Is there a negative effect from turning off the passenger airbag? Not permanently, just with the sensor. When I'm driving by myself, I often dump some heavy bag in the passenger seat, which causes the car to think there's a defenseless little baby in the seat, so the car turns off the passenger air bag. Now, I'm not worried about the life of my bag, but is this bad for the car in some mysterious way I can't think of? The sensor must be sensing all the time, so that won't wear out prematurely. Other than the car judging me negatively for being stupid enough to put this little baby in the seat, is there a downside?
None that I can think of. The only downside is if you put something heavy enough on the seat that it turns the airbag *ON*, and then you get into an accident - then you have to pay to replace more airbags and more pieces of your dashboard. I could also see potential danger from improperly secured cargo flying around, or being knocked around by an airbag.
The sensor is just a scale, it's set at a pre programmed weight to turn on the airbag. There's no sensor other than the weight scale/sensor.
Just plug the seat belt in and the problem disappears. You can also use it to hold down your rather heavy bag.
I wonder about being able to turn the airbag on? I had a slim 5th grader in the seat and the airbag sensor said, "off"? I no longer let her sit in the passenger seat. But I too have had to move one of my bags to the floor because it wanted the seatbelt on. hmmm?
I haven't had a bag on the seat that was heavy enough to trigger the "fasten seat belt, you oaf" beeper. That's a heavy bag.
In that case, you don't want to turn the airbag on; a small person (whether adult or child) is more likely to be hurt by the airbag, especially in relatively low-speed collisions when they otherwise would have walked away fine. Having the car turn it off automatically is a safety feature that prevents them from getting hurt. With their lower mass, it's fairly likely that the seatbelt will do a pretty good job of keeping them restrained in an accident. That said, it's still generally safer in the back seat, even with the airbag off.
I put my Bichon on the front seat and the Pri asks for a seatbelt. He's only 15-17 pounds. I apologize in advance…but I just had to include a piccie of the Pri Pup!
