Subaru 2002 Legacy Owner's Manual page 83

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
When the SRS side airbag deploys, a sudden, fairly loud inflation
noise will be heard and some smoke will be released. These occur-
rences are normal result of the deployment. This smoke does not indi-
cate a fire in the vehicle.
The SRS side airbag is designed to deploy in the event of an accident
involving a moderate to severe side impact collision. It is basically not
designed to deploy in lesser side impact. Also, it is basically not de-
signed to deploy in frontal or rear impacts because SRS side airbag
deployment would not help the occupant in those situations.
Each SRS side airbag is designed to function on a one-time-only ba-
sis.
SRS side airbag deployment depends on the level of force experi-
enced in the passenger compartment 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 vehicle itself.
n 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 air-
bag.
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