Subaru 1998 Forester Owner's Manual page 74

Seat, seat belt and SRS AIRBAG
HS0235
The driver's side SRS AIRBAG is stored in the center portion of the steer-
ing wheel. The passenger's side SRS AIRBAG is stored near the top of
the dashboard under the cover marked "SRS AIRBAG".
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) AIRBAG in your vehicle af-
fords the driver and front seat passenger additional protection during a
moderate to severe frontal or front-angled collision. This system is avail-
able for the driver and front seat passenger and is designed to supple-
ment the protection provided by the seat belt. In a moderate to severe
frontal or front-angled collision, the SRS AIRBAG supplements the seat
belt by reducing the impact on the driver's and front passenger's head
and chest.
The SRS AIRBAG is designed to deploy in the event of an accident in-
volving a moderate to severe frontal or front-angled collision. It is basi-
cally not designed to deploy in lesser frontal impacts because the nec-
essary protection can be achieved by the seat belt alone. Also, it is
basically not designed to deploy in side or rear impacts or in roll-over
accidents because SRS AIRBAG deployment would not help the occu-
pant in those situations. The SRS AIRBAG is designed to function on a
one-time-only basis. In the event that the SRS AIRBAG is deployed, re-
placement of the system should be performed only by an authorized
SUBARU dealer. When the components of the SRS AIRBAG are re-
placed, use only genuine SUBARU parts.
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