KIA Sorento (2009) - Manual (Page 57)

Knowing your vehicle
48 3
WARNING - Air bags &
safety belts
• Even in vehicles with air bags,
you and your passengers must
always wear the safety belts pro-
vided in order to minimize the risk
and severity of injury in the event
of a collision or rollover.
• Always wear your safety belt. It
can help keep you away from the
air bags during heavy braking
just before a collision. It may also
reduce the risk of occupant ejec-
tion.
• If vehicle occupants are not wear-
ing their seatbelts properly, or are
not seated correctly, serious
injury or death could occur.
• Driver’s and front passenger’s air
bags are designed to inflate only
in certain frontal collisions, and
curtain air bags are designed to
inflate in certain side impacts.
(Continued)
What your air bag system does
Driver’s air bag and front passenger’s air
bag are designed to supplement the pro-
tection offered by the safety belt in cer-
tain frontal collisions. Likewise, curtain air
bags are designed to supplement the
protection offered by the safety belt in
side collisions. Safety belts are designed
to reduce the injury of the driver or pas-
sengers in case of light impact or colli-
sion. However, to help reduce impact on
driver or passengers in a serious colli-
sion, seat belts must also be worn cor-
rectly.
What your air bag system does
not do
The air bag system is designed to sup-
plement the protection offered by the
safety belt system. IT IS NOT A SUBSTI-
TUTE FOR THE SAFETY BELT.
The importance of using safety
belts
There are four very important reasons to
use safety belts even with an air bag
supplemental restraint system. They:
• help keep you in the proper position
(away from the air bag) when it inflates.
• reduce the risk of harm in rollover, side
impact or rear impact collisions,
because an air bag is not designed to
inflate in such situations and even a
side curtain air bag is designed to
inflate only in certain side impact colli-
sions.
• reduce the risk of harm in frontal or
side collisions which are not severe
enough to actuate the air bag supple-
mental restraint system.
• reduce the risk of being thrown from
your vehicle.