be released. These
occurrences are a normal result of the
deployment. This smoke does not indicate
a fire in the vehicle.
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components around the steering
wheel and dashboard with bare
hands right after deployment. Doing
so can cause burns because the components can be very hot as a
result of deployment.
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag are de-
signed to deploy in the event of an
accident involving a moderate to severe
frontal collision. They are basically not
designed to deploy in lesser frontal im-
pacts because the necessary protection
can be achieved by the seatbelt alone.
Also, they are basically not designed to
deploy in side or rear impacts or in roll-
over accidents because deployment of
only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags would not help the occupant in
those situations. The driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags are de-
signed to function on a one-time-onlybasis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the
level of force experienced in the passen-
ger compartment during a collision. That
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on
the visible damage done to the vehicleitself. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-45
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1-46Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Example of accident in which the driver ’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will most
likely deploy.
A head-on collision against a thick con-
crete wall at a vehicle speed of 12 to 19
mph (20 to 30 km/h) or higher activates
only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags. The airbag(s) will also be acti-
vated when the vehicle is exposed to a
frontal impact similar in fashion and
magnitude to the collision describedabove. !
Examples of the types of accidents
in which it is possible that thedriver ’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will de-
ploy.
Only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or
both driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbags may be activated when the
vehicle sustains a hard impact in the
undercarriage area from the road surface
(such as when the vehicle plunges into a
deep ditch, is severely impacted or
knocked hard against an obstacle on the
road such as a curb).

!Examples of the types of accidents in which deployment of the driver ’s/driver ’s
and front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) is unlikely to occur.1) The vehicle strikes an object, such as a
telephone pole or sign pole.
2) The vehicle slides under the load bed of a truck.
3) The vehicle sustains an oblique offset frontal impact.
4) The vehicle sustains an offset frontal collision.
5) The vehicle strikes an object that can move or deform, such as a parked vehicle.
There are many types of collisions which
might not necessarily require deployment
of driver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag(s). In the event of
accidents like those illustrated, the dri-ver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag(s) may not deploy depend-
ing on the level of accident forces in-volved. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-47
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1-48Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Examples of the types of accidents
in which the driver ’s/driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag(s) will basically not deploy.
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbags are designed basically not to deploy if the vehicle is struck from the
side or from behind, or if it rolls onto its
side or roof, or if it is involved in a low-
speed frontal collision.
1) First impact
2) Second impact
In an accident where the vehicle is
impacted more than once, the driver ’s
and/or front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag(s) will deploy only once on the firstimpact.
Example: In the case of a double collision,
first with another vehicle, then against a
concrete wall in immediate succession,
once either or both of the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags is/are
activated on the first impact, it/they will not
be activated on the second impact. &
SRS side airbag and SRS
curtain airbag
The SRS side airbag is stored in the door
side of each front seat seatback, which
bears an “SRS AIRBAG ”label.
Inamoderatetoseveresideimpact
collision, the SRS side airbag on the
impacted side of the vehicle deploys
between the occupant and the door panel
and supplements the seatbelt by reducing
the impact on the occupant ’s chest and
waist. The SRS side airbag operates only
for front seat occupants.
The SRS curtain airbag on each side of
the cabin is stored in the roof side
(between the front pillar and a point over
the rear seat). An “SRS AIRBAG ”mark is
located at the top of each center pillar.
Inamoderatetoseveresideimpact
collision, the SRS curtain airbag on the
impacted side of the vehicle deploys
between the occupant and the side
window and supplements the seatbelt by
reducing the impact on the occupant ’s
head.
In a rollover, SRS curtain airbags on both
sides of the vehicle deploy between the
occupant and the side window and sup-
plement the seatbelt by reducing the
impact to the occupant ’s head.

WARNING
The SRS side airbag and SRS
curtain airbag are designed as only
a supplement to the primary protec-
tion provided by the seatbelt. They
do 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 is not seated in a proper
upright position.
WARNING
. 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 than
the blink of an eye) in the event of
a side impact collision. However,
theforceofSRSsideairbag
deployment may cause injuries
if your head or other parts of the
body are too close to the SRS
side airbag.
. Since your vehicle is equipped
with SRS curtain airbags, do not
sit or lean unnecessarily close to
the front or rear door on either
side. Also, do not put your head,
arms or hands out of the window.
The SRS curtain airbag on each
side of the cabin is stored in the
roof side (between the front pillar
and a point over the rear seat),
and it provides protection by
deploying rapidly (faster than
the blink of an eye) in the event
of a side impact or a rollover.
However, the force of its deploy-
ment may cause injuries if your
head is too close to it.
WARNING
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. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-49
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1-50Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
WARNING
. Never allow a child to kneel on
the front passenger ’s seat facing
the side window or wrap his/her
arms around the front seat seat-
back. In the event of an accident,
the force of the SRS side airbag
deployment could injure the child
seriously because his/her head
or arms or other parts of the
body are too close to the SRS
side airbag.
Since your vehicle is also
equipped with a front passen-ger ’s SRS frontal airbag, children
aged 12 and under should be
placed in the rear seat anyway
and should be properly re-
strained at all times.
. Never allow a child to kneel on
any passenger ’s seat facing the
side window or put their head,
arms or hands out of the window.
In the event of an accident, the
force of the SRS curtain airbag
deployment could injure the child
seriously because his/her head is
close to the SRS curtain airbag.
WARNING
. Do not attach accessories to the
door trim or near either SRS side
airbags and do not place objects
near the SRS side airbags. In the
event of the SRS side airbag
deployment, they could be pro-
pelled dangerously toward thevehicle ’s occupants and cause
injuries.
. Do not attach a hands-free micro-
phone or any other accessory to
a front pillar, a center pillar, a rear
pillar, the windshield, a side win-
dow, an assist grip, or any other
cabin surface that would be near
a deploying SRS curtain airbag.