I have just purchased a 2000 Omega MV6 and was wondering if anyone else out there knew how to deactivate the passenger-side airbags. The garage I bought it from claimed they couldn't do it and that they'd had a lot of problems when they'd tried to do it to another customer's car. My vehicle doesn't have the passenger detection capability (obviously!) of the newer models.
Any hints or tips gratefully received.
Ta
|
Jason,
Why do you want to deactivate them?
V
|
Because the passenger isn't paying for their trip!
OK Seriously... So that I can put my new daughter's rear-facing car seat on the front passenger seat (she can see me I can see her = far less stress for everyone) without my wife going mental. Apparently there have been a number of young children killed by air-bags detonating in minor accidents.
|
Fair enough, though you might be interested to find out that there are two opposing views here:
1. Apparently (and I can't remember who this came from) the rear seat is the safest place for a child car seat full stop.
2. ROSPA reckon that the risk of death from parents turning round to deal with kids in the back seat is greater than the risk of having a rear facing seat in the front of a car with airbags.
So, hope that's cleared the matter up (!) and , back on the point, no idea who might do it.
|
Vin
Your second point is the reason I want to put the car seat in the front. You could argue that most drivers would be safer in the back seat too!
Thanks for taking the time to reply though.
I'm off to poke around with a volt-meter and see if I can't accidently detonate one of these things - wish me luck.
J
|
Mmmm, only thing I would add is that I find my daughter very distracting in the front.
In the back, provided she can see stuff whizzing past, she's quite happy. When something needs doing, I have to stop, whihc I would need to do anyway were she in the front.
I like her in the back, in the middle which seems a safe place to be to me.
|
Mark,
I think your quite right. Apparently in a collision the safest seat* is the rear middle then the rear passenger side, next the rear drivers side, then the front passenger and last of all the poor driver!
I used to have my youngest daughter(18 months)in the front, forward facing and my eldest daughter(34 months)in the rear (passenger side), but as you say, it's distracting. She finally got switched to the back when she got big enough to start reaching the gear lever and the switches on the front facia!
Now that SWMBO's back in the front, so to speak, it's amazing to have be able to hold conversation without her talking to the back of my head and me talking into the rearview mirror.
* see www.klippan.co.uk for more details - they are the makers of klippan and graco car seats
Chad.R
Not all BMW owners are bad drivers - just the majority.
|
|
|
|
Hello Jason,
Firstly I'd advise that you contact your insurer to ensure that they're happy with modification of the safety equipment on the car.
|
|
Fair point (and one I hadn't considered) thanks. I have heard of this procedure being carried out / offered on other, multi air-bagged cars (newer Omegas can tell if there's a person or a car seat sitting in the passenger seat and 'decide' whether or not to fire the bag in an accident) so I don't think it will be a problem.
|
One other option to enable you to keep an eye on your little'un whilst she's in a rear-facing seat in the back is to purchase a stick-on mirror and fit it on the rear window (or wedge it under the centre-rear headrest as I did in my Focus for a closer view) so's you can keep an eye by a glance in your rear-view mirror.
On the other hand I guess if it's an Omega the rear window is probably a bit too far away for this to work, unless you go for the headrest option!
Annoyingly there's only one position I can place my 5-month son Alex's rear-face seat in in my Focus - behind the passenger seat. With my 6'1" frame there's not enough space behind my seat which also rules out the centre, plus like you I have the airbag in the front...
|
|
|
|
