2011 Hyundai Sonata Owner's Manual

Safety features of your vehicle16
3
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.
Do not place objects in the rear
seats, since they cannot be proper-
ly secured and may hit the front
seat occupants in a collision.
CAUTION
- Rear seat belts
When returning the rear seatbacks
to the upright position, rememberto return the rear shoulder belts to their proper position. Routing theseat belt webbing through the rearseat belt guides will help keep the belts from being trapped behind orunder the seats.
CAUTION -
Damaging rear
seat belt buckles
When you fold the rear seatback,
insert the buckle in the pocket between the rear seatback andcushion. Doing so can prevent thebuckle from being damaged by therear seatback.
WARNING -
Cargo loading
Make sure the engine is off, the
automatic transaxle is in P (Park)
and the parking brake is securely
applied whenever loading or
unloading cargo. Failure to take
these steps may allow the vehicle
to move if the shift lever is inadver-
tently moved to another position.

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317
Safety features of your vehicle
Seat belt restraint systemSEAT BELTS
WARNING
Seat belts are designed to bear
upon the bony structure of the
body, and should be worn low
across the front of the pelvis, chest
and shoulders, as applicable; wear-
ing the lap section of the belt
across the abdominal area must be
avoided.
Seat belts should be adjusted as
firmly as possible, consistent with
comfort, to provide the protection
for which they have been designed.
A slack belt will greatly reduce the
protection afforded to the occu-
pant.(Continued)
(Continued)
Care should be taken to avoid con-
tamination of the webbing with pol-
ishes, oils and chemicals and par-
ticularly battery acid. Cleaning may
safely be carried out using mild
soap and water. The belt should be
replaced if webbing becomes
frayed, contaminated or damaged.
It is essential to replace the entire
assembly after it has been worn in
a severe impact even if damage to
the assembly is not obvious. Belts
should not be worn with straps
twisted. Each seat belt assembly
must only be used by one occu-
pant; it is dangerous to put a belt
around a child being carried on the
occupant's lap.
WARNING
No modifications or additions
should be made by the user which
will either prevent the seat belt
adjusting devices from operating to
remove slack, or prevent the seat
belt assembly from being adjusted
to remove slack.
(Continued)
• Avoid wearing twisted seat belts.A twisted belt can't do its job as
well. In a collision, it could even
cut into you. Be sure the belt
webbing is straight and not twist-
ed.
• Be careful not to damage the belt webbing or hardware. If the belt
webbing or hardware is dam-
aged, replace it.
WARNING
• For maximum restraint systemprotection, the seat belts must
always be used whenever the car
is moving.
• Seat belts are most effective when seatbacks are in the
upright position.
• Children age 12 and younger must always be properly
restrained in the rear seat. Never
allow children to ride in the front
passenger seat. If a child over 12
must be seated in the front seat,
he/she must be properly belted
and the seat should be moved as
far back as possible.
• Never wear the shoulder belt under your arm or behind your
back. An improperly positioned
shoulder belt can cause serious
injuries in a crash. The shoulder
belt should be positioned midway
over your shoulder across your
collarbone.
(Continued)

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Safety features of your vehicle18
3Seat belt warning (for driver’s seat)The driver's seat belt warning light and
chime will activate to the following table
when the ignition switch is in "ON" posi-
tion.
*
1Warning pattern repeats 11 times with
an interval of 24 seconds. If the driver's
seat belt is buckled, the light will stop
within 6 seconds and chime will stop
immediately.
*2The light will stop within 6 seconds and
chime will stop immediately.
Seat belt warning (for front passen- ger’s seat)The front passenger's seat belt warning
light will activate to the following table
when the ignition switch is in "ON" posi-
tion.

1GQA2083
Conditions
Warning Pattern
Seat Belt
Vehicle
Speed
Light-Blink
Chime-Sound
Unbuckled
6 seconds
Buckled
6 seconds
None
Buckled →
Unbuckled
Below 3 mph (5 km/h)
6 seconds
None
3 mph~6 mph
6 seconds
Above 6 mph (10 km/h)
6 sec. on / 24 sec. off (11 times)
Unbuckled
Above 6 mph(10 km/h)
↓
Below 3 mph (5 km/h)
6 seconds *
1
↓
Stop *
2

OYF039060N
OYF039054N
Type AType B

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319
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 retractorTo 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.
Conditions
Warning Pattern
Seat Belt
Vehicle
Speed
Light-Blink
Unbuckled
6 seconds
Unbuckled
Above 6mph (10 km/h)
Continuously
Buckled
6 seconds
Buckled →
Unbuckled
Above 6mph (10 km/h)
Continuously *
1
Below 6mph(10 km/h)
None

B180A01NF-1

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Safety features of your vehicle20
3Height 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

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321
Safety features of your vehicle
Seat belts - Front passenger and rearseat 3-point system with combinationlocking retractorTo 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.
✽
NOTICEAlthough 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.

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.

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Safety features of your vehicle22
3When using the rear center seat belt, the
buckle with the “CENTER” mark must be
used. 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.
Stowing the rear seat belt The rear seat belt buckles can be stowed
in the pocket between the rear seatback
and cushion when not in use.

OYF039022N

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OYF039021N

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323
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.
✽
NOTICE The pre-tensioner will activate not only
in a frontal collision but also in a side
collision, if the vehicle is equipped with
a side or curtain air bag.
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 module

OBH038100

WARNING
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.

OED030300

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