Nola

I've noticed that my seatbelt warning light/alarm will buzz for a few seconds if I don't secure it right away, but once it ends it never comes back on again, even if I never even touch the seatbelt and start driving. It seems odd that MB would be so slack in that area. Do your cars do anything different or is this normal?

tommy

Yes, there are a lucky 13 sounds.

I'm glad that it stops - if you need a fourteenth reminder, you probably shouldn't be driving. Can't make things totally idiot-proof.

Nola

Tommy, I think you totally missed my point. Of course I know the beep sounds more than once, but it's only a few seconds (5 seconds tops) and it never sounds again. I think it would more beneficial to have those same 13 beeps come up again every minute or so, until the seatbelt is secured. I'm willing to bet that most people don't even have a chance to get to the seatbelt before the alarm ends. They wear it out of habit and the alarm becomes somewhat useless.

This car will occasionally be driven and many times even owned by inexperienced teenagers, and the extra reminder could help them avoid a ticket and even save their lives. Don't confuse extra safeguards with idiot-proofing.

Mark08859

In every car I've ever been in or owned, once the seatbelt warning ceases, it does not start up again if the belt remains unused.

Teenager or not, fastening a seatbelt should be one of the first things to do when getting in a car. If you're old enough to drive, you're old enough to think for yourself and take responsibilty for your own and your passenger's saftey.

trench

I remember that a friend's Honda in the late '80s had a continuous seatbelt warning. I'm sure that people complained about them which why they went away.

BT

tommy

You go, girl! :p

My thoughts exactly. I buckle up before I even start the car. And the annoying beeps guarantee that I'll always do it that way on this car.

Um, I totally understood your point. Anyone who sits through one round of thirteen beeps, and still forgets to fasten their seatbelt, is an idiot, and deserves a ticket. Especially a teenager, who can't use the "hearing is the first thing to go" excuse.

Trench - my crx has passive seatbelts that have idiot lights/beepers on the headliner if you undo the belts, and will only stop when you buckle back up, or unplug them at the base. Wanna guess how most people handled it?

zpeed

Last week we go shopping for a new truck and one of the Ford truck that we ride to the back of the lot have that annoying beep seat belt sound. I know that I'm not gonna get that truck because of the annoying sound.

Don't get me wrong I'm always buckle up but once is enought for me.

Nola

I guess I never noticed that the warning goes off in most cars and doesn't come back on because I always buckle up. Now I also know why they do it: most people whine about it and don't appreciate the safety potential for other people or themselves. It could also be so that you can park on a dark spot and stargaze with your Panorama hassle-free.

taylor192

Can you disable the beep permanently?

For some of us, buckling up is such a habit that a reminder beep is just annoying.

preyx

Well, it's better than saying that the beep is annoying because it isn't a habit.

zpeed

I think if somebody have time to located the buzz and just unplug it. It should work. Is that buzz warn anything else? E-brake, door ajar?

vadim

No need: if you buckle up before starting the engine, it never sounds.

taylor192

Yeah, nah, I'd rather just have it disabled, even if it meant hunting down the buzzer and unplugging it.

There's gotta be a way to disable it if you can disable the beeps when you unlock the doors...

ahost

I believe a better way for the alarm to work is that it should sound if you start to drive without wearing the seatbelt. I always start the car before putting on the seatbelt to let the engine warm up, the seats move, the aircon start etc. When I put on the seatbelt, the alarm is long gone. Why don't they make the alarm like that? The danger is not being in the car without seatbelt, but driving the car without seatbelt.

Kal Rubinson

Right. I was thinking of saying this myself. I follow the same procedure and am annoyed by the tones as they come while I am putting on my belt. "I know, I know," I want to scream.

BTW, my previous Saab 9-3 had a delay of 3-4 seconds between ignition and BEEP; just enough for me.