air bag question...

on an '02 Camry LE.....is there a way to disengage the passenger airbag? the car is a little cramped for the 3 kids in the back, 2 are in car seats and my 8yr. old is squished between them. my wife wants to let him ride up front but is afraid of the air bag. the manual says for kids in car seats to move the seat all the way back, but nothing about disengaging the pass. air bag.

thanks........

mike.............

Reply to
JerseyMike
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Hey, aren't you the guy that didn't want to wear a seat belt? At least you care about the kids! (Actually, I'm pretty much the same way...)

If you place him in a booster seat, he should be just fine. The deal with airbags and kids is that kids aren't as tall as adults. This is the whole logic behind the booster seats; so the seat belts will work. Move the seat back as far as it will go, put him in a booster seat and belt him! The whole deal with the airbag is for kids in car seats sitting backwards. When the air bag pops it smacks the backk of the car seat, and this is what causes the problem. In another year or two, it won't make a difference, unless he's small for his age.

Disengaging the airbag is 'discouraged' by law, and no dealer or certified mechanic will do it. And you don't really want to try it yourself, you could set the bag off, or do something that will cause the bag to deploy when it shouldn't. Even reclining the seat back will gain some added room from the bag.

Oh, here's a question for you: I'm almost 50. How did we ever survive without the government looking after us when we were kids?

Reply to
hachiroku

In the state of Indiana it's against the law to have a child under the age of 12 in the front seat with the air bag on. There have been cases of children and even small women being killed by the air bag. There was even a woman decapitated a couple years ago by an air bag. IIRC she was very small too. I'm like you though, I'd think they would have to be close to the dash for this to happen. davidj92

Reply to
davidj92

way...)

yeah that's me, Mr. No Seatbelt user. i found that the clip from a '92 Taurus works just perfect for what i needed.

my wife doesn't want him in the front seat w/ the air bag activated. my father-in-law has a ford f150 that has a way to deactivate the pass.airbag. the owners manual for the Camry reads that infants must not be in the front at all, but children in carseats are ok up front provided that the seat is pushed all the way back. he is no longer required to use a car seat becaue of his age, buty we don't want him in the front seat if there is a possibility of an accidental injury w/ the airbag deployment even in a low speed accident. i'll have to check if there is a min. age for children in the front pass. seat. if he doesn't wat to be squished between his little sisters, he may have to use a car seat up front.

mike..............

Reply to
JerseyMike

Yeah, the trucks are required to have the shutoff because there aren't a lot of places to put kids in a cab. But I don't believe there are shut-offs for cars; they want you to put the little brats in the rear (sorry, attempt at humor there; I love kids! They stay crunchy in milk!) Some cars do have a method for disabling the bag, but they don't like to give it out. Contact the dealer or Customer (we don't) Care and see if they can help you. Again, you really don't want to do anything that will cause a fault in the system, and the only solution seems to be removing the bag itself, which no dealer or mechanic can do. They'll yank his driver's license for like 3 years, I think...

Reply to
hachiroku

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