Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd gen s

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evlgt85

Registered
Howdy,

I'm looking at getting a Gen 1 Mark VIII for a daily driver. At 5'2", I do not trust driver's side air bags, period. I am wanting to disable the air bag, yet keep it in place should there be a need to sell the car or something.

Has anyone here done this or seen anything about it? What is the best source for electrical diagrams? Thinking about possibly having a switch that would allow the air bag to be armed since my husband may drive the car from time to time. He's 6' tall, so he hasn't much to worry about with an air bag going off.

Also, did the Mark VIIIs receive the later, second generation air bags that were said to be less violent when deploying?

Thanks.
 
RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

Don't think the any of Marks received the 2nd gen air bags.
On a side note why would you want to disable the airbag? If you get into an accident in a car that was designed for air bag use you will hit your head on the steering wheel and it will cause a more serious injury than an air bag. If you're worried about your positioning in the car because of your height the seats adjusts to drivers heights really well. I would not recommend disabling the air bag in any circumstances.
 
RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

Given my pre-existing neck and back issues, and the relatively short distance I'll have to be to the steering wheel in order to reach it, I do not care to have a "safety" device designed for the average sized male causing what is likely to be more trauma than what would happen if there was no air bag.

Neither of the cars I already own have them. I am religious about seat belts, and safety in general. Due to my own particular circumstances, I feel that an air bag compromises my safety more than it protects it.

Quotes:

From http://www.airbagonoff.com/airbag_article_L_Evans.htm

"The most crucial problem with the air bag is the fundamental ethical issue of killing people in some categories in order to save people in others. There is now clear evidence that air bag effectiveness is lower than average for many large sectors of the population - females, short people, old people, and occupants of smaller cars. Given that the effectiveness is 9 percent for the entire population, it cannot decline much before becoming negative. It is therefore possible, and indeed likely, that the airbag increases the average risk of death in a crash for persons in broad categories containing millions of Americans."

Then there's these lovely statements about air bags:
http://consumerlawpage.com/article/air-bag-safety.shtml
http://www.blueridgeins.com/consum/youknow/1997/morebags.htm
And on and on.

I don't care to have pedal extenders, nor lean back in my seat pimp-style to be at a safe distance from the air bag. :)
 
RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

RE: Air Bag: Disabling driver's, also, were these 2nd g

My 1998 has 2nd generation air bags. I don't know which year they started though.

Scott
 
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