Subaru Forester: Seat / Safety tips

WARNING

• Never adjust the seat while driving, as personal injury or loss of vehicle control may occur.
• Before adjusting the seat, ensure nothing is blocking the adjusting mechanism.
• After adjusting the seat, move it back and forth to ensure the seat is securely locked. If it is not, it may move suddenly or the seatbelt may not operate properly.
• Do not put objects under the front seats. They may interfere with front seat locking mechanism and cause an accident.
• Seatbelts provide maximum restraint when the occupant sits back and upright in the seat. To reduce the risk of sliding under the seatbelt in a collision, the front seatbacks should always be used in the upright position while the vehicle is running. If the front seatbacks are not in the upright position and a collision occurs, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt sliding up over the abdomen will increase, and both can result in serious injury or death.
• The SRS airbags deploy with considerable speed and force. Occupants who are not sitting back and upright when the SRS airbag deploys could suffer serious injury. Because the SRS airbag needs enough space for deployment, the driver should always sit upright and well back in the seat as far from the steering wheel as practical while still maintaining full vehicle control, and the front passenger should move the seat as far back as possible and sit upright and well back in the seat.

WARNING

Place children in the rear seat properly restrained at all times. The SRS airbag deploys with considerable speed and force and can injure or even kill children, especially if they are not restrained or improperly restrained. Because children are lighter and weaker than adults, their risk of being injured from deployment is greater. For that reason, we strongly recommend that ALL children (including those in child seats and those that have outgrown child restraint devices) sit in the REAR seat properly restrained at all times in a child restraint device or in a seatbelt, whichever is appropriate for the child’s age, height and weight. Secure ALL types of child restraint devices (including forward facing child seat) in the REAR seats at all times.

NEVER INSTALL A CHILD SEAT IN THE FRONT SEAT. DOING SO RISKS SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO THE CHILD BY PLACING THE CHILD’S HEAD TOO CLOSE TO THE SRS AIRBAG.

According to accident statistics, children are safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating positions. For instructions and precautions concerning child restraint systems, refer to “Child restraint systems”.

WARNING

To prevent the passenger from sliding under the seatbelt in the event of a collision, always put the seatback in the upright position while the vehicle is in motion. Also, do not place objects such as cushions between the passenger and the seatback. If you do so, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt sliding up over the abdomen will increase, and both can result in serious injury or death.

WARNING

Do not let rear passengers rest their feet between the front seatback and seat cushion. Doing so may lead to defective operation of the following systems and could result in serious injury.

• Occupant detection system
• SRS side airbag
• Seat heater (if equipped)
• Power seat (if equipped)

WARNING

Seatbelts provide maximum restraint when the occupant sits well back and upright in the seat. Do not put cushions or any other materials between occupants and seatbacks or seat cushions. If you do so, the risk of sliding under the lap belt and of the lap belt sliding up over the abdomen will increase, and both can result in serious internal injury or death.

WARNING

Never stack luggage or other cargo higher than the top of the seatback because it could tumble forward and injure passengers in the event of a sudden stop or accident.

Safety tips for head restraint

WARNING

• Never drive the vehicle with the head restraints removed because they are designed to reduce the risk of serious neck injury in the event that the vehicle is struck from the rear. Also, never install the head restraints the opposite way round. Doing so will prevent the head restraints from functioning as intended. Therefore, when you remove the head restraints, you must reinstall all head restraints correctly to protect vehicle occupants.
• All occupants, including the driver, should not operate a vehicle or sit in a vehicle’s seat until the head restraints are placed in their proper positions in order to minimize the risk of neck injury in the event of a crash.