Poll of the Day > i don't understand why I can turn off the passenger airbag in my truck

(+) Yeah! (+)

why is this option even here

https://imgur.com/Sy7z0hu
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You're obviously not married.
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So a child under 12 (or the required height limit) can sit there safely. Many cars will also automatically disable the airbag if there isn't enough weight in the passenger seat for the same reason. Disabling it when there's nobody in the seat also keeps that airbag from deploying gratuitously.
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Front seat baby?
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why would I put a kid in the front seat when there's a back seat
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likehelly posted...

why would I put a kid in the front seat when there's a back seat

Back seat is filled with other kids?
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How old is your car? I know that it really isn't much to go off, but that looks older to me. It wasn't that long ago that passenger airbags became mandatory, it's possible it was made before that was standard so they didn't bother with weight sensors to disable the airbag.

And by "not that long ago" I mean it was probably like 20 years ago, but the fact it was within my lifetime is a little crazy to me, like I'd think by the early 90's they had common-sense safety measures figured out.

it's a 1998 Ford f150
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Since they may deploy even without a passenger in the seat, disabling the bag saves money in that case. My bfs 99 Silverado has this

likehelly posted...

why would I put a kid in the front seat when there's a back seat

There's a lot of shitty parents and people

See also dogs in pickup beds
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likehelly posted...

it's a 1998 Ford f150

It looks like it was only mandatory for cars built after September 1, 1998, so yours would predate that

Doctor Foxx posted...

There's a lot of shitty parents and people

Please. Generations of kids grew up riding in the front seats, truck beds, and trunks of station wagons.
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KnoxKorner posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

There's a lot of shitty parents and people

Please. Generations of kids grew up riding in the front seats, truck beds, and trunks of station wagons.

I was among them. We also rode in the back of station wagons without seatbelts because fun. That was also when parents smoked in cars with children and then went to smoking sections in restaurants with kids in tow.

Still shitty unsafe parenting, was just the norm then
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if you never stood on the front seat of your dad's truck were you even a kid
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A truck with a backseat is just lame man
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ferko420 posted...

A truck with a backseat is just lame man

A person that cant walk?
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ferko420 posted...

A truck with a backseat is just lame man

a shitty single cab truck is just lame man
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likehelly posted...

ferko420 posted...

A truck with a backseat is just lame man

a shitty single cab truck is just lame man

Unless you get an insanely big and expensive truck like an F-350, you can't buy a large cab truck that also has a full-size bed. Believe me, I've been looking for one.

likehelly posted...

why would I put a kid in the front seat when there's a back seat

So you can talk to them more easily and they get a better view? Being in the front seat is generally more enjoyable than the back, it's just that the airbag makes it extremely unsafe for children.

KnoxKorner posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

There's a lot of shitty parents and people

Please. Generations of kids grew up riding in the front seats, truck beds, and trunks of station wagons.

Sure. And then airbags got invented and made front seats unambiguously unsafe for children (but much safer for adults). Truck beds and trunks have always been dramatically less safe than actual seats with seatbelts, which is reflected in injury stats. Generations of kids grew up riding in cars like that, but those same generations also grew up with a higher childhood mortality rate.
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Ive heard before getting airbags replaced in the event of deployment is costly, so if nobody is sitting there and you get into an accident it wont deploy saving you money.

I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado, and it has a keyhole on the dash the driver can use to disable the passenger airbag, as well as weight-sensors in the seat that auto-disable it if no one is sitting in the seat.


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adjl posted...

So you can talk to them more easily and they get a better view? Being in the front seat is generally more enjoyable than the back, it's just that the airbag makes it extremely unsafe for children.

you don't put children in the front seat, period
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likehelly posted...

adjl posted...

So you can talk to them more easily and they get a better view? Being in the front seat is generally more enjoyable than the back, it's just that the airbag makes it extremely unsafe for children.

you don't put children in the front seat, period

Maybe you are moving multiple kids for whatever reason. And to move them all, one would need to go into the front seat.
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no, they will literally all sit in the back seat.
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I was thinking maybe it's because your truck was also designed to have things loaded into the passenger seat and if you get into an accident, you don't want the passenger airbag to activate since no one is sitting there any way. Airbags are actually kind of dangerous.
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likehelly posted...

no, they will literally all sit in the back seat.

That could be more dangerous?
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am i hauling like 40 kids or something because no
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LinkPizza posted...

likehelly posted...

no, they will literally all sit in the back seat.

That could be more dangerous?

It's significantly safer to have a kid in the front seat than to have a kid in the back seat without a seatbelt, especially if the airbag is disabled.
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do you have a backseat without seatbelts, adj
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likehelly posted...

am i hauling like 40 kids or something because no

But someone else might be...
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likehelly posted...

do you have a backseat without seatbelts, adj

I have a back seat with a finite number of seat belts. If I'm transporting seats+1 children, it's better to have one of them in the front with the airbag disabled than in the back without a seat belt.
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i believe you are wrong here
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likehelly posted...

i believe you are wrong here

Are you saying you believe it's safer to have an unrestrained child in the back then to have them in the front, buckled in with the airbag off?

You would be the wrong one, as usual.
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how many kids do you people drive around that this is an issue

i have one kid.

one.
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Lol, so because you don't need it, others don't either?
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see ive actually looked up the reason the switch is there

and it's only for people without a backseat

so why do I, someone with a backseat, need it
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I can also think of 2 other scenarios.

A pet in the passenger seat.
An elderly person in the passenger seat.

My 2010 vehicle has a pressure plate in the passenger seat that auto-disables the airbag for certain low weights.
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likehelly posted...

how many kids do you people drive around that this is an issue

i have one kid.

one.

Having three kids is not uncommon, nor is driving around a few friends of your one kid. If you've only got three back seats (which is very common), it's not that hard to exceed that.

likehelly posted...

so why do I, someone with a backseat, need it

You'll have to figure that out on your own, based on your future experiences. Whether or not you need it is largely irrelevant, though. You asked why it's there, and it's there for reasons that you don't expect to apply to you. There really isn't much more to say than that.
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likehelly posted...

see ive actually looked up the reason the switch is there

and it's only for people without a backseat

so why do I, someone with a backseat, need it

So they don't have to manufacture 2 different dashboards.
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the normal cab actually does have a different dashboard than the extended cab

in the case of my truck, anyway.
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All the stuff you guys are saying about so the airbag doesn't go off when it's not supposed to doesn't make sense. That's the point of having weight and seat belt sensors.

I only thought the switch was there because the car predates side airbag standards, but if PO has a 2003 with a switch then I dunno. On the one hand I can understand wanting to disable it as a failsafe for making sure there is no unwanted deploy, but on the other hand it's a little crazy to have such an easy way to turn off a mandatory safety feature.

you say easy, and it is, but you have to deliberately put the key into the keyhole and switch it off

like you don't just accidentally do that
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Looking at the comments on your pic, somebody said basically that it predates the automatic detection that turns it off in newer cars. I guess that makes sense, I just would've thought that sensing was widespread a long time ago

... comments where now?
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On your imgur upload

You probably can't see it if it's cached and going to the direct link, idk why mine isn't caching

My one vehicle has the disable switch; my other doesnt even have air bags.

If I have to transport more than 2 children in the vehicle with the disable switch, I will disable the airbag. I also disable the airbag if I have to keep my passenger seat forward (stuff in the back, etc).
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i forgot I did that
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Chewster posted...

All the stuff you guys are saying about so the airbag doesn't go off when it's not supposed to doesn't make sense. That's the point of having weight and seat belt sensors.

I often carry tools and equipment in the front seat, enough to trigger the weight sensor and make it think there's someone sitting there. Or I'm transporting a dog or goat to the vet and I can't buckle them in, so the airbag would probably be worse than not.

But the airbag turns off if there is weight in the seat and the seat belt isn't buckled

Or (I think) if you have someone buckled in but they don't weigh enough