I recently purchased an S60 and I'm a bit confused with the seatbelt reminder light in the rearview mirror; it turns on after I turn the engine on, then it turns itself off in a few seconds, regardless of whether I have the seatbelt on or not. Shouldn't it stay on if I'm not wearing the belt? The car also doesn't beep if I drive off without the seatbelt on. This behavior makes little sense for any car, much less a safety-oriented one. Is this normal or could I maybe have a defective sensor or such?
Seatbelt reminders used to stay on as long as the seat was occupied and the belt not fastened. Then "they" discovered that people were simply disconnecting/removing the lights and buzzers. So "they" figured it was better to have a reminder for a short period at startup that would not be disabled than one that was there all the time, but often disabled.
Here in Sweden the S60 (and V70) turns the warning, and beep on at startup, it beeps three times after startup, if you don't drive away. When you drive away it beeps continously, all the time until you fasten the seatbelt. I've tried it for at least 10 miles, and it just goes on beeping.
I was a firefighter and part of our area of responsibility was a busy, two-lane mountain highway, with no divider, and a 55mph speed limit. Without going into detail, if people could see what I have seen, seatblet warning lights would not be necessary.
The question comes to mind, "Are people so stupid that they need to be reminded to wear their seatbelts?" Unfortunately, the answre is yes. If it weren't for helmet laws, there would be a lot of motorcyclists not wearing helmets as well.. In some ways, Darwin's theroies don't apply.
Reminds me of a case I read about a few years back in one of the states that didn't have a helmet law. The plaintiff crashed and got head injuries, and tried to sue one of the helmet manufacturers. Not because the helmet didn't protect him from injuries, but because the manufacturer didn't try hard enough to convince him that he should be wearing a helmet! That's right, he sued a helmet manufacturer even though he wasn't even using their product.
Well that's one of the advantages of an international forum. You can find out differences in various country's laws. Often in Canada we just march in lockstep with American rules on things automotive - I guess because the domestic (i.e. American) auto makers are so integrated on both sides of the border.
I'm with you. I have two brothers who were involved in separate rollover accidents. Neither was hurt because they were strapped in, although Pat was injured when he unfastened the harness and fell on his head. He should have waited for help.
In contrast, my wife's coworker slid her Mercedes convertible off an icy highway a couple years ago and wasn't restrained. She was thinking as the car rolled on its side "God, don't let me have a spinal cord injury!" Her butt bent the door when she hit, fracturing two vertebrae and causing her to be airlifted out. The car was otherwise undamaged - if she had been belted in she could have had a wrecker pull it onto the road and driven home. I don't know if the buzzers and warning lights work in my vehicles - I never give them a chance to warn me.
Thanks for your answers. I suspected this could be some gimmick for the US market. I wonder if the beeping and the light were controlled by the same sensor/circuit and instead of modifying that to keep the light on but turn the beep off after some time, when the seatbelt's not on, they just chose to have both turn of shortly after engine start. Oh well ...
My new beef with the S60 is the mileage. Today I averaged 20.7 mpg on a
30-ish mile drive (virtually all of it freeway). I know new engines take a while till they break in and reach the stated mileage. It took about
4K miles in my BMW but I think the improvement was around 15% or so. If this is any similar, 15% will barely put my freeway mileage around 24.
What do you guys get in your S60s? I forgot to mention, mine was a 2.5T.
J.D.
n> I recently purchased an S60 and I'm a bit confused with the seatbelt
There's a fellow up here who tells me, "I don't want to be belted in a car and not able to escape after an accident." I tried to educate him that, in the case of an accident, and he not wearing his belt, that he will most likely be knocked unconcious and not able to escape anyway. I should have just walked away, but you gotta try. The way I like to drive, a 5 point looks pretty cool!
How can anyone watch a nascar race and watch drivers alk away from horrendous crashes, and then not wear their seat belts? Oh, well... The only problem is that I am the sort of person who ALWAYS stops for an accident if the pros haven't shown up yet, and so I get to deal with that sort of thing first-hand. When you walk up to a car and there's an embossed face print sticking out of the windshield and the steering wheel is half folded over, you know it's going to be a long day for someone.
As a Marine friend once told me, "Hell ain't half full yet."
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.