2021 KIA NIRO Owners Manual

Safety features of your vehicle
38 3
Rear-facing child seats
A rear-facing child seat provides
restraint with the seating surface
against the back of the child. The
harness system holds the child in
place, and in an accident, acts to
keep the child positioned in the seat
and reduces the stress to the neck
and spinal cord.
All children under age one must
always ride in a rear-facing infant
child restraint.Convertible and 3-in-1 child seats
typically have higher height and
weight limits for the rear-facing posi-
tion, allowing you to keep your child
rear-facing for a longer period of time.
Continue to use a rear-facing child
seat for as long as your child will fit
within the height and weight limits
allowed by the child seat manufactur-
er. It’s the best way to keep them
safe. Once your child has outgrown
the rear-facing child restraint, your
child is ready for a forward-facing
child restraint with a harness.Forward-facing child restraints
A forward-facing child seat provides
restraint for the child’s body with a
harness. Keep children in a forward-
facing child seat with a harness until
they reach the top height or weight
limit allowed by your child restraint’s
manufacturer.
Once your child outgrows the for-
ward-facing child restraint, your child
is ready for a booster seat.
ODE036031 ODE026007

339
Safety features of your vehicle
Booster seats
A booster seat is a restraint designed
to improve the fit of the vehicle’s seat
belt system. A booster seat positions
the seat belt so that it fits properly
over the lap of your child.
Keep your child in a booster seat
until they are big enough to sit in the
seat without a booster and still have
the seat belt fit properly. For a seat
belt to fit properly, the lap belt must
lie snugly across the upper thighs,
not the stomach. The shoulder belt
should lie snug across the shoulder
and chest and not across the neck or
face. Children under age 13 must
always ride in the rear seats and
must always be properly restrained
to minimize the risk of injury.Installing a Child Restraint
System (CRS)
After selecting a proper child seat for
your child, check to make sure it fits
properly in your vehicle. Follow the
instructions provided by the manu-
facturer when installing the child
seat. Note these general steps when
installing the seat to your vehicle:
Properly secure the child
restraint to the vehicle.All child
restraints must be secured to the
vehicle with the lap part of a
lap/shoulder belt or with the
LATCH system.
Make sure the child restraint is
firmly secured.After installing a
child restraint to the vehicle, push
and pull the seat forward and from
side-to-side to verify that it is
securely attached to the seat. A
child restraint secured with a seat
belt should be installed as firmly as
possible. However, some side-to-
side movement can be expected.Secure the child in the child
restraint.Make sure the child is
properly strapped in the child
restraint according to the manufac-
turer instructions.

Safety features of your vehicle
40 3
Lower Anchors and Tether for
Children (LATCH) System
The LATCH system holds a child
restraint during driving and in an
accident. This system is designed to
make installation of the child restraint
easier and reduce the possibility of
improperly installing your child
restraint. The LATCH system uses
anchors in the vehicle and attach-
ments on the child restraint. The
LATCH system eliminates the need
to use seat belts to secure the child
restraint to the rear seats.
Lower anchors are metal bars built
into the vehicle. There are two lower
anchors for each LATCH seating
position that will accommodate a
child restraint with lower attach-
ments.
To use the LATCH system in your
vehicle, you must have a child
restraint with LATCH attachments.
The child seat manufacturer will pro-
vide you with instructions on how to
use the child seat with its attach-
ments for the LATCH lower anchors.LATCH anchors have been provided
in the left and right outboard rear
seating positions. Their locations are
shown in the illustration. There are
no LATCH anchors provided for the
center rear seating position.
ODE036077L
WARNING - LATCH Lower
Anchors
Never attempt to attach a LATCH
equipped seat in the center
seating position. LATCH lower
anchors are only to be used in
the left and right rear outboard
seating positions. You may dam-
age the anchors or the anchors
may fail and break in a collision.

341
Safety features of your vehicle
The lower anchor position indicator
symbols are located on the left and
right rear seat backs to identify the
position of the lower anchors in your
vehicle (see arrows in illustration).
The LATCH anchors are located
between the seatback and the seat
cushion of the rear seat left and right
outboard seating positions.
To use the lower anchor, push the
upper portion of the lower anchor
cover.
❈(1) : Lower Anchor position indicator
(2) : Lower Anchor
Securing a child restraint with
the LATCH anchors system
To install a LATCH-compatible child
restraint in either of the rear outboard
seating positions:
1. Move the seat belt buckle away
from the lower anchors.
2. Move any other objects away from
the anchors that could prevent a
secure connection between the
child restraint and the lower
anchors.
3. Place the child restraint on the
vehicle seat, then attach the seat
to the lower anchors according to
the instructions provided by the
child restraint manufacturer.
4. Follow the child restraint instruc-
tions for properly adjusting and
tightening the lower attachments
on the child restraint to the lower
anchors.
ODE036035
WARNING
Take the following precautions
when using the LATCH system:
Read and follow all installation
instructions provided with
your child restraint system.
To prevent the child from
reaching and taking hold of
unretracted seat belts, buckle
all unused rear seat belts and
retract the seat belt webbing
behind the child. Children can
be strangled if a shoulder belt
becomes wrapped around their
neck and the seat belt tightens.
NEVER attach more than one
child restraint to a single
anchor. This could cause the
anchor or attachment to come
loose or break.
Always have the LATCH sys-
tem inspected by your author-
ized Kia dealer after an acci-
dent. An accident can damage
the LATCH system and may
not properly secure the child
restraint.

Safety features of your vehicle
42 3
✽
✽
NOTICE
The recommended maximum
weight for the LATCH system is 65
lbs. (30 kg). When selecting a proper
child restraint, consider that the
maximum total weight of the child
plus the child restraint should be
less than 65 lbs (30 kg).
As a guide, the MAX child restraint
weight should be determined by the
following calculation:
Child Restraint Weight =
65 - (child's total weight in lbs.)
Securing a child restraint seat
with "Tether Anchor" system
First secure the child restraint with
the LATCH lower anchors or the seat
belt. If the child restraint manufactur-
er recommends that the top tether
strap be attached, attach and tighten
the top tether strap to the top tether
strap anchor.
Child restraint hook holders are
located on the shelf behind the rear
seats.
ODE036032R
WARNING
Take the following precautions
when installing the tether strap:
Read and follow all installation
instructions provided with
your child restraint system.
NEVER attach more than one
child restraint to a single teth-
er anchor. This could cause
the anchor or attachment to
come loose or break.
Do not attach the tether strap
to anything other than the cor-
rect tether anchor. It may not
work properly if attached to
something else.
Do not use the tether anchors
for adult seat belts or harness-
es, or for attaching other items
or equipment to the vehicle.
Always fasten the seat belts
behind the child restraint seat
when they are not used to
secure the child seat. Failure
to do so may result in child
strangulation.

343
Safety features of your vehicle
To install the tether anchor:
1. Route the child restraint tether
strap over the child restraint seat-
back. Route the tether strap under
the head restraint and between
the head restraint posts, or route
the tether strap over the top of the
vehicle seatback. Make sure the
strap is not twisted.
2. Connect the tether strap hook to
the tether anchor, then tighten the
tether strap according to the child
seat manufacturer’s instructions to
firmly secure the child restraint to
the seat.3. Check that the child restraint is
securely attached to the seat by
pushing and pulling the seat for-
ward and from side-to-side.
Securing a child restraint with a
lap/shoulder belt
When not using the LATCH system,
all child restraints must be secured to
a vehicle rear seat with the lap part
of a lap/shoulder belt.
Automatic locking mode
Since all passenger seat belts move
freely under normal conditions and
only lock under extreme or emer-
gency conditions (emergency locking
mode), you must manually pull the
seat belt all the way out to shift the
retractor to the “Automatic Locking”
mode to secure a child restraint.
The “Automatic Locking” mode will
help prevent the normal movement
of the child in the vehicle from caus-
ing the seat belt to loosen and com-
promise the child restraint system. To
secure a child restraint system, use
the following procedure.
ODE036033 OLMB033044

Safety features of your vehicle
44 3
To install a child restraint system on
the rear seats, do the following:
1.Place the child restraint system on
a rear seat and route the lap/ shoul-
der belt around or through the child
restraint, following the restraint
manufacturer’s instructions.
Be sure the seat belt webbing is
not twisted.
2. Fasten the lap/shoulder belt latch
into the buckle. Listen for the dis-
tinct “click” sound.
Position the release button so that
it is easy to access in case of an
emergency.3. Pull the shoulder portion of the
seat belt all the way out. When the
shoulder portion of the seat belt is
fully extended, it will shift the
retractor to the “Automatic
Locking” (child restraint) mode.
OEN036101OEN036102

345
Safety features of your vehicle
4. Slowly allow the shoulder portion
of the seat belt to retract and listen
for an audible "clicking" or "ratchet-
ing" sound. This indicates that the
retractor is in the "Automatic
Locking" mode. If no distinct sound
is heard, repeat steps 3 and 4.5. Remove as much slack from the
belt as possible by pushing down
on the child restraint system while
feeding the shoulder belt back into
the retractor.
6. Push and pull on the child restraint
system to confirm that the seat
belt is holding it firmly in place. If it
is not, release the seat belt and
repeat steps 2 through 6.
7. Double check that the retractor is
in the "Automatic Locking" mode
by attempting to pull more of the
seat belt out of the retractor. If you
cannot, the retractor is in the
"Automatic Locking" mode.If your CRS manufacturer instructs or
recommends you to use a tether
anchor with the lap/shoulder belt,
refer to the previous pages for more
information.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
When the seat belt is allowed to
retract to its fully stowed position,
the retractor will automatically
switch from the "Automatic
Locking" mode to the emergency
lock mode for normal adult usage.
OEN036103OHI038183L