
Safety features of your vehicle
52
3
Noise and smoke
When inflated, the air bags make a
loud noise and leave smoke and
powder in the air inside the vehicle.
This is normal and is a result of the
ignition of the air bag inflator. After
the air bag inflates, you may feel sub-
stantial discomfort in breathing due
to the contact of your chest with both
the seat belt and the air bag, as well
as from breathing the smoke and
powder. Open your doors and/or
windows as soon as possible after
impact in order to reduce discom-
fort and prevent prolonged expo-
sure to the smoke and powder.
Though smoke and powder are non-
toxic, it may cause irritation to the
skin (eyes, nose and throat, etc). If
this is the case, wash and rinse with
cold water immediately and consult a
doctor if the symptom persists.WARNING
To avoid severe personal injury or death caused by
deploying air bags in a colli-
sion, the driver should sit as
far back from the steering
wheel air bag. The front pas-
sengers should always move
their seats as far back as pos-
sible and sit back in their seat.
Air bags inflate instantly in the event of a collision, and pas-
sengers may be injured by the
air bag expansion force if they
are not in a proper position.
Air bag inflation may cause injuries including facial or
bodily abrasions, injuries
from broken glasses or burns.
WARNING
When the air bags deploy, the
air bag related parts in the
steering wheel and/or instru-
ment 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 area’s internal
components immediately after
an air bag has inflated.

353
Safety features of your vehicle
Do not install a child restraint onthe front passenger’s seat.
Never place a rear-facing child
restraint in the front passenger’s
seat. If the air bag deploys, it would
impact the rear-facing child restraint,
causing serious or fatal injury.
In addition, do not place front-facing
child restraints in the front passen-
ger’s seat either. If the front passen-
ger air bag inflates, it could cause
serious or fatal injuries to the child.
Air bag warning light
The purpose of the air bag warning
light in your instrument panel is to
alert you of a potential problem with
your air bag - Supplemental
Restraint System (SRS).
When the ignition switch is turned
ON, the indicator light should illumi-
nate for approximately 6 seconds,
then go off.1JBH3051
WARNING
Extreme Hazard! Do not use a rearward facing child restraint
on a seat protected by an air
bag in front of it!
Never put a child restraint in the front passenger’s seat. If
the front passenger air bag
inflates, it would cause seri-
ous or fatal injuries.
When children are seated in the rear outboard seats of
vehicle equipped with side
and/or curtain air bags, be
sure to install the child
restraint system as far away
from the door side as possible,
and securely lock the child
restraint system in position.
Inflation of side and/or curtain
air bags could cause serious
injury or death to an infant or
child.
W7-147

Safety features of your vehicle
64
3
(Continued)
Do not modify or replace the
front passenger seat. Don't
place anything on or attach any-
thing such as a blanket or seat
heater to the front passenger
seat. This can adversely affect
the occupant detection system.
Do not place sharp objects on the front passenger seat.
These may damage the occu-
pant detection system, if they
puncture the seat cushion.
Do not use accessory seat covers on the front seats.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are
restrained in the rear, as
opposed to the front seat. It is
recommended that child
restraints be secured in a rear
seat, including an infant riding
in a rear-facing infant seat, a
child riding in a forward-fac-
ing child seat and an older
child riding in a booster seat.
(Continued)(Continued)
Air bags can only be usedonce - have an authorized Kia
dealer replace the air bag
immediately after deployment.
The occupant detection sys- tem may not work properly if
water, coffee or any other liq-
uid including rain gets on the
seat. Keep the front seat dry
at all times.
Do not place an electronic device (ex. laptop computer,
after market DMB/navigation/
satellite audio, video game
machine, MP3, etc.) on the
front passenger seat. Its elec-
tronic field may cause the
ODS to switch to the "on" con-
dition and thus turn on the air
bag warning light or allow the
passenger air bag to deploy
needlessly in a collision,
increasing your repair costs.WARNING
If the occupant detection sys-
tem is not working properly, the
SRS air bag warning light on
the instrument panel will illumi-
nate because the passenger's
front air bag is connected with
the occupant detection system.
If there is a malfunction of the
occupant detection system, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”
indicator will not illuminate and
the passenger's front air bag
will inflate in frontal impact
crashes even if there is no
occupant in the front passen-
ger's seat.
(Continued)

Safety features of your vehicle
66
3
The advanced SRS offers the ability
to control the air bag inflation with
two levels. A first stage level is pro-
vided for moderate-severity impacts.
A second stage level is provided for
more severe impacts.
The passenger’s front air bag is
designed to help reduce the injury of
children sitting close to the instru-
ment panel in low speed collisions.
However, children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
Additionally, your vehicle is equipped
with an occupant detection system in
the front passenger's seat. The occu-
pant detection system detects the
presence of a passenger in the front
passenger's seat and will turn off the
front passenger's air bag under cer-
tain conditions. For more detail, see
"Occupant detection system" in this
section.
WARNING
If the occupant detection sys-
tem is not working properly, the
SRS air bag warning light
on the instrument panel will illu-
minate because the SRS air bag
warning light is connected with
the occupant detection system.
If the SRS air bag warning light
does not illuminate when the
ignition switch is turned to the
ON position, remains illuminat-
ed after approximately 6 sec-
onds when the ignition switch
is turned to the ON position, or
if it illuminates while the vehicle
is being driven, have an author-
ized Kia dealer inspect the
advanced SRS air bag system
as soon as possible.
WARNING
Modification to the seat struc-
ture can cause the air bag to
deploy at a different level than
should be provided.
Do not place any objects underneath the front seats as
they could damage and/or
interfere with the occupant
detection system.

Safety features of your vehicle
68
3
(Continued)
Never place a child in any
child or booster seat in the
front seat.
ABC – Always Buckle Children in the 2nd Row seat.
It is the safest place for chil-
dren of any age to ride.
Front and side air bags can injure occupants improperly
positioned in the front seats.
Move your seat as far back as practical from the front air
bags, while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
You and your passengers should never sit or lean
unnecessarily close to the air
bags. Improperly positioned
drivers and passengers can
be severely injured by inflat-
ing air bags.
(Continued)(Continued)
Never lean against the door orcenter console – always sit in
an upright position.
Do not allow a passenger to ride in the front seat when the
PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”
indicator is illuminated,
because the air bag will not
deploy in the event of a mod-
erate or severe frontal crash.
No objects should be placed over or near the air bag mod-
ules on the steering wheel,
instrument panel or the front
passenger's panel above the
glove box, because any such
object could cause harm if the
vehicle is in a crash severe
enough to cause the air bags
to deploy.
(Continued)(Continued)
Never place covers, blanketsor aftermarket seat warmers
on the passenger seat as
these may interfere with the
occupant detection system.
Do not tamper with or discon- nect SRS wiring or other com-
ponents of the SRS system.
Doing so could result in injury,
due to accidental deployment
of the air bags or by rendering
the SRS inoperative.
If the SRS air bag warning light remains illuminated
while the vehicle is being driv-
en, have an authorized Kia
dealer inspect the air bag sys-
tem as soon as possible.
Air bags can only be used once – have an authorized Kia
dealer replace the air bag
immediately after deployment.
(Continued)

371
Safety features of your vehicle
Side air bagYour vehicle is equipped with a side
air bag in each front seat. The pur-
pose of the air bag is to provide the
vehicle's driver and/or the front pas-
senger with additional protection
than that offered by the seat belt
alone.
The side air bags are designed todeploy during certain side-impact
collisions, depending on the crash
severity, angle, speed and point of
impact.
The side air bags are not designed to deploy in all side impact.
ORP032046
ORP032059❈ The actual air bags in the vehicle may dif-
fer from the illustration.
WARNING
Do not allow the passengers to
lean 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
seats equipped with side and/or
curtain air bags.
WARNING
The side air bag is supplemen- tal to the driver's and the pas-
senger's seat belt systems and
is not a substitute for them.
Therefore your seat belts must
be worn at all times while the
vehicle is in operation.
For best protection from the side air bag system and to
avoid being injured by the
deploying side air bag, both
front seat occupants should
sit in an upright position with
the seat belt properly fas-
tened. The driver's hands
should be placed on the steer-
ing wheel at the 9:00 and 3:00
positions. The passenger's
arms and hands should be
placed on their laps.
Do not use any accessory seat covers.
Use of seat covers could reduce or prevent the effec-
tiveness of the system.
(Continued)

373
Safety features of your vehicle
They are designed to help protect
the heads of the front seat occupants
and the rear outboard seat occu-
pants in certain side impact colli-
sions.
The curtain air bags are designed to
deploy during certain side impact
collisions, depending on the crash
severity, angle, speed and point of
impact.
The curtain air bags are not designed
to deploy in all side impact situations,
collisions from the front or rear of the
vehicle or rollover situations.
WARNING
In order for side and curtainair bags to provide the best
protection, front seat occu-
pants and outboard rear occu-
pants should sit in an upright
position with the seat belts
properly fastened.
Importantly, children should
sit in a proper child restraint
system in the rear seat.
When children are seated in the rear outboard seats, they
must be seated in the proper
child restraint system. Make
sure to position the child
restraint system as far away
from the door side as possi-
ble, and secure the child
restraint system in a locked
position.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Do not allow the passengersto lean their heads or bodies
against the doors, put their
arms on the doors, stretch
their arms out of the window
or place objects between the
doors and passengers when
they are seated on seats
equipped with side impact
and/or curtain air bags.
Never try to open or repair any components of the side and
curtain air bag system. This
should only be done by an
authorized Kia dealer.
Failure to follow the above men-
tioned instructions can result in
injury or death to the vehicle
occupants in an accident.
WARNING - No attaching
objects
Do not place any objects over the air bag. Also, do not attach
any objects around the area
the air bag inflates such as the
door, side door glass, front
and rear pillar, roof side rail.
objects on the coat hook.

379
Safety features of your vehicle
SRS Care
The SRS is virtually maintenance-free
and so there are no parts you can
safely service by yourself. If the SRS
air bag warning light does not illumi-
nate, or continuously remains on,
have your vehicle immediately
inspected by an authorized Kia dealer.
Any work on the SRS system, such
as removing, installing, repairing, or
any work on the steering wheel, the
front passenger’s panel, front seats
and roof rails must be performed by
an authorized Kia dealer. Improper
handling of the SRS system may
result in serious personal injury.WARNING
Modification to SRS compo-nents or wiring, including the
addition of any kind of badges
to the pad covers or modifica-
tions to the body structure, can
adversely affect SRS perform-
ance and lead to possible injury.
For cleaning the air bag pad covers, use only a soft, dry
cloth or one which has been
moistened with plain water.
Solvents or cleaners could
adversely affect the air bag
covers and proper deploy-
ment of the system.
No objects should be placed over or near the air bag mod-
ules on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, and the
front passenger's panel above
the glove box, because any
such object could cause harm
if the vehicle is in a crash
severe enough to cause the
air bags to inflate.
(Continued)
(Continued)
If the air bags inflate, theymust be replaced by an
authorized Kia dealer.
Do not tamper with or discon- nect SRS wiring, or other com-
ponents of the SRS system.
Doing so could result in injury,
due to accidental inflation of
the air bags or by rendering the
SRS inoperative.
If components of the air bag system must be discarded, or if
the vehicle must be scrapped,
certain safety precautions must
be observed. An authorized Kia
dealer knows these precau-
tions and can give you the nec-
essary information. Failure to
follow these precautions and
procedures could increase the
risk of personal injury.
If your vehicle was flooded and has soaked carpeting or
water on flooring, you should-
n't try to start the engine;
have the vehicle towed to an
authorized Kia dealer.