Air Bag Deactivation

blueSL · Feb 18, 2005

My car has the child seat deactivation fitted which consists of a seat belt buckle under the passenger seat. When I start my car, the air bag red light flashes for about a minute. Is this normal or is it the result of this child seat deactivation? There's no seat installed and since I dont have any children, I'd like to get rid of it. What's involved.?

Michael Downing · Feb 20, 2005

I've just had this fitted to mine. The airbag light flashes as part of the self-test whether the kit is there or not.

If the child seat with the buckle is fitted then the light flashes all the time. Not at all distracting. Certainly not. Why would you think that?

blueSL · Feb 21, 2005

Thanks. I assume you're joking re the light! I would find it a real distraction to have it flashing all the time. Presumably there's some EU Type Approval Nanny State mandate which requires it, just like all the warnings in the manual about the dire consequences of doing this and that. And it's not just cars. A camera manual I have warns you not to adjust the finder eyepiece with your eye to it in case you hurt your eye with your finger. The lengths they go to protect themselves in our litigious society...

Michael Downing · Feb 21, 2005

My perennial favourite was a bag of KP salted peanuts, which warned that "this product may contain nuts". May??

But yes, the manuals of all cars are full of rubbish like that. We can't blame the manufacturers, though - given the choice between writing that stuff and getting laughed at, or not writing it and perhaps getting sued, I'd write it.

The two things that irritate me are companies like KP who just put a stock warning on without thinking - the product obviously contains nuts, so say "this products DOES contain nuts" - and when the forced response is counterproductive. If there is a little light flashing in my peripheral vision for the whole journey, then what if another light comes on? How likely am I to notice it?