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Any time I put something - as light as 10 pounds in my passenger seat, my seat belt alarm goes off in my 2007 Pontiac Vibe. To avoid the VERY annoying beeping, I usually end up buckling up my backpack. It's a pain.

Is there anything I can do to make this thing not so sensitive? I don't mind the alarm going off if there's an actual person sitting there, but not just when I put something light next to me. I suppose even disabling it would be okay if that was the only solution - would it be safe just to snip the wire? Or would that cause the alarm to always go off?

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I have a 2006 Vibe and I followed the directions here to disable both driver and passenger side seat belt alarms (I don't know of a way to just do passenger side):

  1. Turn the key to on (don't start the car,) then change the odometer to display "odo" and not trip A or B.

  2. Turn the key off.

  3. Turn the key back to on. Within six seconds of doing this, press and hold the odometer button. Do so for 10 seconds. Then, while still holding the button, buckle up, then unbuckle. The "odo" display should then change to say "b-on."

  4. Let go of the odo button to get it to read "b-off." Then wait for the display to change back to the odometer.

Now if you don't have a seatbelt buckled when the car is running, the belt warning dash light will continue flashing, but it won't beep at you.

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I think you will just have to resort to fastening the seat-belt for your book bag. Most of the sensors in the passenger seats are part of the OCS (Occupant Classification System) which is used by the airbag system to determine how big the person sitting in the seat is to determine if it should deploy the passenger airbag. For example it shouldn't allow deployment if the occupant is a small adult or a child for instance.

It's not a bad idea to seat belt it in anyway, anything loose in your vehicle becomes a projectile in the event of a collision.

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    I think you're right that this system would be difficult to disable. Unfortunately, this would result in unnecessary airbag and pretensioner deployment in a crash.
    – William Cline
    Apr 7, 2011 at 23:08
  • Or possibly lack thereof. If the system doesn't detect weight because the sensor wire was snipped, there may not be an airbag when one is really needed.
    – MaQleod
    Apr 8, 2011 at 3:35
  • @MaQleod, I think @William means that in the event you have a bag in the seat, and get in a crash, the airbag will deploy and need to be replaced, when there wasn't a person there to save.
    – Sean Reifschneider
    Apr 9, 2011 at 22:49
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    @WilliamCline and SeanReifschneider: In the event of an airbag-triggering crash, I think one more airbag is the least of your worries. Either the crash is not your fault and the other guy's insurance will cover it, or it is your fault and that airbag is going to be your concern #289...
    – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun
    Nov 4, 2012 at 20:52

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