2021 KIA SPORTAGE Owners Manual

3 39
Safety features of your vehicle
Lower Anchors and Tether forChildren (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.
OQL035035
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.

Safety features of your vehicle
403
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.
OQL035036
WARNING
Take the following precautions
when using the LATCH system:
• Read and follow all installationinstructions 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.

3 41
Safety features of your vehicle
✽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 system top tether
anchorages are located on the back
of the rear seatbacks.
OQLA035033
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 seatbelts behind the child restraint seat
when they are not used to
secure the child seat. Failure
to do so may result in child
strangulation.

Safety features of your vehicle
423
To install the tether anchor:
1. Route the child restraint tetherstrap 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 belt or 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.
OQL035034 E2MS103005

3 43
Safety features of your vehicle
To install a child restraint system on
the rear seats, do the following:
1.Place the child restraint system ona 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 latchinto 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.
OEN036101ODM036071

Safety features of your vehicle
443
4. Slowly allow the shoulder portionof 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.
To remove the child restraint, press
the release button on the buckle and
then pull the lap/shoulder belt out of
the restraint and allow the seat belt
to retract fully.
OTAM031103
WARNING - Auto lock
mode
Set the retractor to Automatic
Lock mode when installing any
child restraint system. If the
retractor is not in the Automatic
Locking mode, the child
restraint can move when your
vehicle turns or stops suddenly.
OHI038183L

3 45
Safety features of your vehicle
(1) Driver’s front air bag
(2) Passenger’s front air bag
(3) Side air bag
(4) Curtain air bag
AIR BAG - ADVANCED SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM
The actual air bags in the vehicle may differ from the illustration.
OQLA035085
WARNING
Even in vehicles with air bags,
you and your passengers must
always wear the safety belts
provided in order to minimize
the risk and severity of injury in
the event of a collision or
rollover.

Safety features of your vehicle
463
How does the air bag system
operate?
• Air bags are activated (able toinflate 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.
• Generally, air bags are designed to inflate based upon the severity of a
collision and its direction. These
two factors determine whether the
sensors produce an electronic
deployment/ inflation signal.
• Air bag deployment depends on a number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact, and, the
density and stiffness of the vehi-
cles or objects which your vehicle
hits in the collision. The determin-
ing factors are not limited to those
mentioned above. • 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.