2012 SUBARU OUTBACK warning

1-30Seat, 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.
WARNING
. Never use a belt that is twisted or
reversed. In an accident, this can
increase the risk or severity of
injury to the child. .
Never place the shoulder belt
under the child ’s arm or behind
the child ’s back. If an accident
occurs, 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
effective in preventing or redu-
cing injury.
. Place the lap belt as low as
possible on the child ’s hips. A
high-positioned lap belt will in-
crease the risk of sliding under
the lap belt and of the lap belt
sliding up over the abdomen, and
both can result in serious inter-
nal injury or death.
. Make sure the shoulder belt is
positioned 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. &
Installation of child restraint
systems by use of lower and
tether anchorages (LATCH)
WARNING
. 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 in-
side of the vehicle in a sudden
stop, turn or accident; they can
strike and injure vehicle occu-
pants as well as result in serious
injuries or death to the child.
CAUTION
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
securely in position. If it is not held

1-36Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
*SRS airbag (Supplemental
Restraint System airbag)
*SRS: This stands for supplemental re-
straint system. This name is used be-
cause the airbag system supplements thevehicle’s seatbelts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seatbelt by the front
passenger when any of the SRS frontal,
side and curtain airbags deploys.
Your vehicle is equipped with a supple-
mental restraint system in addition to a
lap/shoulder belt at each front seating
position and each rear window-side seat-
ing position. The supplemental restraint
system (SRS) consists of six airbags.
The configurations are as follows:. Driver ’s and front passenger ’s frontal
airbags. Driver ’s and front passenger ’s side
airbags. Curtain airbags (for driver, front pas-
senger, and window-side rear passen- gers)
These SRS airbags are designed only
as a supplement to the primary protec-
tion provided by the seatbelt. The system also controls front seatbelt
pretensioners. For operation instructions
and precautions concerning the seatbelt
pretensioner, refer to
“Front seatbelt pre-
tensioners ”F 1-21.
& General precautions regard-
ing SRS airbag system
WARNING
. To obtain maximum protection in
the event of an accident, the
driver and all passengers in the
vehicle should always wear seat-
belts when the vehicle is moving.
The SRS airbag is designed only
to be a supplement to the primary
protection provided by the seat-
belt. It does not eliminate the
need to fasten seatbelts. In com-
bination with the seatbelts, it
offers the best combined protec-
tion in case of a serious accident.
Not wearing a seatbelt increases
the chance of severe injury or
death in a crash even when the
vehicle has the SRS airbag.
For instructions and precautions
concerning the seatbelt system,
refer to “Seatbelts ”F 1-12.
. The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain airbag are designed only
to be a supplement to the primary
protection provided by the seat-
belt. They do not eliminate 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 posi-tion.
WARNING
. The SRS airbags deploy with
considerable speed and force.
Occupants who are out of proper
position when the SRS airbag
deploys could suffer very serious
injuries. Because the SRS airbag

needs enough space for deploy-
ment, the driver should always
sit upright and well back in the
seat as far from the steering
wheel as practical while still
maintaining full vehicle control
and the front passenger should
move the seat as far back as
possible and sit upright and well
back in the seat.
WARNING
. Do not sit or lean unnecessarily
close to either front door. The
SRS side airbags are stored in
both front seat seatbacks next to
the door, and they provide pro-
tection by deploying rapidly (fas- ter than the blink of an eye) in the
event of a side impact collision.
However, the force of SRS side
airbag 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 airbags on both
sides of the cabin are stored in
the roof side (between the front
pillar and a point over the rear
seat), and they provide protec-
tion by deploying rapidly (faster
than the blink of an eye) in the
event of a side impact. For Out-
back models, the SRS curtain
airbags also deploy in the event
of a rollover. However, the force
of its deployment may cause
injuries if your head is too close
to it.
. Do not sit or lean unnecessarily
close to the SRS airbag. Because
the SRS airbag deploys with
considerable speed –faster than
the blink of an eye –and force to protect 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 proper position such as one
thrown forward during pre-acci-
dent braking.
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 de-
ployment force.
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-37
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1-38Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
WARNING
. Do not rest your arm on either
front door or its internal trim. You
could be injured in the event of
SRS side airbag deployment.
. Do not place any objects over or
near the SRS airbag cover or
between you and the SRS airbag.
If the SRS airbag deploys, these
objects could interfere with its
proper operation and could be
propelled inside the vehicle,
causing injury.
WARNING
Do not put any objects over the steering wheel pad and dashboard.
If the SRS frontal airbag deploys,
these objects could interfere with its
proper operation and could be pro-
pelled inside the vehicle, causing
injury.
WARNING
Do not attach accessories to the
windshield, or fit an extra-wide mir-
ror over the rear view mirror. If the
SRS airbag deploys, those objects
could become projectiles that could
seriously injure vehicle occupants.
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 SRS side airbag deploy-
ment, they could be propelled
dangerously toward the vehicle ’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.
A hands-free microphone or

other accessory in such a loca-
tion could be propelled through
the cabin with great force by the
curtain airbag, or it could prevent
correct deployment of the curtain
airbag. In either case, the result
could be serious injuries.
WARNING
Do not hang coat hangers or other
hard or pointed objects on the coat
hooks. If such items were hanging
on the coat hooks during deploy-
ment of the SRS curtain airbags,
they could cause serious injuries by
coming off the coat hooks and being
thrown through the cabin or by
preventing deployment of the cur- tain airbags.
Before hanging clothing on the coat
hooks, make sure there are no sharp
objects in the pockets. Hang cloth-
ing directly on the coat hooks with-
out using hangers.WARNING
Do not put any kind of cover or
clothes or other objects over either
front seatback and do not attach
labels or stickers to the front seat
surface on or near the SRS side
airbag. They could prevent proper
deployment of the SRS side airbag,
reducing protection available to the
front seat ’s occupant.
WARNING
Put children in the rear seat properly
restrained at all times. The SRS
airbag deploys with considerable
speed and force and can injure or
even kill children, especially if they
are not restrained or improperly
restrained. Bec ause children are
lighter and weaker than adults, their
risk of being injured from deploy-
ment is greater.
Consequently, we strongly recom-
mend that ALL children (including
those in child seats and those that
have outgrown child restraint de-
vices) sit in the REAR seat properly
restrained at all times in a child Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-39
– CONTINUED –

1-40Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
restraint device or in a seatbelt,
whichever is appropriate for thechild’s age, height and weight.
Secure ALL types of child restraint
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 posi-tions.
For instructions and precautions
concerning the child restraint sys-
tem, refer to “Child restraint sys-
tems ”F 1-23.WARNING
NEVER INSTALL A REARWARD FA-
CING 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.
WARNING
Never allow a child to stand up or
kneel on the front passenger ’s seat.
The SRS airbag deploys with con-
siderable force and can injure or
even kill the child.
WARNING
Never hold a child on your lap or in
your arms. The SRS airbag deploys
with considerable force and can
injure or even kill the child.

WARNING
. Never allow a child to do the
following. – Kneel on any passenger ’s seat facing the side window
– Wrap his/her arms around the
front seat seatback
– Put his/her head, arms or
other parts of the body out of
the window
In the event of an accident, the force of SRS side airbag and/or
SRS curtain airbag deployment
could injure the child seriously
because his/her head, arms or
other parts of the body are too
close to the SRS side airbag and/
or SRS curtain 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.
CAUTION
. When the SRS airbag deploys,
some smoke will be released.
This smoke could cause breath-
ing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other
breathing trouble. If you or your
passengers have breathing pro- blems 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.
NOTE
When you sell your vehicle, we urge
you to explain to the buyer that it is
equipped with SRS airbags by alerting
the buyer to the applicable section in
this Owner ’s Manual.
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-41
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1) Front sub sensor (right-hand side)
2) Front sub sensor (left-hand side)
3) SRS airbag system warning light
4) Frontal airbag module (driver’s side) 5) Front passenger
’s frontal airbag ON and
OFF indicator
6) Frontal airbag module (front passenger ’s
side) 7) Airbag control module (including impact
sensor [all models] and rollover sensor [Outback])
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-43
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