Is the sensitivity of the seatbelt warning adjustable ?

2 bramley apples and a bottle of milk in a Tescos bag are enough to set it off [:@]

 

No...it's not adjustable. We tend to not put decisions likethat in the hands of customers.

The intent is to make sure that if someone is dumb enough to put their child or child seat in the front passenger side seat that the airbag system is disarmed.

 

Sounds like a non sequiteur to me. If you put a child seat in the front (front or rear facing) , you'd fasten the seatbelt anyway.

Apart from that, my comment was based around the fact that in the last 20 + years, I reckon every new car I've owned/driven has had a seat belt warning - and none have been triggered by a fairly light bag of shopping

 

Call it what you want....In the last 20 years vehicles didn't have occupant weight classification systems that have to determine what is in the passenger seat in order to make a decision on how hard to blow the airbag. Airbags today are multi-stage and deploy at varying levels of intensity depending upon the occupant that it is trying to restrain. Keep in mind its a computer that must be programmed to detect weight.

What you are seeing when that light goes on is the system detecting a weight that is below the safe threshold for airbag deployment.

Mine is on almost constantly when I put my briefcase on my passenger seat as I drive to work. I just ignore it as the system is working as intended.

You do realize why child seats &small children aren't recommended for the front seat right? Imagine a rear facing child seat (attached by the seatbelt) in the front seat when a ~200 mph airbag deploys.....The child could surely be killed, seatbelt or not. How many times have you seen an older kid (8-9 years old) put the shoulder harness behind their back when they are in the seat because they say it is uncomfortable? I know I've seen that plenty of times. Without that shoulder strap, the child is going to hinge at the waist and go straight for that airbag.

It's real easy for people outside of the industry to oversimplify what we have to do to designthese vehicles & safety systems. For every design/logic decision, there can be unintended consequences (like if you wanted the weight to be higher, say 15 lbs, before that light kicks on & the system is disabled...maybe someone has a premature baby (my first was born at 4 lb 6 oz) and a light child seat (around 10 lbs) and is dumb enough to install them in the front seat. The system now would not disable with the 14 lb 6 oz weight in the seat and the logic would say deploy. A very bad scenario indeed.

If you are truly annoyed by that light, pull the panel out and pull the bulb. (at your own risk)

 

I dont want to start an argument, that's for sure

I note that you are in the US - there are of course differences between airbags across the pond. I can't speak for Mazda specifically but in general, airbags are smaller in Europe and, apart from rear facing baby seats (for which airbags can be disabled), there are many child seats suitable for front seat fitting.

We may have hit the nail on the head with the Atlantic thing - the cars I have owned which did not put on the warning light/buzzer with shopping on the seat were all models which I do not believe were ever sold/imported to the US - Citroens (Picasso, Berlingo and C2), Skodas (Felicia and Favorit) and assorted small Rovers, Renaults and Peugeots.

I have been in the motor trade for over 25 years, I have seen airbag demonstrations, answered techincal questions about airbags from members of motoring organisations and argued with other peoples kids in my cars about the correct wearing of seatbelts

Whatever, it's not exactly a big thing - I can easily put my shopping on the floor !

 

Not trying to argue either, just giving a little insight from someone that has worked on these things. It's truly frustrating to have to design something in that you know someone will complain about.

I always wondered how different things are over there. I wish our legal system here (at least tort) wasn't as messed up as it is. You should see how many warning labels we have to put inside vehicles to warnpeople of things that are so obvious....like "you are driving an SUV which handles differently than a car, sudden maneuvers could cause a loss of control." People in this country want to pass the blame for their own problems onto someone that will pay $$$(collision, loss of vehicle control because they are going too fast, etc.)

Personally I would like to be able to buy a vehicle without airbags and save the $3-4K. I wear my seatbelt properly, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about, as airbags are only supplemental restraints.

 

It's my understanding that this is the biggest difference between Europe and the US - your airbags are bigger because a greater proportion of drivers do not wear seat belts (irrespective of the laws in force). I'll resist the temptation to make any other comment about size .

You original point about how clever modern systems are is well made - a system that can "know" the difference between a light unbelted occupant (without disabling the airbag)and a child seat is pretty impressive (and if shopping setting it off is a price to pay - fair enough)

This may may be another difference - we generally get "passenger airbag disable switches" (often ignition key operated). They are standard on Citroens - and certainly an option on the Mazda 2.

 

On wearing seatbelts, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. I have one friend that was ejected from his vehicle in an accident and he is convinced that saved his life, so he now never wears his seatbelt.....I told him that is called getting a second chance. Also had a friend in high school get killed because he wasn't belted in when he had a seizure driving down the road and lost control.

Seatbelts have been in use in Europe far longer than here in the States...I guess we're fat and slow learners

 

Drivers eh !

There were twoenquiries we used to get regularly.

One was "I have been in an accident and my airbag didn'tdeploy - can I sue the manufacturer". To which we usually replied "were you injured in any way". When we got a negative response we pointed out how much they have saved by not having to replace an airbag which clearly didn't need to deploy.

The other was complaints of (friction) burns to the wrist - we asked if their face or chest had been crushed/mangled/lacerated in any way. Again a negative response allowed us to ask them to choose which injury was the lesser evil.

 

I see those same complaints. Drives me nuts.

I don't want an airbag to go off unless it is absolutely necessary. I typically drive with my left hand at the 12:00 position. When that sucker goes off I'm most likely going to give myself a real nice punch in the face. I'm not looking forward to that (but driving 25,000 miles/year, it's bound to happen sometime....) People don't realize the injuries that can occur from an airbag. They are there for only the most severe impacts.