Turning off airbags...?

[Chickenman]

Read a LTSA brochure about cchild restraints. Mentioned something about being able to turn passenger airbags off in some cars...


Ae111?


What cars have this feature? Sounds pretty stupid to me

[wde_bdy]

What cars have this feature? Sounds pretty stupid to me

In some situations (forward facing child restraints) it is more dangerous to have airbags, therefore you have the option of turning them off. I believe side airbags are starting to cause issues now too, its all to do with an adults mass being appropriate for an airbag but when acting on the smaller mass of a bady they can cause serious problems. For airbagged cars generally get a rearward facing child seat or put the baby in the back seat.

Callum

[Ae92typeX]

I know of some euro's which had the switch option, but didnt think many cars were produced with the option anymore (not that Ive looked much into it) As said, its good to ask around and get the best type of seat, in a given situation.or bypass the airbag so it does not work...(not really advice)

[craigt]

Passenger airbag dissable switches arent allowed in a lot of countries, Australia for example. All Peugeots now coming into NZ are equipped with switches, and so are a lot of other european cars.
Your AE111 wont have one. If you decide you really need your passengers airbag disabled, there are ways round that while leaving the rest of the system operational. Dont try and disconnect it yourself, if a fault is detected the entire system will disarm.
You would also need to talk to someone about getting your car certified for having one less airbag, but they may just laugh at you.

[matt dunn]

Have seen it on quite a few cars, mainly euro cars etc etc,

They all have a switch inside somewhere, but it can only be turned by inserting the key for the ignition switch, so you cannot turn them on or off with the ignition on.

[Chickenman]

What cars have this feature? Sounds pretty stupid to me

In some situations (forward facing child restraints) it is more dangerous to have airbags, therefore you have the option of turning them off. I believe side airbags are starting to cause issues now too, its all to do with an adults mass being appropriate for an airbag but when acting on the smaller mass of a bady they can cause serious problems. For airbagged cars generally get a rearward facing child seat or put the baby in the back seat.

Callum

I know why airbags are unsafe with carseats... cheers though

It does seem dumb that you could buy a 2nd hand car with an airbag turned off though.

[StuartM]

IMHO leave the airbags in place, removing them could affect the re-sale value of your car. Also removing them could make you lose your insurance. (PS im no expert check with your insurance company)

[ollieboy]

IMHO leave the airbags in place, removing them could affect the re-sale value of your car. Also removing them could make you lose your insurance. (PS im no expert check with your insurance company)

(PS reread the first post on what he was actually asking before posting an answer)

[MasCam]

I believe that a lot of cars have a sensor in the pasangers seat that detects when an adult is seated in it. I was of the understanding that this also determined if the airbag would activate or not. I do know that there is a sensor in the passanger seat of my car that detects if a person in sitting in it or not and brings up a light for the seatbelt if they have not put it on, I seem to remember in the manual that it activated the airbag too. I might just have to check on that....


Chris