[Ahiddenvariable]

Greetings, my wife weighs about 83 lbs and she's not heavy enough to trigger the weight sensor in the front passenger seat, so the airbag is not activated. A lighted message on the dash tells me that "airbag not activated" or something like that. When I sit in the seat, that message goes off.

I guess I could put a weight in the seat and have her sit on it, but maybe it's better to bypass the weight sensor in the seat. Can anyone suggest where that sensor is and the best way to do this? Thanks much.

Tom

 

[GerryBuc]

If she's not heavy enough to turn on the bag, leave it alone. It happens for a reason. My mother in law doesn't turn on the bag, and at her age I just put her in the back seat for her own protection. If the bag hit her, it would kill her.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[VWandDodge]

If she's not heavy enough to turn on the bag, leave it alone. It happens for a reason. My mother in law doesn't turn on the bag, and at her age I just put her in the back seat for her own protection. If the bag hit her, it would kill her.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

^X2. You risk serious harm to anyone riding in that seat by modifying or bypassing the safety equipment .

 

[Ahiddenvariable]

^X2. You risk serious harm to anyone riding in that seat by modifying or bypassing the safety equipment .

Does anyone know what the minimum weight is that will trip the sensor?

GerryBuck and VW, I appreciate your concerns, and I did read in the Manual that it's done to protect children, and my guess that the criterion that matters most is body weight, as a gauge when injury will occur. Being an engineer myself, I understand that there are grey areas in such decisions. Thus, knowing the weight necessary to trip the sensor would be useful. Suppose the sensor is set for 85 pounds, and my wife weighs 84? But then there's the distribution of weight over the body, and the portion of weight above the rump in comparison to that of the legs, which don't press much on the sensor. Maybe I'll put a scale on the seat and press down until the sensor trips.

Tom

 

[GerryBuc]

In that sense, it's safe to say that body weight is equated with size, and a hit from an airbag to a small frame can do serious harm, be it child or adult. I get your point, but the belts should do just fine.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[hatch06]

Does anyone know what the minimum weight is that will trip the sensor?...
...knowing the weight necessary to trip the sensor would be useful.

You haven't said the year, but reviewing your owner's manual is always a good start: https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets...3-4door/2010-mazda3-owners-manual.pdf#page=71

 

[Ahiddenvariable]

Hatch, it's a 2013, and thanks for the link, which indicates a minimum of 66 lbs must be on the seat. We weighed my wife, and she's 75 lbs, with clothing. So if you consider that her legs don't really press on the seat, that's about right. I guess it's best that we just use the seat belts, as Gerry suggests. She prefers to do her driving from the front passenger seat, not from the backseat.

Thanks much, to all. Great forum.

 

[zeeper25]

Start making a few more trips to McDonald’s to fatten her up

 

[Philip_Wing]

Hatch, it's a 2013, and thanks for the link, which indicates a minimum of 66 lbs must be on the seat. We weighed my wife, and she's 75 lbs, with clothing. So if you consider that her legs don't really press on the seat, that's about right. I guess it's best that we just use the seat belts, as Gerry suggests. She prefers to do her driving from the front passenger seat, not from the backseat.

Thanks much, to all. Great forum.

Or more properly, visits to an Italian Restaurant, like the Billy Joel song. I dropped about 12 pounds during the first set of U.S. Lockdowns, not visiting the local Olive Garden which has since closed. Maybe the students at the university next door finally discovered the All You Can Eat program…

 

[Ahiddenvariable]

No, she's fine. I like 'em tiny, thin, youthful, like she was in her twenties. She's Philippine, and in fact, most all the fellow Philippines she knows got heavy, out of shape, and they all make insinuations about her being so thin. This actually affected her and she tried gaining weight, despite my advice. After a few years of that, without her gaining weight, she's beginning to realize that her friends and relatives are just jealous. An anecdote is that, when she and her younger sister (by about 10 years) were on a cruise and the sister was looking for my wife, someone told her, "I saw your daughter over there." That must've stung.

 

[Philip_Wing]

No, she's fine. I like 'em tiny, thin, youthful, like she was in her twenties. She's Philippine, and in fact, most all the fellow Philippines she knows got heavy, out of shape, and they all make insinuations about her being so thin. This actually affected her and she tried gaining weight, despite my advice. After a few years of that, without her gaining weight, she's beginning to realize that her friends and relatives are just jealous. An anecdote is that, when she and her younger sister (by about 10 years) were on a cruise and the sister was looking for my wife, someone told her, "I saw your daughter over there." That must've stung.

So they thought your wife's sister must have been at least 40? Double ouch, although my wife says people keep thinking her six years older sister is younger than her, probably because she can be serious and quiet. The weight settings seem to have a funky grey area, though. Hope she doesn't do a Claire Peller impersonation when she drives… Nothing like the diminutive elderly adult statistic to show level of truth to the stereotype…

And thanks for taking this all in good humor.