
Knowing your vehicle54
3
WARNING
If the front passenger seat should
be modified for persons with dis-
abilities that may affect the opera-
tion of the occupant classification
system, contact an authorized Kia
dealer.
WARNING
If the "PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF"
indicator illuminates or blinks con-
tinuously when a person of adult
size sits in the front passenger's
seat, it could be because that per-
son isn't sitting properly in the seat.
If this happens, turn the vehicle off,
make sure the seat back is not
reclined, have the passenger center
on the seat cushion, with legs com-
fortably extended, and the safety
belt properly positioned. Restart
the vehicle and have the person
remain in this position long enough
to allow the system to detect the
person and activate the passenger
air bag.
WARNING
If the occupant classification sys-
tem is not working properly, the air
bag warning light ( ) on the
instrument panel will illuminate. If
there is a malfunction of the occu-
pant classification system, the
"PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF" indi-
cator will illuminate and the front
passenger's air bag will not deploy
in frontal crashes even if there is an
adult sized occupant in the front
passenger seat. If the SRS air bag
warning light does not illuminate
when the ignition key is turned to
"ON" position, if it remains illumi-
nated after blinking for approxi-
mately six seconds, or if it illumi-
nates while the vehicle is being
driven, have an authorized Kia deal-
er inspect the occupant classifica-
tion system with the SRS air bag
system as soon as possible.
AIR
BAG
WARNING
Even though your vehicle is
equipped with the occupant clas-
sification system, children aged
12 and under should be seated in
the rear seats. Do not install a
child restraint system in the front
passenger seat. The child could
be severely injured or killed if the
air bag deploys. Children are
afforded the most protection in
the event of an accident when
they are restrained by the proper
restraint system in the rear seat.
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355
Knowing your vehicle
(Continued)
If a very low weight adult is seat-ed in the front passenger seat, the
occupant classification system
may or may not turn off the right
front passenger air bag, depend-
ing upon the person's seating
position and body type. Everyone
in your vehicle should wear a
safety belt properly -- whether or
not there is an air bag for that per-
son.
If the front seat passenger changes their seating position
(for example, by not sitting
upright, by sitting on the edge of
the seat, or by otherwise being
out of position), the "PASSEN-
GER AIR BAG OFF" indicator may
be turned on, and the passenger
air bag may not deploy in a colli-
sion. Always be sure to sit prop-
erly in the front passenger seat
and wear the safety belt properly.
(Continued)
(Continued)
(Continued)
(Continued)
(Continued)
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- Never put a heavy load in thefront passenger seat.
- Never excessively recline the front passenger seatback.
1KMN36631KMN3664
- Never sit with hips shiftedtowards the front of the seat.
- Never lean on the center con- sole.
- Never sit on one side of the front passenger seat.

357
Knowing your vehicle
Curtain 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.
WARNING
The front seat passenger air bagis much larger than the steering
wheel air bag and inflates with
considerably more force. It can
seriously hurt or kill a passenger
who is not in the proper position
and wearing the safety belt prop-
erly. The front passengers should
always move their seat as far
back as practical and sit back in
their seat.
It is essential that the front pas- sengers always wear their safety
belts when vehicle is in motion,
even when the vehicle is moving
in a parking lot or up a driveway
into garage.
If the driver brakes the vehicle heavily prior to an impact, unbelt-
ed occupants will be thrown for-
ward. If the front passenger is not
wearing the safety belts, they will
be directly in front of the air bags
when deployment occurs. In that
situation, serious injury or death
is possible.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Never allow front passenger toput their hands, feet or face on or
close to the instrument panel. In
the event of air bag deployment,
such a mispositioned occupant
would be likely to suffer severe
injury or death.
Never allow children/old and fee- ble persons/pregnant women to
sit on the front passenger’s seat.
They may be seriously injured by
the air bag inflation when air bag
deploys.
Do not put objects or stickers on the instrument panel. Do not
apply any accessory to the front
windshield. Do not install after-
market mirrors or accessories on
the factory-installed rearview mir-
ror. Any of these could interfere
with the deployment of the air bag
or could hit your body at high
speed and cause severe bodily
injury and even death.
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Knowing your vehicle58
3 The curtain air bag deployment occurs
only on the side of the vehicle affected
by the impact.
The curtain air bags are not designed to deploy during collisions from the
front or rear of the vehicle or in most
rollover situations.
The curtain air bags are designed to deploy only during certain side-impact
collisions, depending on the crash
severity, angle, speed and impact.
(Continued)
Do not allow the passengers tolean 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 the
seats where curtain air bags are
equipped.
Never try to open or repair any components of the curtain air bag
system. This should be done only
by an authorized Kia dealer.
Failure to follow the above men-
tioned instructions can result in
severe injury or death to the vehicle
occupants in an accident.
WARNING
In order for the curtain air bags to provide its best protection, both
front seat occupants and both
outboard rear occupants should
sit in an upright position with the
safety belts properly fastened.
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 possi-
ble, and secure the child restraint
system in position.
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361
Knowing your vehicle
Curtain air bag
Curtain air bags are designed to inflate
when the impact signal is delivered to the
side collision sensors, depending on the
severity, speed, and/or angle of the
impact or rollover.Although the front air bags (driver’s and
front passenger’s air bags and driver’s
knee air bag) are designed to inflate only
in frontal collision, it may inflate in any
collision if front impact sensors detect a
sufficient impact.
Curtain air bags are designed to inflate
only in side impact collision, but may
inflate in any collision if side impact sen-
sors detect a sufficient impact.
If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved roads
or sidewalks, air bags may deploy. Drive
carefully on unimproved roads or on sur-
faces not designed for vehicle traffic to
prevent unintended air bag deployment.
To protect occupants, front air bags and
pre-tensioner safety belts may deploy in
certain side impact collisions.
Air bag non-inflation conditions In collisions, the vehicle safety belts
are sufficient to protect the vehicle
occupants and the air bags may not
deploy. In some cases, deploying air
bags in low-speed collisions can cause
a secondary impact to the occupants
(light abrasions, cuts, burns, etc.), or
loss of vehicle control.
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365
Knowing your vehicle
Noise and smokeWhen the air bags 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 igni-
tion of the air bag inflator. After the air
bag inflates, you may feel substantial dis-
comfort in breathing due to the contact of
your chest to both the safety belt and the
air bag, as well as from breathing the
smoke and powder.We strongly urge
you to open your doors and/or win-
dows as soon as possible after impact
in order to reduce discomfort and pre-
vent prolonged exposure to the
smoke and powder.
Though the smoke and powder are non-
toxic, they may cause irritation (eyes,
nose and throat, etc.). Wash and rinse
with cold water immediately and consult
a doctor if symptoms persist. Installing a child restraint on a front
passenger seat is extremely danger-
ous and should never be done.
Never place a rear-facing child restraint
in the front passenger’s seat. If the air
bag deploys, it would impact the rear-fac-
ing child restraint, causing severe or fatal
injuries.
In addition, do not place front-facing child
restraint in the front passenger’s seat
either. If the front passenger air bag
inflates, it may cause severe or fatal
injuries to the child.
WARNING
When the air bags deploy, the air
bag 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 air bag storage areas internal
components immediately after an
air bag has inflated.
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411
Driving your vehicle
Always hold the steering wheel firmlywhen you are driving off-road.
Make sure all passengers are wearing seat belts.
Do not drive in water if the level is high- er than the bottom of the vehicle.
Check your brake condition once you are out of mud or water. Press the
brake pedal several times as you move
slowly until you feel normal braking
forces return.
Shorten your scheduled maintenance interval if you drive in off-road condi-
tions such as sand, mud or water (see
“Scheduled Maintenance” in the Index).
Always wash your car thoroughly.
Full-time 4WD operation
(if equipped)When 4WD is selected with the transfer
shift knob, the vehicle will switch to 4WD
operation after a few seconds.
WARNING
If you are driving too fast in water,
the water spray can get into the
engine compartment and wet the
ignition system, causing your vehi-
cle a sudden stop. If this happens
and your vehicle is in a tilted posi-
tion, your vehicle may roll over.
WARNING
If you are driving in heavy wind, the
vehicle's higher center of gravity
decreases your steering control
capacity and requires you to drive
more slowly.
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Driving your vehicle16
4 You must learn how to corner in a 4WD
vehicle as soon as possible. Do not rely
on your experience in conventional
2WD vehicles in choosing a safe cor-
nering speed. You must drive more
slowly.
Always hold the steering wheel firmlywhen you are driving off-road.
Make sure all passengers are wearing seat belts.
WARNING
- Steep hills
Driving across the contour of steep
hills can be extremely dangerous.
This danger can come from slight
changes in the hill angle which can
destabilize the vehicle. Even if the
vehicle is maintaining stability
under power, it can lose that stabil-
ity if the vehicle stops its forward
motion. Your vehicle may roll over
without warning and without time
for you to correct a mistake that
could cause serious injury or death.
WARNING
- Turning cor-ners
Reduce speed when you turn cor-
ners. The center of gravity of 4WD
and 2WD utility vehicles are raised
higher than that of conventional
2WD cars, making them more likely
to roll over when you turn corners
too fast.
WARNING
Do not grab inside of the steering
wheel when you are driving off-road.
Your arm may be hurt by a sudden
steering maneuver or from steering
wheel rebound due to impact with
objects on the ground. You could
lose control of the steering wheel.
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