Kia Niro Owner's Manual page 96

If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved
roads or sidewalks, air bags may
deploy. Drive carefully on unim-
proved roads or on surfaces not
designed for vehicle traffic to prevent
unintended air bag deployment.
Air bag non-inflation conditions
• In certain low-speed collisions the
air bags may not deploy. The air
bags are designed not to deploy in
such cases because they may not
provide benefits beyond the pro-
tection of the seat belts in such col-
lisions.
• Air bags are not designed to inflate
in rear collisions, because occu-
pants are moved backward by the
force of the impact. In this case,
inflated air bags would not be able
to provide any additional benefit.
• Front air bags may not inflate in
side impact collisions, because
occupants move to the direction of
the collision, and thus in side
impacts, front air bag deployment
would not provide additional occu-
pant protection.
• However, if equipped with side and
curtain air bags, the air bags may
inflate depending on the severity of
impact.
Safety features of your vehicle
• In an angled collision, the force of
impact may direct the occupants in
a direction where the air bags would
not be able to provide any addition-
al benefit, and thus the sensors may
not deploy any air bags.
• Just before impact, drivers often
brake heavily. Such heavy braking
lowers the front portion of the vehi-
cle causing it to "ride" under a vehi-
cle with a higher ground clearance.
Air bags may not inflate in this
"under-ride" situation because
deceleration forces that are detect-
ed by sensors may be significantly
reduced by such "under-ride" colli-
sions.
• Front air bags may not inflate in
rollover accidents because front air
bag deployment would not provide
additional occupant protection.
• Air bags may not inflate if the vehi-
cle collides with objects such as util-
ity poles or trees, where the point of
impact is concentrated to one area
and the full force of the impact is not
delivered to the sensors.
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