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How about Disable Seat Belt Beep?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by daronspicher, Apr 14, 2006.

  1. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    I believe I'm alive and not brain damaged after rear ending a Corolla in my mini at about 60km/h because I was wearing a seatbelt.
    If you fell down across the centre of the car you most likely would have done that if you had a belt on.

    My mum was passenger in the left back seat of my sister's Ford Laser. My sister did a U turn in front of another car she failed to see and was hit from the right, mum hit he head on the right rear door handle causing a concussion. I'd hate to see what would have happened had she been cannoned across the seat to body slam the right hand door and window! Mum spent the night in hospital where she was just leaving after visiting my dad who was in hospital after having a stroke.

    A friend of mine early one morning earlier this year failed to notice that the driver of a car in front of her did not move forward after everyone in front of him did. I have no idea how she didn't see a large white Holden Statesman but she didn't. Her 2001 Camry sustained over $6000 damage when she hit the car at about 70km/h without braking at all, she seriously didn't see the car at all. Her car was not fitted with airbags but because she had a seatbelt on she was able to tell us about the accident. She was not hurt in the accident.

    I have attended an accident where 2 large trucks hit head on at 100km/h, neither driver wearing seatbelts and both thrown from the trucks and found dead. One driver was in a tree 3 metres above the ground.

    Of course there are those who don't wear a seatbelt and are fine in a roll over
    http://www.livevideo.com/video/443C38B5BDE04C8F9D7F553F2760414D/sleeping-driver.aspx
     
  2. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    So Larry, were you thrown from the car prior to the damage to the vehicle you described, or was it just good luck that you got thrown around in the Civic such that you didn't hit anything hard? Difficult to understand from the rolling and end-over-end maneuvers you described that simply holding onto the steering wheel is what saved you.

    I agree with your comment on better driver training and stricter law enforcement. I learned to drive before the advent of seat belt laws, but regard securing the belt as just another part of the prep' in moving the car. After all, it takes all of 3 additional seconds to complete.

    People tend to ignore the fact that they are strapping 3-4000 lbs or more of energized machinery to their rear end, and if something goes amiss their options are getting thrown around inside the cabin, or being held in place while the energy dissipates. The latter is generally the better choice, as statistics have proved.
     
  3. diamondlarry

    diamondlarry EPA MPG #'s killer

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    I was inside the car the whole time and wasn't thrown from the vehicle and I never left the driver's seat area. The policeman at the scene figures that I was likely held in place by centrifugal force similar to the way swinging a bucket over your head keeps water from spilling out.

    I guess the point I was trying to make earlier is when proponents try to say that you will ALWAYS survive a crash if you have your belts on. I used to see the commercials on TV where it would show a policeman saying, "Buckle up! I have never unbuckled a dead man." I have witnessed the results of accidents where this simply wasn't the case. In fact, I can recall several instances of 2 vehicle crashes where the people in one vehicle survived without belts and people in the other vehicle died while they were belted. I believe that this type of "rose-colored-glasses" approach may actually be a disservice in that it could influence people to drive as wreckless as they want because they mistakenly believe their belt will save them if they get into trouble. Most sane/sensible drivers wouldn't fall for that but not all drivers are that sensible. It just kind of irritates me that the government sometimes seems to mandate seatbelt use without fixing the root cause of the crashes in the first place which is lack of proper training. It's kind of like a patient seeing a doctor frequently for broken bones and all they do is prescribe painkillers and treating the injury without saying, "If you would stop doing what your doing, this wouldn't keep happening."
     
  4. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    People with that kind of attitude should never be allowed to have a driver's license.

    Well, the root cause of most accidents is generally caused by some things or some people trying to occupy the same space at the same time. I don't think you will ever eradicate that!
     
  5. carjon

    carjon New Member

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    A different Lawyer. It is all the fault of Lawyers.
     
  6. SW03ES

    SW03ES Senior Member

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    As a followup to what I had said way back when, Toyota doesn't only have these things on the Prius anymore...its all their vehicles.

    So at least they're nannying everyone!

    I'm just thrilled you can shut it off...
     
  7. redtechsan

    redtechsan New Member

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    I just got an '09 Prius and have read the threads for some time in anticipation.
    I tried disabling the seat belt warning using the instructions on the site to no avail. After trying by following the instructions precisely, then by improvising (holding the ODO/Trip button for a minute), I never got the "B-on" notification.
    I guess the first question is: Does this hack even work for an '09?
    If the answer is yes, my next question is: Do I need to modify the procedure?

    Any help is appreciated.
     
  8. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    What's disturbing is those instructions look exactly the way I typed them 5+ years ago the first time someone asked... LOL

    One way to short term silence the seatbelt beep is to pop the car into reverse then drive. Otherwise, don't exceed 8mph or 15km/h and the beep will not activate.

    I'm in the bad habit of driving the 50 ft or so from my mailbox to my driveway. If I exceed the slow speed, I'm reminded that I went too fast w/ o protecting myself.

    So long and short, no, I didn't disable the beep. I choose to let it scold me for the rare times I don't buckle up because I know it's a dumb thing to do. Laziness isn't worth your life.
     
  9. redtechsan

    redtechsan New Member

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    Thanks for the quick response.

    My intent is not the driver's side necessarily. It is for the passenger side when I set a suitcase on it or something relatively heavy.

    I am looking for a solution for the 2009 version. It seems the hack works for all model years up to '08. I have yet to see a response from an '09 owner. Maybe it does not work? Maybe I am doing it wrong.:(

    Still looking for clues.
     
  10. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    I seem to recall that I had to sit in the passenger seat in order to disable the beep for it. It was quite a game pressing the brake pedal and all the other magic winks from the passenger seat. It can be done, and it would be a lot easier with a second person sitting in the seat.

    The reason I disabled the passenger seat beep is that my dog is heavy enough to trigger the warning, and the belt doesn't fit him...
     
  11. redtechsan

    redtechsan New Member

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    Thanks for the tip! I will give it a try.
     
  12. rubdr

    rubdr New Member

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    I own a 2009 and the procedure worked on it. Make sure someone is sitting in the passenger seat while going through the sequence. Hope this helps!
     
  13. beat2def

    beat2def New Member

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    I wear my seat belt every time I get in my car, but I hate the seatbelt beeping sound as well.
     
  14. magnumrtawd

    magnumrtawd Member

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    I'm a 35year 3.5 million mile retired truck driver. Over that time I have seen many accidents and seat belts are a great advantage for sure. If the truck had them I wore them!
    A friend of mine fell asleep at 70 mph went off the right shoulder into the ditch which knocked his unbuckled nice person off the seat and onto the passenger side floor. the truck came back up on the road and struck several cars while he was helpless on the pass. floor. He will never forget the sounds of that driverless truck striking those cars.
    One more! My 20 year old brother in law took a 17 year old girl for a test drive in a new 68 roadrunner. She lost control on a curve and she was belted in he was not! The car rolled several times throwing him all over inside.Broke his back. He was in a wheel chair the rest of his life!
    Seat belts work !!!!