Hyundai Sonata

345
Safety features of your vehicle
Side impact air bag (if equipped)
Your vehicle is equipped with a side
impact air bag in each front seat. The
purpose of the air bag is to provide the
vehicle's driver and the front passengerwith additional protection than that
offered by the seat belt alone.The side impact air bags are designed to
deploy only during certain side-impact
collisions, depending on the crash sever-
ity, angle, speed and point of impact. Theside impact air bags are not designed to
deploy in all side impact situations.
Important safety notes on the side air
bag system
Following is a number of safety points
concerning this system which should
always be observed to ensure risk of
injury is reduced in an accident.
OYF039032N
OYF039057R
Front
WARNING
The side impact air bag is sup- plemental to the seat belt sys-
tems and is not a substitute for
them. Therefore your seat belts
must be worn at all times whilst
the vehicle is in motion. The air
bags deploy only in certain side
impact conditions severe enough
to cause significant injury to the
vehicle occupants.
For best protection from the side impact air bag system and to
avoid being injured by the
deploying side impact air bag,
both front and all rear (ifequipped) seat occupants shouldsit in an upright position with the
seat belt properly fastened. Thedriver's hands should be placedon the steering wheel at the 9:00
and 3:00 positions. The passen-
ger’ arms and hands should beplaced on their laps.
Do not use any accessory seat covers.
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Safety features of your vehicle
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3
Curtain air bag (if equipped)
Curtain air bags are located along both
sides of the roof rails above the front and
rear doors.
They are designed to help protect theheads of the front seat occupants andthe rear outboard seat occupants in cer-
tain side impact collisions. The curtain air bags are designed to
deploy only during certain side impact
collisions, depending on the crash sever-
ity, angle, speed and impact. The curtain
air bags are not designed to deploy in all
side impact situations, collisions from the
front or rear of the vehicle or in most
rollover situations.
(Continued)
Use of seat covers could reduce
or prevent the effectiveness of the system.
Do not install any accessories on the side or near the side impact
air bag.
Do not place any objects over the air bag or between the air bag
and yourself.
Do not place any objects (an umbrella, bag, etc.) between the
front door and the front seat.
Such objects may become dan-
gerous projectiles and cause
injury if the supplemental side
impact air bag inflates.
To prevent unexpected deploy- ment of the side impact air bag
that may result in personal injury,
avoid impact to the side impact
sensor when the ignition switchis on.
If the seat or seat cover is dam- aged, have the vehicle checked
and repaired by an authorised
HYUNDAI dealer because your
vehicle is equipped with side
impact air bags.
OYF039026R
OYF039058R

347
Safety features of your vehicle
Important safety notes for curtainairbag systems
Following is a number of safety points
concerning this system which should
always be observed to ensure risk of
injury is reduced in an accident.
WARNING
Before installing child restraints, always refer to "Child Restraint System" to ensure correct instal-
lation and occupant protection ismaximised.
Make sure that the occupant does not have any body parts
(head, arms & legs) protruding
outside the restraining system. If
an inflating airbag was to strike
an infant child on the head, it may
cause serious injury.
Ensure the opening for the Curtain Airbag System remains
unobstructed at all times, so that
the airbags can inflate properly ifneeded.
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(Continued)
The built in coat hooks shouldonly be used for light weight
clothing, ensure that pockets are
free of any heavy or sharp
objects. When using coat hooks,
do not hang clothes on coat
hangers.
The space between the occupant and the curtain airbag must never
be occupied by children, passen-
gers or pets. Occupants should
never lean out or have any parts
of their body protruding from the
window whilst the engine is run-ning.
Do not move the sun visor out to cover the side window if there is
an item attached to it such as
garage door remote control,
pens, air fresheners or the like.
These objects may cause injury if
the Curtain Airbag is deployed.
(Continued)(Continued)
Where sun blinds are fitted to therear doors, these must not
obstruct or impair the airbag in
any way.
Do not install any accessories or children’s toys in the Curtain
Airbag deployment zones, as this
may impair the operation of the
system or throw parts of them
into the vehicle cabin causing
injury to occupants if the system
is deployed.
To maintain the integrity of the Curtain Airbag system, any work,
removal or installation of the
airbag and associated compo-
nents (such as roof lining and
side trims) should always be per-
formed by a qualified vehicle
repairer.

Safety features of your vehicle
48
3
WARNING
In order for side and curtain air bags to provide the best protec-
tion, front seat occupants and
outboard rear occupants shouldsit in an upright position with the
seat belts properly fastened.
Importantly, children should sit in
a proper child restraint system inthe rear seat.
When children are seated in the rear outboard seats, they must be
seated in the proper child
restraint system. Make sure to
position the child restraint sys-
tem as far away from the door
side as possible, and secure the
child restraint system in a lockedposition.
(Continued)(Continued)
Do not allow the passengers tolean their heads or bodies onto
doors, put their arms on the
doors, stretch their arms out of
the window, or place objects
between the doors and passen-
gers when they are seated onseats equipped with side and/or
curtain air bags.
Never try to open or repair any components of the side curtain
air bag system. This should only
be done by an authorised
HYUNDAI dealer.
Failure to follow the above instruc-
tions can result in injury or death to
the vehicle occupants in an acci-dent.

349
Safety features of your vehicle
Why didn’t my air bag go off in a collision? (Inflation and non-infla-
tion conditions of the air bag)
There are many types of accidents in
which the air bag would not be expect-
ed to provide additional protection.
These include rear impacts, second or
third collisions in multiple impact
accidents, as well as low speed
impacts. In other words, just because
your vehicle is damaged and even if it
is totally unusable, don’t be surprised
that the air bags did not inflate.
Air bag collision sensors
(1) SRS control module
(2) Front impact sensor(3) Side impact sensor
OYF039040R/OYF039041/H/OYF039042N/H/OHD036030
123

Safety features of your vehicle
50
3
Air bag inflation conditions
Front air bags
Front air bags are designed to inflate in a frontal collision depending on the intensi-
ty, speed or angles of impact of the frontcollision.
1JBA3513/H
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Problems may arise if the sensor
installation angles are changed
due to the deformation of the
front bumper, body or B and C pil-
lars where side collision sensors
are installed. Have the vehicle
checked and repaired by an
authorised HYUNDAI dealer.
Your vehicle has been designed to absorb impact and deploy the
air bag(s) in certain collisions.
Installing bumper guards or
replacing a bumper with non-gen-
uine parts may adversely affect
your vehicle’s collision and air
bag deployment performance.WARNING
Do not hit or allow any objects to impact the locations where air
bags or sensors are installed.
This may cause unexpected air
bag deployment, which could
result in serious personal injuryor death.
If the installation location or angle of the sensors is altered in
any way, the air bags may deploy
when they should not or they may
not deploy when they should,
causing severe injury or death.
Therefore, do not try to perform
maintenance on or around the air
bag sensors. Have the vehicle
checked and repaired by an
authorised HYUNDAI dealer.
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351
Safety features of your vehicle
Side impact and curtain air bags
(if equipped)
Side impact and curtain air bags are designed to inflate when an impact is
detected by side collision sensorsdepending on the strength, speed orangles of impact resulting from a sideimpact collision.Although the front air bags (driver’s and
front passenger’s air bags) are designed
to inflate only in frontal collisions, they
also may inflate in other types of colli-sions if the front impact sensors detect a
sufficient impact. Side impact and curtainair bags are designed to inflate only in
side impact collisions, but they mayinflate in other collisions if the sideimpact sensors detect a sufficientimpact.
If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved roads,
the air bags may deploy. Drive carefully
on unimproved 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 protection of the seat belts
in such collisions.
1JBA3515/H
1JBA3514
OYF039064R

Safety features of your vehicle
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3
Frontal 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, inflat-
ed air bags would not be able to pro-
vide 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, frontal air bag
deployment would not provide addi-tional occupant protection.
However, side impact and curtain air
bags may inflate depending on the
intensity, vehicle speed and angles ofimpact. 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 additional bene-
fit, and thus the sensors may not
deploy any air bags.
OBH038060/H1JBA3516OBH038058H

353
Safety features of your vehicle
Just before impact, drivers often brakeheavily. Such heavy braking lowers the
front portion of the vehicle causing it to
“ride” under a vehicle with a higher
ground clearance. Air bags may not
inflate in this "under-ride" situation
because deceleration forces that are
detected by sensors may be signifi-
cantly reduced by such “under-ride”
collisions. Air bags may not inflate in rollover acci-
dents because air bag deployment
would not provide protection to the
occupants.
However, side impact and curtain air bags may inflate when the vehicle is
rolled over by a side impact collision, if
the vehicle is equipped with side
impact air bags and curtain air bags. Air bags may not inflate if the vehicle
collides with objects such as utility
poles or trees, where the point of
impact is concentrated to one area and
the full force of the impact is not deliv-
ered to the sensors.
1JBA35171JBA35221JBA3518

Safety features of your vehicle
54
3
SRS Care
The SRS is virtually maintenance-free
and so there are no parts you can safely
service by yourself. If the SRS air bag
warning light does not illuminate
when you turn the ignition ON, or if it con-
tinuously remains on, have your vehicle
immediately inspected by an authorised
HYUNDAI dealer.
Any work on the SRS system, such as
removing, installing, repairing, or any
work on the steering wheel, the frontpassenger's panel, front seats and roof
rails must be performed by an authorised
HYUNDAI dealer. Improper handling of
the SRS system may result in serious
personal injury.
WARNING
Modification to SRS components or wiring, including the addition
of any kind of badges to the pad
covers or modifications to the
body structure, can adversely
affect SRS performance and lead
to possible injury.
For cleaning the air bag pad cov- ers, use only a soft, dry cloth or
one which has been moistened
with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners could adversely affect
the air bag covers and proper
deployment of the system.

No objects should be placed over
or near the air bag modules on the
steering wheel, instrument panel,
and the front passenger's panel
above the glove box, because any
such object could cause harm if the
vehicle is in a crash severe enough
to cause the air bags to inflate.
(Continued)
(Continued)
If the air bags inflate, they must be replaced by an authorised
HYUNDAI dealer.
Do not tamper with or disconnect SRS wiring, or other components
of the SRS system. Doing so
could result in injury, due to acci-
dental inflation of the air bags or
by rendering the SRS inopera-
tive.
If components of the air bag sys- tem must be discarded, or if the
vehicle must be scrapped, certain
safety precautions must be
observed. An authorised
HYUNDAI dealer knows these
precautions and can give you the
necessary information. Failure to
follow these precautions and pro-cedures could increase the risk
of personal injury.
If your car was flooded and has soaked carpeting or water on the
flooring, you shouldn't try to start
the engine; have the car towed to
an authorised HYUNDAI dealer.