2017 KIA Sportage flat

Safety features of your vehicle
23
You will find many safety precautions
and recommendations throughout
this section, and throughout this man-
ual. The safety precautions in this sec-
tion are among the most important.
Always wear your seat belt
A seat belt is your best protection in
all types of accidents. Air bags are
designed to supplement seat belts,
not replace them. So even though
your vehicle is equipped with air
bags, ALWAYS make sure you and
your passengers wear your seat
belts, and wear them properly.
Restrain all children
All children under age 13 should ride
in your vehicle properly restrained in
a rear seat, not the front seat. Infants
and small children should be
restrained in an appropriate child
restraint. Larger children should use
a booster seat with the lap/shoulder
belt until they can use the seat belt
properly without a booster seat.
Air bag hazards
While air bags can save lives, they
can also cause serious or fatal
injuries to occupants who sit too
close to them, or who are not prop-
erly restrained. Infants, young chil-
dren, and shorter adults are at the
greatest risk of being injured by an
inflating air bag. Follow all instruc-
tions and warnings in this manual.
Driver distraction
Driver distraction presents a serious
and potentially deadly danger, espe-
cially for inexperienced drivers.
Safety should be the first concern
when behind the wheel and drivers
need to be aware of the wide array of
potential distractions, such as drowsi-
ness, reaching for objects, eating,
personal grooming, other passen-
gers, and using cellular phones.
Drivers can become distracted when
they take their eyes and attention off
the road or their hands off the wheel
to focus on activities other than driv-
ing. To reduce your risk of distraction
or getting into an accident:
• ALWAYS set up your mobiledevices (i.e., MP3 players, phones,
navigation units, etc.) when your
vehicle is parked or safely stopped.
IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Safety features of your vehicle
63
WARNING- Driver’s seat
Never attempt to adjust the seat while the vehicle is mov-
ing. This could result in loss
of control of your vehicle.
Do not allow anything to inter- fere with the normal position
of the seatback. Storing items
against the seatback could
result in serious or fatal injury
in a sudden stop or collision.
Sit as far back as possible from the steering wheel while still
maintaining comfortable con-
trol of the your vehicle. A dis-
tance of at least 250 mm (10 in)
from your chest to the steering
wheel is recommended. Failure
to do so can result in air bag
inflation injuries to the driver.
WARNING- Unexpected
Seat Movement
After adjusting a manual seat,
always check that it is locked by
shifting your weight to the front
and back. Sudden or unexpect-
ed movement of the driver's
seat could cause you to lose
control of the vehicle.
WARNING - Rear seatbacks
Always lock the rear seatback
before driving. Failure to do so
could result in passengers or
objects being thrown forward
injuring vehicle occupants.
WARNING- Luggage and Cargo
Do not stack pile or stack lug-
gage or cargo higher than the
seatback in the cargo area. In an
accident the cargo could strike
and injury a passenger. If
objects are large, heavy or must
be piled, they must be secured
in the cargo area.
WARNING- Cargo Area
Do not allow passengers to ride
in the cargo area under any cir-
cumstance. The cargo area is
solely for the purpose of trans-
porting luggage or cargo.

Safety features of your vehicle
32
3
CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM (CRS)
Children Always in the RearChildren under age 13 must always
ride in the rear seats and must always
be properly restrained to minimize the
risk of injury in an accident, sudden
stop or sudden maneuver. According
to accident statistics, children are
safer when properly restrained in the
rear seats than in the front seat. Even
with air bags, children can be serious-
ly injured or killed. Children too large
for a child restraint must use the seat
belts provided.
Most countries have child restraint
laws which require children to travel
in approved child restraint devices.
The laws governing the age or
height/weight restrictions at which
seat belts can be used instead of
child restraints differs among coun-
tries, so you should be aware of the
specific requirements in your coun-
try, and where you are travelling. Child restraint systems must be
properly placed and installed in the
rear seat. You must use a commer-
cially available child restraint system
that meets the requirements of the
Safety Standards of your country.
Child restraint systems are generally
designed to be secured in a vehicle
seat by lap belt portion of a
lap/shoulder belt, or by a LATCH sys-
tem in the rear seats of the vehicle.
WARNING - Restraint
Location
Never install a child or infant
seat on the front passenger's
seat. A child riding in the front
passenger seat can be forceful-
ly struck by an inflating airbag
and seriously injured.
WARNING - Hot Child
Restraint
A child restraint system can
become very hot if it is left in a
closed vehicle on a sunny day.
Be sure to check the seat cover,
buckles and latches before
placing a child in the restraint
system.

Safety features of your vehicle
44
3
How does the air bag system
operate?
Air bags are activated (able to
inflate if necessary) only when the
ignition switch is turned to the ON
or START position.
The appropriate air bags inflate instantly in the event of a serious
frontal collision or side collision in
order to help protect the occupants
from serious physical injury.
In normal conditions, the airbag is designed to deploy based on cer-
tain angle and intensity of the colli-
sion. These two factors are crucial
elements for deciding whether to
transmit airbag deployment signal
or start the electrical operation or
not.
The airbag will deploy based on angle and intensity of the collision.
It will not deploy in every crash or
collision situations The front air bags will completely
inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is virtually impossible for you to
see the air bags inflate during an
accident.
It is much more likely that you will
simply see the deflated air bags
hanging out of their storage com-
partments after the collision.
In addition to inflating in serious side collisions, side and/or curtain
air bags will inflate if the sensing
system detects a rollover.
When a rollover is detected curtain air bags will remain inflated longer
to help provide protection from
ejection, especially when used in
conjunction with the seat belts. In order to help provide protection,
the air bags must inflate rapidly.
The speed of the air bag inflation is
a consequence of extremely short
time in which to inflate the air bag
between the occupant and the
vehicle structures before the occu-
pant impacts those structures. This
speed of inflation reduces the risk
of serious or life-threatening
injuries and is thus a necessary
part of the air bag design.
However, air bag inflation can also
cause injuries which can include
facial abrasions, bruises and bro-
ken bones because the inflation
speed also causes the air bags to
expand with a great deal of force.
There are even circumstances under which contact with the
steering wheel or passenger air
bag can cause fatal injuries,
especially if the occupant is
positioned excessively close to
the steering wheel or passenger
air bag.

345
Safety features of your vehicle
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- Hot compo-
nents
Do not touch the air bag storage
area's internal components
immediately after airbag infla-
tion. The air bag related parts in
the steering wheel, instrument
panel and the roof rails above
the front and rear doors are
very hot. Hot components can
result in burn injuries.WARNING- Airbag infla- tion
Sit as far back as possible from
the steering wheel while still
maintaining comfortable con-
trol of your vehicle. A distance
of at least 25 cm (10 in) from
your chest to the steering wheel
is recommended. Failure to do
so can result in airbag inflation
injuries to the driver.

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46
3
Do not install a child restraint on
the 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. If the front passenger air
bag inflates, it could cause serious or
fatal injuries to the child.
Air bag warning light
The purpose of air bag warning light
in your instrument panel is to alert
you of a potential problem with your
air bag system, which could include
your side and/or curtain air bags
used for rollover protection.1JBH3051
W7-147
WARNING- Air bag deployment
When children are seated in the
rear outboard seats of a vehicle
equipped with side and/or cur-
tain air bags, install the child
restraint system as far away
from the door side as possible.
Inflation of the side and/or cur-
tain air bags could impact the
child.

Safety features of your vehicle
48
3
If any of the following conditions
occur, this indicates a malfunction in
the air bag system. Have an author-
ized Kia dealer inspect the air bag
system as soon as possible.
The light does not turn on briefly
when you turn the ignition ON.
The light stays on after illuminating for approximately 6 seconds.
The light comes on while the vehi- cle is in motion.
The light blinks when the ignition switch is in ON position. The front air bag modules are locat-
ed both in the center of the steering
wheel and in the front passenger's
panel above the glove box. When the
SRSCM detects a sufficiently severe
impact to the front of the vehicle, it
will automatically deploy the front air
bags. Upon deployment, tear seams mold-
ed directly into the pad covers will
separate under pressure from the
expansion of the air bags. Further
opening of the covers then allows full
inflation of the air bags.
B240B01L
Driver’s front air bag (1)
B240B02L
Driver’s front air bag (2)

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Safety features of your vehicle
A fully inflated air bag, in combina-
tion with a properly worn seat belt,
slows the driver's or the passenger's
forward motion, reducing the risk of
head and chest injury.
After complete inflation, the air bag
immediately starts deflating, enabling
the driver to maintain forward visibility
and the ability to steer or operate
other controls. If an air bag deploys, there may be
a loud noise followed by a fine dust
released in the vehicle. These con-
ditions are normal and are not haz-
ardous - the air bags are packed in
this fine powder. The dust generat-
ed during air bag deployment may
cause skin or eye irritation as well
as aggravate asthma for some per-
sons. Always wash all exposed
skin areas thoroughly with cold
water and a mild soap after an
accident in which the air bags were
deployed.
B240B03L
Driver’s front air bag (3)
B240B05L
Passenger’s front air bag
WARNING- Air bag
obstructions
Do not install or place any
accessories on the steering
wheel, instrument panel, or on
the front passenger's panel
above the glove box in a vehi-
cle. Such objects may become
dangerous projectiles if the air
bag deploys.
WARNING- Flying objects
Do not place any objects (an
umbrella, bag, etc.) between the
front door and the front seat.
Such objects may become dan-
gerous projectiles if the side
airbag inflates.