How Does The Air Bag System Operate - Kia SORENTO Owner's Manual

Safety features of your vehicle
WARNING
• Even in vehicles with air bags,
you and your passengers
must always wear the safety
belts provided in order to min-
imise the risk and severity of
injury in the event of a colli-
sion or rollover.
• SRS and pretensioners con-
tain explosive chemicals.
If scraping a vehicle without
removing SRS and preten-
sioners from a vehicle, it may
cause fire. Before scraping a
vehicle, contact a profession-
al workshop. Kia recommends
to visit an authorised Kia deal-
er/service partner.
• Keep the SRS parts and
wirings away from water or any
liquid. If the SRS components
are inoperative due to expo-
sure to water or liquids, it may
cause fire or severe injury.
3 51
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.
• Air bags inflate instantly in the
event of a serious frontal collision
or side collision (if equipped with a
side air bag or curtain air bag) in
order to help protect the occupants
from serious physical injury.
NOTICE -
if equipped with
rollover sensor
Also, the air bags inflate instantly in
the event of a rollover (if equipped
with a side air bag or curtain air bag)
in order to help protect the occu-
pants from serious physical injury.
• There is no single speed at which
the air bags will inflate.
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.