The front panel on my 05 salsa red shows passenger/driver light if either one has not handled the seat belt properly. I and my wife were figuring how Prius knows this. We finally concluded that Prius can sense the weight on the seat to proceed to check the seat belt buckle. This is because my wife once put our 3yr (25lb) on the passenger seat for a short errand (50ft). (I know this is not permitted to have a kid at the front seat but it was for an urgency.) In that case, she did not see the passenger light even my daughter was too small to be fasten with the belt. Not sure if this is true.
Yeah, it's a weight sensor. You can have your wife lift herself off the seat without her seatbelt fastened and the light will turn off. Just use the arm rests to lift straight up.
yep weight sensor and a sensor that monitors the seat belt. watch the drivers side icon for seatbelt goes off soon as you click the belt on.
My purse will sometimes set it off when it leans back into the seat back. On the seat alone will not do it.
That's the ticket! I noticed the warning when the lunch box pressed against the back of the seat. When I moved it forward, the warning turned off. The sensor must be in the lumbar area of the seat back, not the butt part.
Thanks for the replies. Now I admire the cutting edge technologies on the Prius even more. Any other car has this similar feature?
My roommate's Toyota mr2 has the technology. I did the arm rest lifting thing one day when I sat in the passender seat. I believe his mr2 is a 2001.
I just had seat heaters and lumbar supports added by a local upholstery shop. The lumbars go under the foam, the heaters over it, touching the fabric (Alcantara). The installer, who has some experience in these matters, was unwilling to install a heater on the seat bottom portion of the passenger seat (he did install one on the backrest portion). The driver's side has both bottom and back heaters. He said that on the passenger side the occupancy sensor was right under the fabric, and he did not want to do anything that might compromise the airbag behavior. In any event the two seats were different.
Is it on the lumbar support? I thought was in the seat bottom like knowledgeseeker says. It's the same on the Camry
I felt it today. its about 3 inches behind the middle line of the seat. Its also about 4 inches from the left bulgey thingy. you can actually feel the sensor and it doesn't take much to set it off. It is not on the lumbar
Sorry, I checked it out today. It's not on the lumbar. When I moved my lunchbox forward I thought it released pressure from the lumbar, but I must have moved it off the sensor in the seat. And it's actually not the weight of my lunchbox, I usually carry other stuff on the passenger seat. It seems to take about 5-10 pounds to activate, but I haven't tested the weight yet.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusist\";p=\"61210)</div> My '01 Rav4 had this feature. The sensor was weight activated. I believe that it was located in the actual seat portion as I would keep different things in the front seat and the indicator was on whether or not the item was touching the back rest. Where exactly are the ones in the Prius? I have yet to actually feel for them...but they seem less sensitive than those that I had in the Rav. Perhaps due to placement. Hmm...
Toyota has had the seat switch since the 70's on the electric forklifts not the ICE ones. If it's broken or no weight on it, no go. My 1993 Toyota T100 pickup had it also on the passanger seat, put a briefcase on it and the seatbelt light came on. it's about 2 1/2" square and is two pieces of plastic cupped and the contact is just 2 pieces of brass sheet one on each piece of plastic, push it together to make contact. Inserted in the foam seat bolster.
something as light as a bottle of water can set if off. Mine does it all the time. If i have more than 1 bottle in the seat, it usualy stays lit.