2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Owner's Manual

317
Safety features of your vehicle
*1The seat belt warning light will go off if
the vehicle speed decreases below 3
mph (5 km/h). If the vehicle speed
increases above 3 mph (5 km/h), the
warning light will blink again.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
• You can find the front passenger's seat
belt warning light on the center fascia
panel.
• Although the front passenger seat is
not occupied, the seat belt warning
light will blink for 6 seconds.
• The seat belt warning light can blink
when a briefcase or purse is placed on
the front passenger seat.
Seat belt - Driver's 3-point system
with emergency locking retractor
To fasten your seat belt:
To fasten your seat belt, pull it out of the
retractor and insert the metal tab (1) into
the buckle (2). There will be an audible
"click" when the tab locks into the buckle.
The seat belt automatically adjusts to the
proper length only after the lap belt por-
tion is adjusted manually so that it fits
snugly around your hips. If you lean for-
ward in a slow, easy motion, the belt will
extend and let you move around. If there
is a sudden stop or impact, however, the
belt will lock into position. It will also lock
if you try to lean forward too quickly.
ConditionsWarning Pattern
Seat BeltVehicle
SpeedLight-Blink
Unbuckled6 seconds
UnbuckledAbove 6mph
(10 km/h)Continuously
Buckled6 seconds
Buckled →
Unbuckled
Above 6mph
(10 km/h)Continuously *1
Below 6mph
(10 km/h)NoneB180A01NF-1

Safety features of your vehicle
18 3
B200A02NF
WARNING
You should place the lap belt por-
tion as low as possible and snugly
across your hips, not on your waist.
If the lap belt is located too high on
your waist, it may increase the
chance of injury in the event of a
collision. Both arms should not be
under or over the belt. Rather, one
should be over and the other under,
as shown in the illustration.
Never wear the seat belt under the
arm nearest the door.
Height adjustment
You can adjust the height of the shoulder
belt anchor to one of 4 positions for max-
imum comfort and safety.
The height of the adjusting seat belt
should not be too near your neck. The
shoulder portion should be adjusted so
that it lies across your chest and midway
over your shoulder nearest the door and
not your neck.
To adjust the height of the seat belt
anchor, lower or raise the height adjuster
into an appropriate position.To raise the height adjuster, pull it up (1).
To lower it, push it down (3) while press-
ing the height adjuster button (2).
Release the button to lock the anchor
into position. Try sliding the height
adjuster to make sure that it has locked
into position.
WARNING
Verify the shoulder belt anchor is
locked into position at the appro-
priate height. Never position the
shoulder belt across your neck or
face. Improperly positioned seat
belts can cause serious injuries
in an accident.
Failure to replace seat belts after
an accident could leave you with
damaged seat belts that will not
provide protection in the event of
another collision leading to per-
sonal injury or death. Replace
your seat belts after being in an
accident as soon as possible.
OHD036019
Front seat

319
Safety features of your vehicle
Seat belts - Front passenger and rear
seat 3-point system with combination
locking retractor
To fasten your seat belt:
Combination retractor type seat belts are
installed in the rear seat positions to help
accommodate the installation of child
restraint systems. Although a combina-
tion retractor is also installed in the front
passenger seat position, it is strongly
recommended that children always be
seated in the rear seat. NEVER place
any infant restraint system in the front
seat of the vehicle.
This type of seat belt combines the fea-
tures of both an emergency locking
retractor seat belt and an automatic lock-
ing retractor seat belt. To fasten your seat
belt, pull it out of the retractor and insert
the metal tab into the buckle. There will
be an audible "click" when the tab locks
into the buckle. When not securing a
child restraint, the seat belt operates in
the same way as the driver's seat belt
(Emergency Locking Retractor Type). It
automatically adjusts to the proper length
only after the lap belt portion of the seat
belt is adjusted manually so that it fits
snugly around your hips.When the seat belt is fully extended from
the retractor to allow the installation of a
child restraint system, the seat belt oper-
ation changes to allow the belt to retract,
but not to extend (Automatic Locking
Retractor Type). Refer to “Using a child
restraint system” in this section.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
Although the combination retractor
provides the same level of protection for
seated passengers in either emergency
or automatic locking modes, it is recom-
mended that seated passengers use the
emergency locking feature for improved
convenience. The automatic locking
function is intended to facilitate child
restraint installation. To convert from
the automatic locking feature to the
emergency locking operation mode,
allow the unbuckled seat belt to fully
retract.
Rear center seat belt
To fasten the rear center seat belt, insert
the metal tab(1) into the buckle(2) until
an audible "click" is heard. Make sure
that the belt is not twisted and there is
"CENTER" mark on the buckle.
OYFH031075N
OYF039022N

Safety features of your vehicle
20 3
To unfasten the rear center seat belt,
press the release button of the buckle(2)
and remove the tongue plate from the
buckle.
To release the seat belt:
The seat belt is released by pressing the
release button (1) in the locking buckle.
When it is released, the belt should auto-
matically draw back into the retractor.
If this does not happen, check the belt to
be sure it is not twisted, then try again.
Anchor connector for front seat belt
The anchor connect would be discon-
nected if you turn the hole(1).
Never disconnect the anchor connector.
The seat belts may be damaged.
When the accident ocuurs, it may result
in death or injury.
B210A01NF-1OYFH041138N
WARNING
For your safety, do not disassem-
ble the anchor connector by
pressing the red button of the
buckle(3).
If the anchor connector is disas-
sembled, immediately connect
the metal tab(4) into the buckle(3)
until an audible "click" is heard
for your safety.

321
Safety features of your vehicle
Pre-tensioner seat belt
Your vehicle is equipped with driver's and
front passenger's pre-tensioner seat
belts. The purpose of the pre-tensioner is
to make sure that the seat belts fit tightly
against the occupant's body in certain
frontal collisions or side collisions. The
pre-tensioner seat belts may be activated
in crashes where the frontal collision or
side collisions is severe enough.When the vehicle stops suddenly, or if
the occupant tries to lean forward too
quickly, the seat belt retractor will lock
into position. In certain frontal collisions
or side collisions, the pre-tensioner will
activate and pull the seat belt into tighter
contact against the occupant's body.
If the system senses excessive tension
on the driver or passenger's seat belt
when the pre-tensioner activates, the
load limiter inside the pre-tensioner will
release some of the pressure on the
affected seat belt.
The seat belt pre-tensioner system con-
sists mainly of the following components.
Their locations are shown in the illustra-
tion:
1. SRS air bag warning light
2. Retractor pre-tensioner assembly
3. SRS control moduleWARNING
Do not put anything near the buck-
le. Placing objects near the buckle
can adversely affect the buckle pre-
tensioner and may increase the risk
of personal injury in the event of a
collision.
OED030300OBH038100

Safety features of your vehicle
22 3
CAUTION
If the pre-tensioner seat belt is not
working properly, this warning light
will illuminate even if there is no
malfunction of the SRS air bag. If
the SRS air bag warning light does
not illuminate when the engine
start/stop button is turned ON, or if
it remains illuminated after illumi-
nating for approximately 6 seconds,
or if it illuminates while the vehicle
is being driven, have an authorized
HYUNDAI dealer inspect the pre-
tensioner seat belt and SRS air bag
system as soon as possible.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
• Both the driver's and front passen-
ger's pre-tensioner seat belts may be
activated in certain frontal collisions
or side collisions.
The pre-tensioners will not be activat-
ed if the seat belts are not being worn
at the time of the collision.
• When the pre-tensioner seat belts are
activated, a loud noise may be heard
and fine dust, which may appear to be
smoke, may be visible in the passenger
compartment. These are normal oper-
ating conditions and are not haz-
ardous.
• Although it is harmless, the fine dust
may cause skin irritation and should
not be breathed for prolonged peri-
ods. Wash all exposed skin areas thor-
oughly after an accident in which the
pre-tensioner seat belts were activat-
ed.
• Because the sensor that activates the
SRS air bag is connected with the pre-
tensioner seat belt, the SRS air bag
warning light on the instrument
panel will illuminate for approximate-
ly 6 seconds after the engine start/stop
button has been turned to the ON
position, and then it should turn off.WARNING
To obtain maximum benefit from a
pre-tensioner seat belt:
1. The seat belt must be worn cor-
rectly and adjusted to the proper
position. Please read and follow
all of the important information
and precautions about your vehi-
cle’s occupant safety features –
including seat belts and air bags
– that are provided in this manu-
al.
2. Be sure you and your passen-
gers always wear seat belts prop-
erly.

323
Safety features of your vehicle
Seat belt precautions
WARNING
Pre-tensioners are designed to
operate only one time. After acti-
vation, 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.
The pre-tensioner seat belt
assembly mechanisms become
hot during activation. Do not
touch the pre-tensioner seat belt
assemblies for several minutes
after they have been activated.
Do not attempt to inspect or
replace the pre-tensioner seat
belts yourself. This must be done
by an authorized HYUNDAI dealer.
Do not strike the pre-tensioner
seat belt assemblies.
Improper handling of the pre-ten-
sioner seat belt assemblies, and
failure to heed the warnings not
to strike, modify, inspect, replace,
service or repair the pre-tension-
er seat belt assemblies may lead
to improper operation or inadver-
tent activation and serious injury.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Always wear the seat belts when
driving or riding in a motor vehi-
cle.
If the vehicle or pre-tensioner
seat belt must be discarded, con-
tact an authorized HYUNDAI deal-
er.
WARNING
All occupants of the vehicle must
wear their seat belts at all times.
Seat belts and child restraints
reduce the risk of serious or fatal
injuries for all occupants in the
event of a collision or sudden stop.
Without a seat belt, occupants
could be shifted too close to a
deploying air bag, strike the interior
structure or be thrown from the
vehicle. Properly worn seat belts
greatly reduce these hazards.
Even with advanced air bags,
unbelted occupants can be severe-
ly injured by a deploying air bag.
Always follow the precautions
about seat belts, air bags and occu-
pant seating contained in this man-
ual.

Safety features of your vehicle
24 3
Infant or small child
All 50 states have child restraint laws. You
should be aware of the specific require-
ments in your state. Child and/or infant
seats must be properly placed and
installed in the rear seat. For more infor-
mation about the use of these restraints,
refer to “Child restraint system” in this
section.✽ ✽
NOTICE
Small children are best protected from
injury in an accident when properly
restrained in the rear seat by a child
restraint system that meets the require-
ments of the Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards. Before buying any
child restraint system, make sure that it
has a label certifying that it meets
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
213. The restraint must be appropriate
for your child's height and weight.
Check the label on the child restraint for
this information. Refer to “Child
restraint system” in this section.
Larger children
Children who are too large for child
restraint systems should always occupy
the rear seat and use the available
lap/shoulder belts. The lap portion should
be fastened snug on the hips and as low
as possible. Check belt fit periodically. A
child's squirming could put the belt out of
position. Children are afforded the most
safety in the event of an accident when
they are restrained by a proper restraint
system in the rear seat. If a larger child
(over age 12) must be seated in the front
seat, the child should be securely
restrained by the available lap/shoulder
belt and the seat should be placed in the
rearmost position. Children age 12 and
under should be restrained securely in
the rear seat. NEVER place a child age
12 and under in the front seat. NEVER
place a rear facing child seat in the front
seat of a vehicle.
WARNING
Every person in your vehicle needs
to be properly restrained at all
times, including infants and chil-
dren. Never hold a child in your
arms or lap when riding in a vehi-
cle. The violent forces created dur-
ing a crash will tear the child from
your arms and throw the child
against the interior. Always use a
child restraint appropriate for your
child's height and weight.