S60 belt reminder light

Discussion in 'Volvo S60' started by noname, Aug 11, 2005.

  1. noname

    noname Guest

    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?

    J.D.
     
    noname, Aug 11, 2005
    #1
  2. noname

    Tim.. Guest


    No, your's is doing exactly what it should be. There should be a gong too,
    also which goes silent after about 20-30seconds.

    tim..
     
    Tim.., Aug 11, 2005
    #2
  3. noname

    Mike F Guest

    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.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Aug 11, 2005
    #3
  4. noname

    Erik Lidén Guest

    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.

    /Erik Lidén
     
    Erik Lidén, Aug 11, 2005
    #4
  5. noname

    Randy G. Guest

    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.

    __ __
    Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
    \__/olvos
    '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
    "Shelby" & "Kate"
     
    Randy G., Aug 11, 2005
    #5
  6. noname

    Mike F Guest

    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.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Aug 12, 2005
    #6
  7. noname

    Mike F Guest

    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.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Aug 12, 2005
    #7
  8. 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.

    Mike
     
    Michael Pardee, Aug 12, 2005
    #8
  9. noname

    John Doe Guest

    Guys,

    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.
     
    John Doe, Aug 12, 2005
    #9
  10. noname

    Randy G. Guest

    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."

    __ __
    Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
    \__/olvos
    '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
    "Shelby" & "Kate"
     
    Randy G., Aug 12, 2005
    #10
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