Subaru 2011 Impreza Owner's Manual page 78

The two inflators of each airbag are
triggered either sequentially or simulta-
neously, 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 passen-
ger's SRS frontal airbag.
After deployment, the SRS airbag imme-
diately starts to deflate so that the driver's
vision is not obstructed. The time required
from detecting impact to the deflation of
the SRS airbag after deployment is short-
er 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. It is basically not designed
to deploy in lesser frontal impacts be-
cause 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 acci-
dents 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 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
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on
the visible damage done to the vehicle
itself.
! Example of accident in which the
driver's/driver's and front passen-
ger's SRS frontal airbag(s) will most
likely deploy.
A head-on collision against a thick con-
crete wall at a vehicle speed of 12 to 19
mph (20 to 30 km/h) or higher activates
only the driver's SRS frontal airbag or both
driver's and front passenger's SRS frontal
airbags. The airbag(s) will also be acti-
vated when the vehicle is exposed to a
frontal impact similar in fashion and
magnitude to the collision described
above.
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