Subaru Legacy 2015 Owner's Manual page 86

SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
operation
1) Driver s side
2) Passenger s side
The SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
system is designed to determine the
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags/*SRS airbag (Supplemental Restraint System airbag)
activation or deactivation condition of the
front passenger s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the total load on the front
passenger s seat monitored by the front
passenger s occupant detection system
weight sensor. For this reason, only the
driver 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). The
driver 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 the
driver s SRS frontal airbag and depending
on the severity of impact and the total load
on the seat in the case of the front
passenger 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.
The driver s and front passenger s seat-
belt pretensioners operate at the same
time in both of the following cases.
. When only the driver s SRS frontal
airbag deploys
. When driver s and front passenger s
SRS frontal airbags deploy
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 not designed to
deploy in most lesser frontal impacts
because the necessary protection can be
achieved by the seatbelt alone. Also, they
are not designed to deploy in most side or
rear impacts or in most rollover accidents
because deployment of these 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
CONTINUED
1-57