2008 Subaru Outback Owner's Manual - Page 77

1-52 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags tem is designed to determine the 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 predetermined 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 passenger'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 immediately 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 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. The driver's SRS frontal airbag and front passenger's SRS frontal airbag are designed 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 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 designed to function on a one-time-only basis. SRS airbag deployment depends on the level of force experienced in the passenger 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. 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.