2009 KIA Optima Owner's Manual

343
Safety features of your vehicle
The side impact air bags are designed to
deploy only during certain side-impact
collisions, depending on the crash sever-
ity, angle, speed and point of impact. The
side impact air bags are not designed to
deploy in all side impact situations.
(Continued)
Do not install any accessories onthe side or near the side impact
air bag.
Do not place any objects over the air bag or between the air bag
and yourself.
Do not place any objects (an umbrella, bag, etc.) between the
door and the seat. Such objects
may become dangerous projec-
tiles and cause injury if the sup-
plemental side impact air bag
inflates.
To prevent unexpected deploy- ment of the side impact air bag
that may result in personal injury,
avoid impact to the side impact
sensor when the ignition switch
is on.
If the seat or seat cover is dam- aged, have the vehicle checked
and repaired by an authorized
KIA dealer because your vehicle
is equipped with side impact air
bags.
WARNING
The side impact air bag is sup-plemental to the seat belt sys-
tems and is not a substitute for
them. Therefore your seat belts
must be worn at all times while
the vehicle is in motion. The air
bags deploy only in certain side
impact conditions severe enough
to cause significant injury to the
vehicle occupants.
For best protection from the side impact air bag system and to
avoid being injured by the
deploying side impact air bag, all
seat occupants should sit in an
upright position with the seat belt
properly fastened. The driver's
hands should be placed on the
steering wheel at the 9:00 and
3:00 positions. The passenger'
arms and hands should be
placed on their laps.
Do not use any accessory seat covers.
Use of seat covers could reduce or prevent the effectiveness of
the system.
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Safety features of your vehicle44
3C040700AMGCurtain air bagCurtain air bags are located along both
sides of the roof rails above the front and
rear doors.
They are designed to help protect the
heads of the front seat occupants and
the rear outboard seat occupants in cer-
tain side impact collisions. The curtain air bags are designed to
deploy only during certain side impact
collisions, depending on the crash sever-
ity, angle, speed and impact. The curtain
air bags are not designed to deploy in all
side impact situations, collisions from the
front or rear of the vehicle or in most
rollover situations.
WARNING
In order for side and curtain air
bags to provide the best protec-
tion, both front seat occupants
and both outboard rear occu-
pants should sit in an upright
position with the seat belts prop-
erly fastened. Importantly, chil-
dren should sit in a proper child
restraint system in the rear seat.
(Continued)
(Continued)
When children are seated in therear outboard seats, they must be
seated in the proper child
restraint system. Make sure to
position the child restraint sys-
tem as far away from the door
side as possible, and secure the
child restraint system in a locked
position.
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 passen-
gers when they are seated on
seats equipped with side and/or
curtain air bags.
Never try to open or repair any components of the side curtain
air bag system. This should only
be done by an authorized KIA
dealer.
Failure to follow the above instruc-
tions can result in injury or death to
the vehicle occupants in an acci-
dent.
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345
Safety features of your vehicle
C040800AUNWhy didn’t my air bag go off in a
collision? (Inflation and non-infla-
tion conditions of the air bag)There are many types of accidents in
which the air bag would not be expect-
ed to provide additional protection.
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 air bags did not inflate.
Air bag collision sensors(1) SRS control module
(2) Front impact sensor(3) Side impact sensor (front)
1JBA3512A/OMG035052/OMG039054/OMG035053/OMG035055
1
2
3

Safety features of your vehicle46
3
C040801AENAir bag inflation conditionsFront air bags
Front air bags are designed to inflate in a
frontal collision depending on the intensi-
ty, speed or angles of impact of the front
collision.
WARNING
Do not hit or allow any objects to
impact the locations where air
bags or sensors are installed.
This may cause unexpected air
bag deployment, which could
result in serious personal injury
or death.
If the installation location or angle of the sensors is altered in
any way, the air bags may deploy
when they should not or they may
not deploy when they should,
causing severe injury or death.
Therefore, do not try to perform
maintenance on or around the air
bag sensors. Have the vehicle
checked and repaired by an
authorized KIA dealer.
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(Continued)
Problems may arise if the sensorinstallation angles are changed
due to the deformation of the
front bumper, body or B and C pil-
lars where side collision sensors
are installed. Have the vehicle
checked and repaired by an
authorized KIA dealer.
Your vehicle has been designed to absorb impact and deploy the
air bag(s) in certain collisions.
Installing bumper guards or
replacing a bumper with non-gen-
uine parts may adversely affect
your vehicle’s collision and air
bag deployment performance.
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347
Safety features of your vehicle
Side impact and curtain air bags
Side impact and curtain air bags are
designed to inflate when an impact is
detected by side collision sensors
depending on the strength, speed or
angles of impact resulting from a side
impact collision.Although the front air bags (driver’s and
front passenger’s air bags) are designed
to inflate only in frontal collisions, they
also may inflate in other types of colli-
sions if the front impact sensors detect a
sufficient impact. Side impact and curtain
air bags are designed to inflate only in
side impact collisions, but they may
inflate in other collisions if the side
impact sensors detect a sufficient
impact.
If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved roads,
the air bags may deploy. Drive carefully
on unimproved roads or on surfaces not
designed for vehicle traffic to prevent
unintended air bag deployment.
C040802AENAir bag non-inflation conditions In certain low-speed collisions the air
bags may not deploy. The air bags are
designed not to deploy in such cases
because they may not provide benefits
beyond the protection of the seat belts
in such collisions.
1JBA3516OUN026090
1JBA3515

Safety features of your vehicle48
3 Frontal air bags are not designed to
inflate in rear collisions, because occu-
pants are moved backward by the
force of the impact. In this case, inflat-
ed air bags would not be able to pro-
vide any additional benefit. Front air bags may not inflate in side
impact collisions, because occupants
move to the direction of the collision,
and thus in side impacts, frontal air bag
deployment would not provide addi-
tional occupant protection.
However, side impact and curtain air
bags may inflate depending on the
intensity, vehicle speed and angles of
impact. In an angled collision, the force of
impact may direct the occupants in a
direction where the air bags would not
be able to provide any additional bene-
fit, and thus the sensors may not
deploy any air bags.
1JBA3521
1JBA3516
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349
Safety features of your vehicle
Just before impact, drivers often brakeheavily. Such heavy braking lowers the
front portion of the vehicle causing it to
“ride” under a vehicle with a higher
ground clearance. Air bags may not
inflate in this "under-ride" situation
because deceleration forces that are
detected by sensors may be signifi-
cantly reduced by such “under-ride”
collisions. Air bags may not inflate in rollover acci-
dents because air bag deployment
would not provide protection to the
occupants.
However, side impact and curtain air bags may inflate when the vehicle is
rolled over by a side impact collision, if
the vehicle is equipped with side
impact air bags and curtain air bags. Air bags may not inflate if the vehicle
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 deliv-
ered to the sensors.
1JBA3517
1JBA3522
1JBA3518

Safety features of your vehicle50
3C041100AHMSRS CareThe SRS is virtually maintenance-free
and so there are no parts you can safely
service by yourself. If the SRS air bag
warning light " " does not illuminate,
when you turn the ignition on, or continu-
ously remains on, have your vehicle
immediately inspected by an authorized
KIA dealer.
Any work on the SRS system, such as
removing, installing, repairing, or any
work on the steering wheel must be per-
formed by an authorized KIA dealer.
Improper handling of the SRS system
may result in serious personal injury.
WARNING
Modification to SRS components
or wiring, including the addition
of any kind of badges to the pad
covers or modifications to the
body structure, can adversely
affect SRS performance and lead
to possible injury.
For cleaning the air bag pad cov- ers, use only a soft, dry cloth or
one which has been moistened
with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners could adversely affect
the air bag covers and proper
deployment of the system.
No objects should be placed over
or near the air bag modules on the
steering wheel, instrument panel,
and the front passenger's panel
above the glove box, because any
such object could cause harm if the
vehicle is in a crash severe enough
to cause the air bags to inflate.
(Continued)
(Continued)
If the air bags inflate, they must be replaced by an authorized KIA
dealer.
Do not tamper with or disconnect SRS wiring, or other components
of the SRS system. Doing so
could result in injury, due to acci-
dental inflation of the air bags or
by rendering the SRS inopera-
tive.
If components of the air bag sys- tem must be discarded, or if the
vehicle must be scrapped, certain
safety precautions must be
observed. An authorized KIA
dealer knows these precautions
and can give you the necessary
information. Failure to follow
these precautions and proce-
dures could increase the risk of
personal injury.
If your car was flooded and has soaked carpeting or water on the
flooring, you shouldn't try to start
the engine; have the car towed to
an authorized KIA dealer.