Seat Belt Warning Bleeper - sensitivity
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RE: Seat Belt Warning Bleeper - sensitivity - 5/20/2007 7:34:37 AM
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sstlaure
Posts: 2345
Joined: 11/28/2005
Status: offline
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No...it's not adjustable. We tend to not put decisions like that 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.
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RE: Seat Belt Warning Bleeper - sensitivity - 5/21/2007 12:00:18 AM
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Terry1100
Posts: 69
Joined: 4/8/2007
From: London, England
Status: offline
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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
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'07 Mazda 5 1.8 TS2
'07 Mazda 2 1.4 Antares
'08 Gilera GP800
'89 BMW K75
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RE: Seat Belt Warning Bleeper - sensitivity - 5/21/2007 5:36:03 AM
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sstlaure
Posts: 2345
Joined: 11/28/2005
Status: offline
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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 design these 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)
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RE: Seat Belt Warning Bleeper - sensitivity - 5/21/2007 5:59:08 AM
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Terry1100
Posts: 69
Joined: 4/8/2007
From: London, England
Status: offline
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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 !
< Message edited by Terry1100 -- 5/21/2007 6:00:07 AM >
_____________________________
'07 Mazda 5 1.8 TS2
'07 Mazda 2 1.4 Antares
'08 Gilera GP800
'89 BMW K75
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Printable Version
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. 