2006 KIA Sorento Owner's Manual

If the curtain airbag deploys, it
remains inflated for approximately
3 seconds. The curtain airbag
deployment occurs only on the side
of the vehicle affected by the
impact.
The curtain airbags are not
designed to deploy during colli-
sions from the front or rear of the
vehicle or in most rollover situa-
tions.
The curtain airbags are designed to
deploy only during certain side-
impact collisions, depending on the
crash severity, angle, speed and
impact. The curtain airbags are not
designed to deploy in all side
impact situations.KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE3-56
WARNING
 In order for the curtain airbags
to provide its best protection,
both front seat occupants and
both outboard rear occupants
should sit in an upright posi-
tion with the safety belts prop-
erly fastened. Especially, chil-
dren should sit in a proper
child restraint system.
 When children are seated in
the rear outboard seats, they
must be seated in the proper
child restraint system. Make
sure to put the child restraint
system as far away from the
door side as possible, and
secure the child restraint sys-
tem to be locked in position.
(Continued)
(Continued)
 Do not allow the passengers
to lean their heads or bodies
onto doors, put their arms on
the doors, stretch their arms
out of the window, or place
objects between the doors and
passengers when they are
seated on the seats where cur-
tain airbags are equipped.
 Never try to open or repair any
components of the curtain
airbag system. This should be
done only by an authorized
Kia dealer.
Failure to follow the above men-
tioned instructions can result in
injury or death to the vehicle
occupants in an accident.
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Why didn’t my airbag go off in a
collision?
(Inflation and non-inflation condi-
tions of the airbag)
There are many types of accidents in
which the airbag would not be
expected to provide additional pro-
tection.
These include rear impacts, second
or third collisions in multiple impact
accidents, as well as low speed
impacts. In other words, just because
your vehicle is damaged and even if it
is totally unusable, don’t be surprised
that the airbags did not inflate.
KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE
3-57
Airbag collision sensors➀
SRS control module
➁
Front impact sensor
➂
Side impact sensor
S2BLA201A/5BLC326G/5BLA619/5BLD502
➀
➁
➂
➀
➁
➂
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Airbag inflation condition
Front airbag
Front airbags (driver’s and front pas-
senger’s airbags) are designed to
inflate when the impact is delivered to
front collision sensors depending on
the intensity, speed or angles of
impact of the front collision - general-
ly from an area a little to the left to a
little to the right of straight ahead.
KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE3-58
WARNING
 Do not hit or allow any objects
to impact the locations where
airbag or sensors are installed.
This may cause unexpected
airbag deployment, which
could result in serious per-
sonal injury or death.
 If the installation location or
angle of the sensors is altered
in any way, the airbags may
deploy when they should not
or they may not deploy when
they should, causing severe
injury or death.
Therefore, do not try to per-
form maintenance on or
around the airbag sensors.
Have the vehicle checked and
repaired by the authorized Kia
dealer.
(Continued)
(Continued)
 Problems may arise if the sen-
sor installation angles are
changed due to the deforma-
tion of front bumper, body or
B pillar where side collision
sensors are installed. Have
the vehicle checked and
repaired by the authorized Kia
dealer.
 Your vehicle has been
designed to absorb impact
and deploy the airbag(s) in
certain collisions. Installing
aftermarket bumper guards or
replacing a bumper with non-
genuine parts may adversely
affect your vehicles collision
and airbag deployment per-
formance.
5BLA2061
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Curtain airbag
Curtain airbags are designed to
inflate when the impact is delivered to
side collision sensors depending on
the strength, speed or angles of
impact of side impact collision or
rollover by the side impact.Although the front airbags (driver’s
and front passenger’s airbags) are
designed to inflate only in frontal col-
lision, it may inflate in any collision if
front impact sensors are delivered
with certain impact.
Curtain airbags are designed to
inflate only in side impact collision, it
may inflate in any collision if side
impact sensors are delivered with
certain impact.
In other words, they may inflate in
accidents such as slant collision or
impact, collision or impact where the
front portion of the vehicle goes
under a vehicle with a higher ground
clearance (bus or truck), collision with
a utility pole or rollover. Therefore,
drive safely at all times.
If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved
roads or sidewalks, airbags may
deploy. Drive carefully on unimproved
roads or on surfaces not designed for
vehicle traffic.
To protect occupants, front airbags or
pre-tensioner safety belts may deploy
in certain side impact collisions.Airbag non-inflation conditions
In collisions, the vehicle safety belts
are sufficient to protect the vehicle
occupants and the airbags may not
deploy. In some cases, deploying
airbags in low-speed collisions can
cause a secondary impact to the
occupants (light abrasions, cuts,
burns, etc.), or loss of vehicle con-
trol.
KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE
3-59
5BLA232
5BLA302S2BLA351
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Airbags may not inflate in rear colli-
sions, because occupants are
moved backward by the force of the
impact. In this case, the airbags do
not provide proper protection.Front airbags may not inflate in side
impact collision, because occu-
pants move to the direction of the
collision, and thus front airbag
deployment does not provide prop-
er protection.
However, curtain airbags may
inflate depending on the intensity,
vehicle speed and angles of
impact.In a slant impact or collision, The
force delivered will be relatively
weaker than that of frontal or side
collision. So, the airbags may not
inflate.KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE3-60
1BLA233
1BLA231
1BLA234
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At the moment of an accident, driv-
ers brake heavily with reflex. In
such heavy braking, the front por-
tion of the vehicle is lowered by the
force of the braking and the vehicle
can go under a vehicle with a high-
er ground clearance. Airbags may
not inflate in this situation because
impacts may not be delivered or
may be delivered with less intensi-
ty.Airbags may not inflate in rollover
accidents because airbag deploy-
ment would not provide proper pro-
tection to the occupants.
However, curtain airbags may
inflate when the vehicle is rolled
over by a side impact collision.Airbags may not inflate if the vehi-
cle collides with objects such as
utility poles or trees, where the
point of impact is concentrated to
one area and the full force of the
impact is not delivered to the sen-
sors.
KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE
3-61
5BLA2066
5BLA230
5BLA612
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How does the airbag system
operate
Airbag only operates when the igni-
tion switch is turned to ON or
START position.
Airbags inflate instantly in the event
of serious frontal or side collision in
order to help protect the occupants
from serious physical injury.
There is no single speed at which
the airbags will inflate.
Generally, airbags are designed to
inflate by the severity of a collision
and its direction. These two factors
determine whether the sensors
send out an electronic deploy-
ment/inflation signal.
Airbag deployment depends on a
number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact and the
density and stiffness of the vehicles
or objects which your vehicle hits in
the collision. Though, factors are
not limited to those mentioned
above.The front airbags will completely
inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is virtually impossible for you to
see the airbags inflate during an
accident. It is much more likely that
you will simply see the deflated
airbags hanging out of their storage
compartments after the collision.
In order to help provide protection in
a severe collision, the airbags must
inflate rapidly. The speed of airbag
inflation has been determined by the
Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards (CMVSS) to reduce the
likelihood of serious or life-threaten-
ing injuries and is thus a mandatory
part of the airbag design.
However, airbag inflation can also
cause injuries which normally can
include facial abrasions, bruises
and broken bones, because that
speed also causes the airbags to
expand with a great deal force.
 There are even circumstances
under which contact with the
steering wheel airbag can cause
fatal injuries, especially if the
occupant is positioned exces-
sively close to the steering
wheel.KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE3-62
WARNING
 Driver should sit as far back
(at least 10 inches (250 mm)
away) from the steering wheel
airbag as possible to reduce
the risk of injury or death in a
collision. The front passenger
should always move their seat
as far back as possible and sit
back in their seat.
 Airbag inflates instantly in an
event of collision, passengers
may be injured by the airbag
expansion force if they are not
in proper position.
 Airbag inflation may cause
injuries which normally
include facial or bodily abra-
sions, injuries by the broken
glasses or burns by the explo-
sives.
BL-ENG (CAN)-3.qxd 7/28/05 5:52 PM Page 62

Noise and smoke
When the airbags inflate, they make
a loud noise and they leave smoke
and powder in the air inside of the
vehicle. This is normal and is a result
of the ignition of the airbag inflator.
After the airbag inflates, you may feel
substantial discomfort in breathing
due to the contact of your chest to
both the safety belt and the airbag, as
well as from breathing the smoke and
powder.We strongly urge you to
open your doors and/or windows
as soon as possible after impact in
order to reduce discomfort and
prevent prolonged exposure to the
smoke and powder.
Though smoke and powder are non-
toxic, it may cause irritation to the
skin (eyes, nose and throat etc). If
this is the case, wash and rinse with
the cold water immediately and con-
sult the doctor if the symptom per-
sists.Installing a child restraint on a
front passenger seat is forbidden.
Never place a rear-facing child
restraint in the front passenger seat.
If the airbag deploys, it would impact
the rear-facing child restraint, caus-
ing serious or fatal injury.
In addition, do not place front-facing
child restraint in the front passenger
seat either. If the front passenger
airbag inflates, it would cause serious
or fatal injuries to the improperly posi-
tioned or improperly restrained child.
KNOWING YOUR VEHICLE
3-63
WARNING
When the airbags deploy, the
airbag related parts in steering
wheel and/or instrument panel
and/or in both sides of the roof
rails above the front and rear
doors are very hot. To prevent
injury, do not touch the airbag
storage areas internal compo-
nents immediately after an
airbag has inflated.
ADAIRBAG
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