2009 KIA Sorento warning

321
Knowing your vehicle
HeadrestThe driver's and front passenger's seats
are equipped with a headrest for the
occupant's safety and comfort.
The headrest not only provides comfort
for the driver and front passenger, but
also helps protect the head and neck in
the event of a collision.Forward and backward adjustment
The headrest may be adjusted forward to
3 different positions by pulling the head-
rest forward to the desired detent. To
adjust the headrest to it’s furthest back-
ward position, pull it fully forward to the
farthest position and release it. Adjust the
headrest so that it properly supports the
head and neck.
OHM038049N
WARNING
For maximum effectiveness in
case of an accident, the headrest
should be adjusted so the middle
of the headrest is at the same
height of the center of gravity of
an occupant's head. Generally,
the center of gravity of most peo-
ple's head is similar with the
height of the top of their eyes.
Also, adjust the headrest as close
to your head as possible. For this
reason, the use of a cushion that
holds the body away from the
seatback is not recommended.
Do not operate the vehicle with the headrests removed. Severe
injury to the occupants may
occur in the event of an accident.
Headrests may provide protection
against neck injuries when prop-
erly adjusted.
Do not adjust the headrest posi- tion of the driver’s seat while the
vehicle is in motion.
Rear seat
OHM038048N
Front seat
*
* : if equipped
OFD037039

Knowing your vehicle22
3Adjusting the height up and down
To raise the headrest, pull it up to the
desired position (1). To lower the head-
rest, push and hold the release button (2)
on the headrest support and lower the
headrest to the desired position (3). Removal
To remove the headrest, raise it as far as
it can go then press the release button
(1) while pulling the headrest up (2).
To reinstall the headrest, put the head-
rest poles (3) into the holes while press-
ing the release button (1). Then adjust it
to the appropriate height.
Active headrest
(Front seat only, if equipped)The active headrest is designed to move
forward and upward during a rear impact.
This helps to prevent the driver's and
front passenger’s head from moving
backward and thus helps prevent neck
injuries.
HNF2041-1
WARNING
Make sure the headrest locks in
position after adjusting it to proper-
ly protect the occupants.
OFD037037
OFD039038

Knowing your vehicle24
3
To unfold the rear seat1. Lift and push the seatback backward
firmly until it clicks into place.
2. Replace the headrest on the seatback.
3. Push the seat cushion down firmly.
ArmrestThe armrest is located in the center of
the rear seat. Pull the armrest down from
the seatback.
CAUTION -
Rear floor
Do not remove the floor carpet in your vehicle. Emission control sys- tem components in the area of therear seats cause high exhaust tem-peratures under the floor.
WARNING
- Cargo
Cargo should always be secured to
prevent it from being thrown about
the vehicle in a collision and caus-
ing injury to the vehicle occupants.
Special care should be taken of
objects placed in the rear seats,
since those may hit the front seat
occupants in a frontal collision.
CAUTION -
Cargo loading
Make sure the engine is off, thetransmission is in P and the parking brake is applied whenever loadingor unloading cargo. Failure to take these steps may allow the vehicle tomove if shift lever is inadvertentlymoved to another position.
E2BLB301F
CAUTION
- Rear safety belts
When returning the rear seatbacks
to the upright position, remember to return the rear shoulder belts totheir proper position. Routing thesafety belt webbing through the rear safety belt guides will helpkeep the belts from being trappedbehind or under the seats.
S1BLB208

325
Knowing your vehicle
Pre-tensioner safety belt Your vehicle is equipped with driver's and
front passenger's pre-tensioner safety
belts. The purpose of the pre-tensioner
is to make sure that excess slack is taken
up in certain frontal collisions. The pre-
tensioners may activate along with the
front air bags in frontal collisions based
on angle of impact, seat belt usage and
impact severity.
✽ ✽NOTICEThe pre-tensioner seat belt is installed at
the front seats, and the sensor is
equipped inside the buckle, where pres-
ence of passenger is sensed by the fas-
tening of the seat belts. Therefore, pre-
tensioner will not activate if the passen-
ger is not fastened with the seat belts.
Likewise, it will activate if buckled even
without a passenger in the seat. Pre-ten-
sioner seat belt is designed to activate
when the seatbelt is in use. To ensure the
pretensioner seatbelts activate in event
of a possible seatbelt buckle switch mal-
function, the system is designed to acti-
vate regardless of whether a seat belt is
in use or if no seat belt use is detected
within 6 seconds of turning the ignition
switch ON.
The seat belt pre-tensioner system con-
sists mainly of the following components.
Their locations are shown in the illustra-
tion.➀
SRS air bag warning light
➁
Seatbelt pre-tensioner assembly
➂
SRS air bag control module
SAFETY BELTS
2GHB3002
E4BLA300
2
3
1
Passenger’s
side air bag
Driver’s side air bag

Knowing your vehicle26
3
Load limiter (if equipped)When the pre-tentioner activates, if the
system senses excessive seat belt ten-
sion on the driver or passenger’s seat
belt, the load limiter inside the pre-ten-
sioner will release some of the pressure
on the affected seat belt.
WARNING -
Hot parts
The pre-tensioner assembly mecha-
nism become hot during activation.
Do not touch the pre-tensioner seat
belt assembly for several minutes
after they have been activated.
WARNING
- Air bag/pre-
tensioner warning light
If the SRS air bag warning light
does not illuminate when the igni-
tion key is turned to “ON”, or if it
remains illuminated after approxi-
mately 6 seconds, or if it illuminates
while the vehicle is being driven,
please have an authorized Kia deal-
er inspect the pre-tensioner and air
bag system as soon as possible.
WARNING -
Air bag/Pre-
tensioner dust
When the air bags and pre-tension-
ers are activated, a loud noise may
be heard and fine dust, which may
appear to be smoke, may be visible
in the passenger compartment. This
dust is not toxic. The dust may
cause skin irritation and should not
be breathed for prolonged periods.
Ventilate the vehicle after impact
and wash your hands and face thor-
oughly after an accident.
WARNING
- Safety belt adjustment
To obtain maximum benefit from a
pre-tensioner seat belt:
The safety belt must be worn cor-
rectly.
The safety belt must be adjusted to the correct position.

327
Knowing your vehicle
Safety belt restraint system
We strongly recommend that the driver
and all passengers be properly restrained
at all times by using the safety belts pro-
vided with the vehicle. Proper use of the
safety belts decreases the risk of severe
injury or death in accidents or sudden
stops. In most states, and in Canada, the
law requires their use.
All seats have lap/shoulder belts. Inertial
locks in the safety belt retractors allow all
of the lap/shoulder safety belts to remain
unlocked during normal vehicle opera-
tion. This allows the occupants some
freedom of movement and increased
comfort while using the safety belts. If a
force is applied to the vehicle, such as a
strong stop, a sharp turn, or a collision,
the safety belt retractors will automatical-
ly lock the safety belts.
Since the inertial locks do not require a
collision in order to lock up, you may
become aware of the safety belts locking
while braking or going around sharp cor-
ners.
Always use the rear seat position(s) to
install your child restraint(s).
WARNING
- Replacing
used pre-tensioners
Pre-tensioners are designed to
operate once. After activation,
pre-tensioner seat belts must be
replaced. All seat belts, of any
type, should always be replaced
after they have been worn during
a collision.
Do not attempt to replace the pre- tensioners yourself. This must be
done by an authorized Kia dealer.
WARNING
- Damaging the
pre-tensioners
Do not hit or strike the pre-ten-
sioner assemblies, especially
with a tool or heavy object.
Do not attempt to service or repair the pre-tensioners.
WARNING
- Safety belts
To minimize the risk of serious or
fatal injury in an accident, the driv-
er and all passengers should use
the appropriate safety restraints for
their age and size. The presence of
air bags does not change the need
to be properly restrained by a safe-
ty belt or size-appropriate child
restraint. In fact, air bags are
designed to work the best when
passengers are correctly restrained
in the vehicle.
Be sure you are familiar with theinformation in this section,
including the information on
infant and child restraints.
Read the safety warnings on the sunvisors of your vehicle also.
WARNING
If the vehicle or pre-tensioner seat
belt must be discarded, contact an
authorized Kia dealer.

Knowing your vehicle28
3The rear safety belts use a special auto-
lock feature designed to allow a child
restraint to be used in these positions
without an added locking clip. They nor-
mally lock only under extreme or emer-
gency conditions (emergency lock
mode). However they can be adjusted so
that they remain fixed and locked when a
child restraint system is placed in these
positions. (Use this auto-lock mode only
to secure a child restraint, never for pas-
sengers restrained by the safety belts.)
Page 3-41 gives instructions on placing
the safety belt in the auto lock mode.
The drivers safety belt can only operate
in the emergency lock mode. Safety belts provide the best restraint
when:
The seatback is upright.
The occupant is sitting upright (not
slouched).
The lap belt is snug across the hips.
The shoulder belt is snug across the chest.
The knees are straight forward.
To help you remember to fasten your
safety belt, a warning light will blink. See
“Safety belt warning light and chime” on
page 3-30.
WARNING
- Child restraint
in front seat
Never install a child restraint sys-
tem in the front passenger position,
as an inflating air bag could cause
serious or fatal injury to a child in
that position.
WARNING
- After a colli- sion
Lap/shoulder belt assemblies
may be stretched or damaged
when subjected to the stress and
forces of a collision.
The entire restraint system should be inspected following
any collision. All belts, retractors,
anchors and hardware damaged
by a collision should be replaced
before the vehicle is operated
again.
WARNING -
Cargo area
Passengers should never be
allowed to ride in the cargo area of
a vehicle. No safety belts are pro-
vided for the cargo area. Persons
riding in the vehicle without a fas-
tened safety belt are much more
likely to suffer serious bodily injury
or death during an accident.

329
Knowing your vehicle
WARNING
- Twisted belts
A twisted or jammed safety belt
cannot restrain you properly. If you
cannot untwist or unjam the safety
belt, have an authorized Kia dealer
service it immediately. Never drive
or ride with a twisted or jammed
safety belt.
WARNING
- Belt use
Safety belts must be used correctly
to work properly in an accident.
Each seating position in your vehi-
cle has a specific safety belt assem-
bly that includes a buckle and
tongue designed to be used togeth-
er.
Failure to heed these warnings and
follow these instructions will
increase the risk and severity of
injuries and the likelihood of death
in an accident.(Continued)
(Continued)
Use the shoulder portion of thesafety belt on the outside shoul-
der only. Never wear the shoulder
portion under the arm.
Never swing the safety belt around your neck to fit over the
inside shoulder.
Never wear the shoulder portion of the safety belt across the neck
or face.
Wear the lap portion as low as possible. Be sure that the lap belt
fits snugly around the hips.
Never wear a lap portion of a
lap/shoulder belt over your waist;
it should always go over the
stronger area of your hips.
Never use a single safety belt for more than one person.
The front seatbacks should always remain in a comfortable,
upright position when the vehicle
is moving.
WARNING
- Safety beltcare
A damaged belt may not give you
the protection you need in an
accident.
Inspect your safety belts periodi- cally for excessive wear or dam-
age. Pull out each belt fully and
look for fraying, cuts, burns or
other damage. Pull the safety belt
out and let it retract a number of
times. Make sure that the
lap/shoulder belts return smooth-
ly and easily into the retractor.
Check the latches to make sure they latch and release without
interference or delay.
Never close the doors on any part of the lap or shoulder belt.
Any belt not in good condition or in good working order should be
promptly replaced.