2010 KIA Sportage Owner's Manual

Knowing your vehicle
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Side airbag
Side airbags (side and curtain
airbags) are designed to inflate
depending on the strength, speed
and angles of impact of a side impact
collision or rollover. If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved
roads or sidewalks, airbags may
deploy. Drive carefully on unim-
proved roads or on surfaces not
designed for vehicle traffic to prevent
unintended airbag deployment.
Airbag non-inflation conditions
In certain low-speed collisions the
airbags may not deploy. The
airbags are designed not to deploy
in such cases because the risk of
injuries which can be caused by
the airbags exceeds the benefits
they provide in protecting occu-
pants.
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Knowing your vehicle
In this case, the front airbags donot provide protection, since they
would instantaneously inflate and
deflate while the occupants were
moving away from the front
airbags. Front airbags are also not general-
ly designed to deploy in side
impact collisions because occu-
pants are moving sideways ad not
forward into the front airbags.
However, side or curtain airbags
are designed to inflate in side
impacts depending on the intensi-
ty, vehicle speed and angles of
impact. In a slant or angled collision, the
force of impact may direct the
occupants in a direction between
the front and side airbags, and
thus the sensors may not deploy
any airbags.
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Just before impact, drivers often
brake heavily. Such heavy braking
lowers the front portion of the vehi-
cle and the vehicle dive under a
vehicle with a higher ground clear-
ance. Airbags may not inflate in
this "underride" situation because
deceleration forces are so radically
altered by such "underride" colli-
sions. Front airbags do not generally
inflate in rollover accidents.
However, side airbags may inflate
during a rollover, depending on the
precise impacts which the side of
the vehicle experienced during a
rollover. 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 not the main body
structures, so that the full force of
the impact is not transmitted to the
sensors.
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Knowing your vehicle
How does the airbag system
operate
Airbags only operate when theignition switch is turned to the ON
or START positions.
Airbags inflate instantly in the event of serious frontal or side col-
lision in order to help protect the
occupants from physical injury.
The airbag Electronic Control Unit
(ECU) is a small computer which
calculates the immediate impact
information and sends out a
deployment signal based on the
ECU's calculation of the likely
severity of the developing collision.
There is no single vehicle speed at which the airbags will inflate. Airbag deployment depends on a
number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact and the
density and stiffness of the vehi-
cles or objects which your vehicle
hits in the collision. However, fac-
tors are not limited to those men-
tioned above.
The front airbags will completely inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is 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 com-
partments 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 deter-
mined by the Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS)
to reduce the likelihood of serious
or life-threatening 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, and sometimes
more serious injuries because that
inflation 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.

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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. After the
airbag inflates, you may feel sub-
stantial 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 the smoke and powder are
non-toxic, they may cause irritation
(eyes, nose and throat etc). Wash
and rinse with cold water immediate-
ly and consult the doctor if the symp-
tom persists.WARNING - Seated posi-
tioning
Driver should sit as far back from the steering wheel airbag
as possible to reduce the risk
of injury or death in a collision
(at least 250 mm (10 inches)
away). The front passenger
should always move their seat
as far back as possible and sit
back in their seat.
Airbags inflate instantly in an event of collision and passen-
gers may be injured by the
airbag expansion force if they
are too close to the dash-
board.
Airbag inflation may cause injuries which normally
include facial or bodily abra-
sions, injuries from broken
eyeglasses or burns from the
airbag gases.WARNING- Hot airbag
parts
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 area’s internal compo-
nents immediately after an
airbag has inflated.

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Knowing your vehicle
Installing a child restraint on a
front passenger’s seat is for-
bidden.
Never place a rear-facing child
restraint in the front passenger’s
seat. If the airbag deploys, it would
impact the rear-facing child restraint,
causing serious or fatal injury.
In addition, do not place front-facing
child restraint in the front passen-
ger’s seat either. If the front passen-
ger airbag inflates, it would cause
serious or fatal injuries to the child.
Airbag warning light
The purpose of the airbag warning
light in your instrument panel is to
alert you of a potential problem with
your airbag - Supplemental Restraint
System (SRS).
WARNING- Childrestraints
Never put a child restraint in the front passenger’s seat. If
the front passenger airbag
inflates, it would cause seri-
ous or fatal injuries.
When children are seated in the rear outboard seats, be
sure to secure the child
restraint system into a locked
in position.
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When the ignition switch is turned
ON, the indicator light should illumi-
nate for approximately 6 seconds,
then go off.
Have the system checked if:
The light does not turn on briefly
when you turn the ignition ON.
The light stays on after the engine starts.
The light comes on while the vehi- cle is in motion.Airbag (Supplemental
Restraint System) service
Your Supplemental Restraint System
is virtually maintenance-free. There
are no parts which you can service.
You must have the system serviced
under the following circumstances:
If an airbag ever inflates, the airbagmust be replaced. Do not try to
remove or discard the airbag by
yourself. This must be done by an
authorized Kia dealer.
If the airbag warning indicator light alerts you to a problem, have the
airbag system checked as soon as
possible. Otherwise, your airbag
system may be ineffective.
WARNING- No mainte-
nance or repair
Do not work on the airbag sys- tem’s components or wiring.
This could cause the airbags
to inflate inadvertently, possi-
bly seriously injuring some-
one. Working on the system
could also disable the system
so that the airbags would not
deploy in a collision.
Any work on the airbag sys- tem, such as removing,
installing, or repairing the
steering wheel must be per-
formed by a qualified Kia tech-
nician. Improper handling of
the airbag system including
the steering wheel may result
in serious personal injury or
death.
WARNING- No modifica-
tions
Do not modify any part of the
airbag system modification
could make the airbag system
ineffective.

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Knowing your vehicle
When repairing or scrapping thevehicle
Repairing the steering wheel, instrument panel, center console
or roofs, or installing a car audio
system around the center console
or painting the front metal sheet
could disable the airbag system.
Have such repairs and mainte-
nance performed by an authorized
Kia dealer.
Special care must be taken in scrapping or junking an airbag-
equipped vehicle. Always refer
such activities to a qualified profes-
sional.
Airbag warning label
Airbag warning labels which are now
required by the Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS)
are attached to alert driver and pas-
sengers of potential risk of airbag
system. Note that these government warn-
ings focus on the risk to children, Kia
also wants you to be aware of the
risks which adults are exposed to.
Those have been described in previ-
ous pages.
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