Subaru 2001 Legacy Owner's Manual page 52

Seatbelt retractor
assembly
(Pretensioner)
The driver's and front passenger's seatbelts have a seatbelt preten-
sioner. The seatbelt pretensioners are designed to be activated in the
event of an accident involving a moderate to severe frontal collision.
The pretensioner sensor also serves as a SRS frontal airbag sensor. If
the sensor detects a certain predetermined amount of force during a
frontal collision, the front seatbelt is quickly drawn back in by the re-
tractor to take up the slack so that the belt more effectively restrains
the front seat occupant.
When a seatbelt pretensioner is activated, an operating noise will be
heard and a small amount of smoke will be released. These occur-
rences are normal and not harmful. This smoke does not indicate a
fire in the vehicle.
Once the seatbelt pretensioner has been activated, the seatbelt re-
tractor remains locked. Consequently, the seatbelt can not be pulled
out and retracted.
NOTE
D Seatbelt pretensioners are not designed to activate in minor
frontal impacts, in side or rear impacts or in roll-over accidents.
D The driver's seat and passenger's seat pretensioners and fron-
tal airbag operate simultaneously.
D Pretensioners are designed to function on a one-time-only ba-
sis. In the event that a pretensioner is activated, both the driver's
and front passenger's seatbelt retractor assemblies must be re-
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
HB0373
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