2008 KIA Optima air bag

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Knowing your vehicle
Child restraint system For small children and babies, the use of
a child seat or infant seat is strongly rec-
ommended and is required by law in
almost all states. This child seat or infant
seat should be of appropriate size for the
child and should be installed in accor-
dance with the manufacturer's instruc-
tions.
Children riding in the car should sit on
the rear seat and must always be proper-
ly restrained to minimize the risk of injury
in an accident, sudden stop or sudden
maneuver. According to accident statis-
tics, children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seats than in the
front seat.
Children could be injured or killed in a
crash if their restraints are not properly
secured. For small children and babies, a
child seat or infant seat must be used.
Before buying a particular child restraint
system, make sure it fits your car and
seat belts, and fits your child. Follow all
the instructions provided by the child
seat manufacturer when installing the
child restraint system.
1JBH3051
WARNING
- Child
restraints
A child restraint system must be
placed in the rear seat. Never
install a child or infant seat on the
front passenger’s seat.
Should an accident occur and
cause the passenger air bag to
deploy, it could severely injure or
kill an infant or child seated in the
front seat.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Since a safety belt or child
restraint system can become very
hot if it is in a closed vehicle, be
sure to check the seat cover and
buckles before placing a child
there.
When the child restraint system
is not in use, store it in the trunk
or fasten it with a safety belt so
that it will not be thrown forward
in the case of a sudden stop or an
accident.
Children who are too large to be
in a child restraint should sit in
the rear seat and be restrained
with the available lap/shoulder
belts.
When using the vehicles
lap/shoulder safety belts, always
make sure that the shoulder belt
portion is positioned midway over
the shoulder, never across the
neck or behind the back. The lap
belt portion of the lap/shoulder
belt must always be positioned as
low as possible on the child's hips
and as snug as possible.
(Continued)

Knowing your vehicle42 3
Installing a child restraint system For safety reasons, we recommend that
the child restraint system be used in the
rear seats.
Never place a rear-facing child
restraint in the front passenger seat,
because of the danger that an inflat-
ing passenger side air bag could
impact the rear-facing child restraint
and kill the child.
Since all passenger safety belts move
freely under normal conditions and only
lock under extreme or emergency condi-
tions (emergency lock mode), you must
manually change these safety belts to
the auto lock mode to secure a child
restraint.
(Continued)
If the vehicle’s safety belt will not
properly fit the child, you must
use an appropriate child restraint
or booster seat in the rear.
Never allow a child to stand up or
kneel while the vehicle is moving.
Never use an infant carrier or
child seat that "hooks" over a
seatback. It will not provide ade-
quate protection in an accident.
Never allow a child to be held
while they are in a moving vehi-
cle, as this could result in serious
injury or death to the child in the
event of an accident or sudden
stop. Holding a child in a moving
vehicle does not provide the child
with any protection during an
accident, even if the person hold-
ing the child is wearing a seat
belt.
WARNING
- Child seat
installation
Before installing the child
restraint system, read the instruc-
tions supplied by the child
restraint system manufacturer.
If the safety belt does not operate
as described in this section, have
the system checked immediately
by your authorized Kia dealer.
Failure to observe this manual's
instructions regarding child
restraint system and the instruc-
tions provided with the child
restraint system could increase
the chance and/or severity of
injury or death in an accident.

Knowing your vehicle48 3AIR BAG - ADVANCED SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM 1JBN3511A/OMGA035047/OMGA035048/OMG037049/OMGA035051/OMGA035052/OMGA035053/OMGA035055/OMGA035054/1LDN2166/1LDN2167/1LDN21681
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(1) Driver’s air bag
(2) Front passenger’s air bag
(3) Side air bag*
(4) Curtain air bag*
(5) SRS Control Module
(6) Side impact sensor*
(7) Front impact sensor*
(8) Front seat position sensor
(9) Occupant classification system
* : if equipped
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349
Knowing your vehicle
What your air bag system doesDriver’s air bag and front passenger’s air
bag are designed to supplement the pro-
tection offered by the safety belt in cer-
tain frontal collisions. Likewise, side air
bags and curtain air bags are designed
to supplement the protection offered by
the safety belt in side collisions. Safety
belts are designed to reduce the injury of
the driver or passengers in case of light
impact or collision. However, to help
reduce impact on driver or passengers in
a serious collision, seat belts must also
be worn correctly.What your air bag system does
not doThe air bag system is designed to sup-
plement the protection offered by the
safety belt system. IT IS NOT A SUBSTI-
TUTE FOR THE SAFETY BELT.
The importance of using
safety beltsThere are four very important reasons to
use safety belts even with an air bag sup-
plemental restraint system. They:
help keep you in the proper position
(away from the air bag) when it inflates.
reduce the risk of harm in rollover, side
impact (vehicles not equipped with
side and curtain air bags) or rear
impact collisions, because an air bag is
not designed to inflate in such situa-
tions and even a side curtain air bag is
designed to inflate only in certain side
impact collisions.
reduce the risk of harm in frontal or
side collisions which are not severe
enough to actuate the air bag supple-
mental restraint system.
reduce the risk of being ejected from
your vehicle.Your vehicle’s Supplemental Restraint
System Control Module is equipped
with a recording device that may
record the use or status of the safety
belt restraint system by the driver and
front passenger in certain collisions.
WARNING
- Air bags &
safety belts
Even in vehicles with air bags,
you and your passengers must
always wear the safety belts pro-
vided in order to minimize the risk
and severity of injury in the event
of a collision or rollover.
Always wear your safety belt. It
can help keep you away from the
air bags during heavy braking
just before a collision. It may also
reduce the risk of occupant ejec-
tion.
If occupants are not wearing safe-
ty belts or correctly seated, they
cannot be fully protected, and
thus face a greater risk of serious
injury or death.
(Continued)

Knowing your vehicle50 3
Air bag system components The main components of your SRS are:
To indicate that your vehicle is
equipped with air bags, the correspon-
ding air bag covers are marked with
“SRS AIR BAG”.
- Driver’s air bag
- Front passenger’s air bag
- Side air bag (if equipped)
- Curtain air bag (if equipped)
A diagnostic system that continually
monitors the system operation.
Air bag warning light to warn you of a
possible problem with the system.
Emergency power backup in case your
car’s electrical system is disconnected
in a crash.The SRS uses a collection of sensors to
gather information about the driver’s and
front passenger’s seat position, the dri-
ver’s and front passenger’s safety belt
usage and impact severity.
The driver's and front passenger's seat
position sensors, which are installed on
the seat track let the air bag control mod-
ule know where the seats are positioned.
Similarly, the safety belt usage sensors
measure if the driver and front passen-
ger’s safety belts are fastened. These
sensors provide the ability to control the
SRS deployment based on how close the
driver’s seat is to the steering wheel, how
close the passenger’s seat is to the
instrument panel, whether or not the
safety belts are fastened, and the severi-
ty of the impact.
The advanced SRS offers the ability to
control the air bag inflation with two lev-
els. A first stage level is provided for mod-
erate-severity impacts. A second stage
level is provided for more severe impacts.
According to the impact severity, seating
position and safety belt usage, the SRS
Control Module controls the air bag infla-
tion.
Failure to properly wear safety belts
can increase the risk or severity of
injury in an accident.
(Continued)
Driver’s and front passenger’s air
bag are designed to inflate only in
certain frontal collisions, and side
and curtain air bags are designed
to inflate in certain side impacts.
Frontal air bags are not designed
to provide protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or less severe frontal collisions.
They will not provide protection
from later impacts in a multi-
impact collision.
If your vehicle has been subject-
ed to flood conditions (e.g.
soaked carpeting/standing water
on the floor of the vehicle, etc.) or
if your vehicle has become flood
damaged in any way, do not
attempt to start the vehicle or put
the key in the ignition. Have the
vehicle towed to an authorized
Kia dealer for inspection and nec-
essary repairs.
Disregarding this precaution may
cause an unexpected air bag
deployment, which could result in
serious personal injury or death.

351
Knowing your vehicle
Additionally, your SRS is equipped with
an occupant classification system in the
front passenger’s seat. The occupant
classification system detects the pres-
ence of a passenger in the front passen-
ger’s seat and will turn off the front pas-
senger’s air bag under certain conditions
in order to protect smaller front passen-
ger seat occupants. For more detail, see
“Occupant Classification System” later in
this section.
Driver’s air bag The driver’s air bag is stored in the cen-
ter of the steering wheel.
WARNING
- Seating sen-
sors malfunction
If the seat position sensor is not
working properly, the air bag warn-
ing light ( ) on the instrument
panel will illuminate because the air
bag warning light is connected with
the seat position sensor. If the air
bag warning light does not illumi-
nate when the ignition key is turned
to the "ON" position, if it remains
illuminated after illuminating for
approximately 6 seconds, or if it
illuminates while the vehicle is
being driven, have an authorized
Kia dealer inspect your vehicle as
soon as possible.
AIR
BAG
WARNING
- Seat usage
Modification to the seat structure
can damage the seat position
sensor and cause the air bag to
deploy at a different level than
should be provided.
Do not place any objects under-
neath the front seats since they
could damage the seat position
sensor or interfere with the occu-
pant classification system.
Do not place any objects that may
cause magnetic fields near the
front seat. These may cause a
malfunction of the seat position
sensor.
Have your car checked by a Kia
dealer as soon as possible if the
SRS warning light comes on.
Ignoring the indicator light can
result in serious or fatal injury.
Sitting improperly or out of posi-
tion can provide incorrect data to
the occupant classification sys-
tem and result in serious or fatal
injury in a crash. All occupants
should sit upright in their seats
with their feet on the floor.
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Knowing your vehicle52 3
Front passenger’s air bag Front passenger’s air bag is stored in the
instrument panel on the glove box.
Never put any objects or ornaments on
the instrument panel.
Occupant classification systemThe occupant classification system
detects the presence of a passenger in
the front passenger’s seat and will turn
off the front passenger’s air bag under
certain conditions.
The occupant classification system is
designed to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine
if the front passenger’s air bag should be
enabled (may inflate) or not.
WARNING
- Steering
wheel
You must always sit as far back
from the steering wheel air bag as
possible (chest at least 250 mm
(10 inches) away from the steer-
ing wheel), while still maintaining
a comfortable seating position for
good vehicle control, in order to
reduce the risk of injury or death
in a collision.
Never place objects over the air
bag storage compartments or
between the air bags and your-
self. Due to the speed and force of
the air bag inflation, such objects
could hit your body at high speed
and cause severe bodily injury
and even death.
Do not put stickers or ornaments
on the steering wheel cover.
These may interfere with the
deployment of the air bag.
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HLZ2121
1LDN2166

353
Knowing your vehicle
If there is no passenger in the front pas-
senger seat or if the passenger in the
front passenger's seat is very small (such
as a child), the front PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF indicator may go ON.
When this indicator is ON, the front pas-
senger's air bag will not deploy.
The side air bag will not deploy if the front
seat is unoccupied.
The side air bag may deploy if the front
seat is occupied by a small occupant.
Main components of occupant
classification system A detection device located within the
front passenger seat cushion.
Electronic system to determine
whether passenger air bag systems
(both front and side) should be activat-
ed or deactivated.
A warning light located on the instru-
ment panel which illuminates the
words “PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF”
indicating the front passenger air bag
system is deactivated.
The instrument panel air bag warning
light is interconnected with the occu-
pant classification system.Always be sure that you and all vehicle
occupants are seated and restrained
properly (sitting upright with the seat in
an upright position, centered on the seat
cushion, with the person’s legs comfort-
ably extended, feet on the floor, and
wearing the safety belt properly) for the
most effective protection by the air bag
and the safety belt.
The OCS may not function properly if
the passenger takes actions which can
defeat the detection system. These
include:
(1) Failing to sit in an upright position.
(2) Leaning against the door or center
console.
(3) Sitting towards the sides or the front
of the seat.
(4) Putting legs on the dashboard or rest-
ing them on other locations which
reduce the passenger weight on the
front seat.
(5) Improperly wearing the safety belt.
(6) Reclining the seat back.
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