Subaru 2005 Legacy User Manual
Page 107
1-76
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
from detecting impact to the deflation of the SRS air-
bag 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 air-
bags deploy, the driver’s and front passenger’s seat-
belt 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 vi-
sion 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 normal result of the
deployment. This smoke does not indicate a fire in the
vehicle.
Do not touch the SRS airbag system compo-
nents around the steering wheel and dash-
board with bare hands right after deployment.
Doing so can cause burns because the compo-
nents can be very hot as a result of deployment.
Driver’s SRS frontal airbag and front passenger’s SRS
frontal airbag are designed to deploy in the event of an
accident involving a moderate to severe frontal colli-
sion. It is basically not designed to deploy in lesser
frontal impacts because the necessary protection can
be achieved by the seatbelt alone. Also, they are basi-
cally 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 designed to func-
tion on a one-time-only basis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the level of force
experienced in the passenger 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 vehicle itself.