2012 SUBARU LEGACY Owners Manual

1-50Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
&System operation
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components with bare hands right
after deployment. Doing so can
cause burns because the compo-
nents can be very hot as a result ofdeployment.
The SRS airbags can function only when
the ignition switch is in the “ON ”position.
When the SRS airbag(s) deploy(s), 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. !
SUBARU advanced frontal airbagoperation
1) Driver ’s side
2) Passenger ’s side
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 inside both front
fenders and the impact sensors in the
airbag control module detect a predeter-
mined 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 passen-
ger ’s modules) instructing the module(s)
to inflate the SRS frontal airbag(s). Thedriver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags use dual stage inflators. The two
inflators of each airbag are triggered either
sequentially or simultaneously, depending
on the severity of impact in the case of thedriver ’s SRS frontal airbag and depending
on the severity of impact and the total load
on the seat in the case of the frontpassenger ’s SRS frontal airbag.
After deployment, the SRS airbag imme-
diately starts to deflate so that the driver ’s
vision is not obstructed and the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle is

not impaired. The time required from
detecting 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.
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 rollover
accidents because deployment of only thedriver ’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 passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbags are designed to
function on a one-time-only basis.
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. !
Examples 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
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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1-52Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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
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1-54Seat, 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.
WARNING
If the vehicle is damaged in an
accident but the SRS frontal airbag
does not deploy, contact your
SUBARU dealer as soon as possi-ble.
! SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag operation
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
side airbags and SRS curtain airbags
deploy independently of each other be-
cause each has its own impact sensor.
Therefore, they may not both deploy in the
same accident. Also, the SRS side airbag
and SRS curtain airbag deploys indepen-
dently of the driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbags in the steering

wheel and instrument panel.
An impact sensor, which senses impact
force, is located in each of the followinglocations. .In the left and right front doors
. In the left and right center pillars
. In the left and right rear wheel houses
. In the airbag control module
For Outback models, a rollover sensor is
also located inside the airbag controlmodule.
If the impact sensor that is located in the
airbag control module and one of the
center pillar impact sensors or front door
impact sensors together sense an impact
force above a predetermined level in a
side collision, the control module causes
both the SRS side airbag and curtain
airbag on the impacted side to inflate
regardless of whether the rear wheel
house impact sensor on the same side
senses an impact.
If the impact sensor that is located in the
airbag control module and one of the rear
wheel house impact sensors together
sense an impact force above a predeter-
mined level in a side collision, the control
module causes only the SRS curtain
airbag on the impacted side to inflate. For Outback models, if the rollover sensor
detects rollover of the vehicle, the control
module inflates the SRS curtain airbags.
At this time, the driver
’s and front passen-
ger ’s seatbelt pretensioners also operate
at the same time.
After the deployment, the SRS side airbag
immediately starts to deflate. The time
required from detection of an impact to
deflation of an SRS side airbag after
deployment is shorter than the blink of
an eye.
The SRS curtain airbag remains inflated
for a while following deployment then
slowly deflates.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag deploy even when no one occupies
the seat on the side on which an impact isapplied.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag are designed to deploy in the event
of an accident involving a moderate to
severe side impact collision. They are
basically not designed to deploy in a
lesser side impact.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag deployment depend on the level of
force experienced in the passenger com-
partment during a side impact 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.
For Outback models, the SRS curtain
airbags are also designed to deploy when
the vehicle is in an extremely inclined
state such as during a rollover. They are
basically not designed to deploy in a
lesser inclined state.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag are basically not designed to
deploy in frontal or rear impacts because
the SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag deployment would not help the
occupant in those situations.
Each SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag are designed to function on a one-
time-only basis.
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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1-56Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Example of the type of accident in
which the SRS side airbag will most
likely deploy.
A severe side impact near the front seat
activates the SRS side airbag. !
Examples of the types of accidents
in which the SRS curtain airbag will
most likely deploy.
Legacy models
A severe side impact near the front seat or
the rear seat activates the SRS curtainairbag.

Outback models1) The vehicle is involved in a severe sideimpact near the front seat or the rear seat.
2) The vehicle rolls onto its side or the roof.
3) The angle of vehicle tip-up is marginal or the skidding vehicle ’s tires hit a curb-
stone laterally.
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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