Subaru 2008 Forester Owner's Manual page 77

1-48
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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, backward-
forward adjustment of the driver's seat
position and fastening/unfastening of the
seatbelt 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 passen-
ger's SRS frontal airbag. After deploy-
ment, the SRS airbags immediately start
to deflate so that the driver's vision is not
obstructed. The time required from detect-
ing impact to the deflation of the SRS
airbag 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 airbags deploy,
the driver's and front passenger's seatbelt
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 vision
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 a normal result of the
deployment. This smoke does not indicate
a fire in the vehicle.
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components around the steering
wheel and dashboard with bare
hands right after deployment. Doing
so can cause burns because the
components can be very hot as a
result of deployment.
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 basically not
designed to deploy in lesser frontal im-
pacts because the necessary protection
can be achieved by the seatbelt alone.
Also, they are basically 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 de-
signed 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
the visible damage done to the vehicle
itself.