When my friend got in my car today, the buckle seat belt warning chime kept going. When he got out of the car, the chime didnt turn back on. How does the car detect the passenger? I assume there's some sort of weight sensor in the seat?

 

There's some sort of weight sensor in the seat.

 

Does it sense the passengers in the back?

 

probably not. The reason for the weight sensor in the front passenger seat is so that the front airbag strength can be adjusted based on passenger size/weight. There's no such need in the backseat. It was the front airbags that caused fatalities in small passengers who sat too close to the dashboard a few years ago. The IS even has bi-lobed front passenger airbag to decrease direct impact with the face.

 

I wonder if it's bad to wear glasses during an airbag deployment.

 

so if no one sits in the passenger seat the passenger airbags won go off? I was wondering why there werent an off switch for the passenger side like my dads car.

 

It's not. In fact my glasses saved my eyes when I was hit by airbag in my previous car. My fase was all red from that airbag, but my eyes didn't suffer at all...

 

It is REAL bad if you don't wear your glasses when you drive.

 

You can also disable this by doing the following:

Buzzer Reminder Cancel Mode Setting

1) Set the LCD on the combination meter to the ODO display.

2) Press and hold the TRIP meter reset **** for ten seconds or more within six seconds of turning the power source to IG-ON. Fastening the driver's seat belt or front passenger seat belt while holding the **** cancels the buzzer reminder.

3) When this occurs, the LCD displays "b-oFF". The buzzer reminder can be switched between ON and OFF each time the TRIP meter reset **** is pressed. The LCD displays "b-on" or "b-oFF" according to the buzzer reminder ON/OFF status. The display changes to the ODO or TRIP meter if the **** is not pressed for ten seconds.

4) Performing steps 1) and 2) again when the buzzer reminder is off exits cancel mode.

5) The cancel mode will also exit when the battery or combination meter connector is disconnected or reconnected.

Lex

 

Now for the technical explanation

The occupant detection sensor, which is enclosed in the seat cushion of the front passenger seat, is used to detect whether or not the front passenger seat is occupied. This sensor consists of a construction in which two sheets of electrodes sandwich a spacer. When the occupant is seated, the electrode sheets come in contact with each other through the hole that is provided in the spacer portion, thus enabling the current flow and detecting whether or not an occupant is seated in the front passenger seat.

Lex

 

Dont ask yourself that again, last time i did, i found out a week later.. head on against a hwy divider, around 60mph while coming out from spinning.. all I ended up with FROM the airbag, was a burned skin bruise on my forehead, I still had my glasses on after the whole ordeal

 

ouch! are u ok now?

 

man, couldn't they just put an OFF button in the nav display?

 

Good explanation; but I thought these sensors could also tell how much weight was put on the seat (child vs adult) to adjust the air bag force accordingly.

 

Fantastic explanation. Does this mean, I can disable the driver's side as well?