2017 Kia Sportage Safety Features

The safety of Kia consumers and all road users is a key concern for the team at Kia. That’s why Kia has packed the 2017 Kia Sportage with a host of great safety features. These innovations helped the 2017 Kia Sportage earn the 2016 Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a trusted organization dedicated to reducing losses due to roadway crashes. Take a closer look at the additions made to protect this new vehicle and Kia customers.

Rearview Camera Offers Improved Monitoring Ahead of U.S. Regulations

Accidents caused by backing up cars result in 15,000 injuries and 210 deaths in the United States every year. Of those, 31 percent of incidents involve children younger than 5. These sobering statistics highlight the need to improve vision while backing up. Rearview cameras do this so effectively that the government has ordered that rearview monitoring technology be standard on all passenger vehicles sold or leased in the United States by 2018. Kia isn’t waiting for that deadline, though; the 2017 Kia Sportage already includes this feature.

The Sportage’s rearview camera is positioned to display objects you can’t see by glancing over your shoulder or using your side or rearview mirror, like children crouching down playing or small household pets. It activates seconds after you put the car in reverse to help you back up more safely.

Antilock Braking System Minimizes Risk of Skids

Sometimes heavy braking is necessary to avoid a car that stops short or a child who runs out onto the road. However, heavy braking can make your vehicle’s wheels lock up, causing a skid. When you skid, you lose control of your car, so you can’t necessarily avoid trees, pedestrians, and other vehicles. The Sportage’s Antilock Braking System prevents your wheels from locking up when you apply pressure to the brake pedal. The system is especially useful on loose gravel surfaces and when roads are wet.

Studies support the theory that antilock braking systems enable drivers to steer to avoid a collision. The technology has been associated with a 9 percent decrease in frontal collisions on dry roads and a 35 percent reduction in frontal collisions on wet roads.

Electronic Stability Control Makes Sportage More Surefooted

Electronic stability control complements the Sportage’s antilock braking system, making the car more stable or surefooted on the road. The system constantly monitors the Sportage’s position and direction and activates whenever it senses the car is moving in a way the driver didn’t intend. It manipulates the amount of power the engine delivers and the brake pressure applied to each wheel, correcting the problem more efficiently than most drivers can to prevent the car from sliding, skidding, or even rolling over. Studies show cars with electronic stability control are significantly less likely to be involved in run-off-road crashes.

Traction Control Helps You Drive On Difficult Surfaces

The 2017 Kia Sportage also features traction control as standard. This clever feature improves traction on surfaces that are typically difficult to drive on, like slick wet roads and dirt tracks with loose gravel. When vehicles without these feature drive on these surfaces, they tend to slip and slide, impairing acceleration and making it difficult for motorists to control their cars. Traction control activates when the Sportage senses its wheels may slip, and it helps the car make the most of any traction available.

Tests have shown that traction control effectively reduces wheel slip when accelerating in low-friction condition, but there have been minimal studies about its ability to reduce the incidence of collisions and injuries. However, Brain on Board states that cars featuring traction control, electronic stability control, and antilock braking systems, like the new Kia Sportage, are 50 percent less likely to be involved in a fatal crash than cars without these features.

Front-Crash Prevention System Brakes Automatically to Avoid Collisions

Unlike the other features mentioned here, the front-crash prevention system is an optional extra with the 2017 Kia Sportage. However, since this feature earned a “superior” rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash tests, it’s well worth your consideration. This system automatically applies the brakes when it senses danger ahead.

“The advantage of autobrake is that even in cases where a crash can’t be avoided entirely, the system will reduce speed,” David Zuby, the IIHS’s executive vice president and chief research officer, explained to Car Connection. “Reducing the speed reduces the amount of damage that occurs to both the striking and struck cars and reduces injuries to people in those cars.”