Airbag question?

[pontiacelite]

Is it legal to take out the airbag on the passenger side and if it is, how hard are they to take out?

[Chain]

I know some cars have an on and off switch for the passenger side. I do not know about laws on this issue though.
Why would you want to disable it?

[pontiacelite]

I want to take it out and put some kind of video game system there and to put aplace for my dvds, i was thinking about taking out the airbag and leave the cover/door on so i can cover it up when im not playing and open it when i want to play it or watch dvds.

[RickHigginsHtbr]

shouldn't you be concentrating more on the road than movies or video games?

[VanishingImage]

I don't think its ilegal,well for the public to do but for dealerships and any place like that it is...You can get ticketd for having it on while your driving tho.Now if you have a passenger playing a game,you won't because your not considered being distracted.I know a lot of people that have LCD's screens in their car with dvd players and such,they have never had a problem.

[DowmaceWH99]

it depends on what state your in, some say you must have a passenger airbag if it was equppied by the manufacturer, but others say it doesn't matter, but there is a federal law that says you must have a drivers side airbag, I dunno I broke both laws I had an LCD in my passenger 'bag cover, and in my steering wheel

[Chain]

That is a cool idea though, Talk about a nice stash compartment. You could hide all kinds of stuff in there and no one would ever know. Of course if you have a wreck the passengers face smashing into the video game might not feel as good as the air bag. LOL

[Gimli]

Under federal law both in Canada and the US it is illegal to tamper with ANY airbag system that's factory-installed unless you have a special, PERSONNAL, exemption from the federal department of transportation (I think it's the NHTSA in the US). It will also most likely void your car insurance (most insurance policies that void themselves if you deactivate any safety feature).

[pontiacelite]

I suppose I could always try and modify the glove compartment to fita PS2 or something in there, I already tried to fit one in but doesnt fit, I think the airbag might stay, for saftey reasons, thanks for feedback

[VanishingImage]

I know it would deffinatly hurt your insurance if they know about it,but who actually tells their insurance company they have Nitrous in it?(just using that as an example,don't jump on my case). I say keep driver side air bag and do something with the passenger side one,most people mod that one anyways....Downmace,did do a pretty sweet job with the LCD in your steering wheel tho!

[T3rry]

do a search, magyver modded his glove box to fit a ps2.

[Gimli]

Originally posted by VanishingImage
I know it would deffinatly hurt your insurance if they know about it,but who actually tells their insurance company they have Nitrous in it?(just using that as an example,don't jump on my case). I say keep driver side air bag and do something with the passenger side one,most people mod that one anyways....Downmace,did do a pretty sweet job with the LCD in your steering wheel tho!

It's not whether you tell them or not, it's when you get in an accident and the insurance underwriter notices that you have modified the safety mechanism they can retroactively cancel your insurance and then you get hit with lawsuits from everywhere, get tickets for driving without insurance and become uninsurable.

If that's a risk you're ready to assume by all means go for it :)

[DowmaceWH99]

yea, I forgot to mention my car got drove on weekends and never touched rain, or snow.

[SC/TGrandAm]

removing your airbag to put a video game system in there instead is about utterly retarded isnt it?! I think your passengers safety should come before your video gameing habits, or at least when you get older you will agree with me.

Its not the video gaming its removing the air bag, for one theres PLENTY of other places in your car to put a PS2 and a video screen so taking out your airbag is rediculous. Also dont let your insurance know about it, not like it wont be obvious if they come inspect your car someday or if you crash.

[DowmaceWH99]

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28430 I guess I'm retarded, because everybody that saw that at the last show almost creamed their pants when they saw it, almost makes me want to get my GA back just looking at the pics. It's not stupid, it's not dumb, it's irresponsible to take out your 'bags if the car still is road driven, for your safety and your passengers, do not daily drive your car with the bags out, and screens in place, if you get in a wreck your just f'ed, and if someone walks by your car they'll see the stuff and steal it, if not your whole car

</responsible 17 year old>

[SC/TGrandAm]

whats the diffrence between daily driving your GA with screens in retarded places and driving the car once a month?

Are you trying to say that if you dont daily drive the car that your immune to accidents/thefts when you do take it out that once a month or once a weekend?

[DowmaceWH99]

I'm saying low chance of it, and when I drove it, it would be to a show or a parking lot, I never really drove the car, nothing more than a few miles. It wasn't left unattended, and I only drove it was less than 20 miles to the destination, you need to learn that because you don't like something, it doesn't mean you know everything about it, you did this same crap over on GAGT and I've noticed that you aren't posting much over there anymore, hmm reason why?

[SC/TGrandAm]

I dont know anything about TV's and putting them in retarded places ha ha ok. Thats called common sence, i guess some people have lack of.

As for me posting on gagt what are you talking about, i post there at least 10 times daily sometimes more?!

Wheres sapulpa, Ok is that by tulsa?

[99GrandAMSE]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm
... Thats called common sence, i guess some people have lack of ...

I am so tired of seeing members being judged but that 'superiority stick' of yours ... does ANYONE ever meet your expectations or have anything you like?! ... man, you have got to settle down and learn to STOP trying to convince people to follow your ways of thinking :(

[SC/TGrandAm]

Im not judging him, i still like the kid i just think putting a tv in place of the airbag (a safety device) is off the wall. But its not my car.

[99GrandAMSE]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm
Im not judging him, i still like the kid i just think putting a tv in place of the airbag (a safety device) is off the wall. But its not my car.

... pointing it out is fine but telling him of his lack of common sense is a little harsh dude ... for interest sake, the post you just made referring to me would have been a much more diplomatic with a more appealing tone ... you know, explain the reason why it would be 'wrong' and then finalize your comments by saying, "but its not my car" ... at least that way, you made your point; however, you don't come off as being a jerk which my friend, between you and me, if a very common conception of you and your 'style' as of late ... now, to be polite, should you wish to continue this discussion, I will gladly do so via personal messages but lets be fair and not PW this thread, OK :)

[pontiacelite]

I only wanted to know if it was legal didn't want to start anything, and its not like id be playing PS2 or whatever while Im driving down the highway, now that is retarded, and yes the person who was in the passenger seat might want to consider what would happen with now airbag, but what about the people in cars pre 1997 or whenever that law was enacted?

[99GrandAMSE]

Originally posted by pontiacelite
... didn't want to start anything ...

Cool ... don't worry about it :)

[Dovah Cru]

Both my airbags have been Deployed (right word?). and I have been pulled over twice (not for the airbags.. but for speeding...:angel2: ) and the cop just asked where my horn was. and when I showed him the wires I had to rup together he just laughed and gave me a speeding ticket.. he didn't say anything about my airbags. although the ticket sucked. and my dad has a truck that doesn't have airbags in it, it didn't come with any and he keeps getting it insured. I'm not doubting anyone on here, I just wanna know how that is possible if it's a fedral law to have a drivers side air bag?

[Gimli]

It's not the law to have airbags, but it is the law that you cannot modify the ones that the car comes with (if it does). By the way police officers don't necessarily have the authority to enforce every law that's out there. I would think that the NHTSA would have their own inspectors out there to look for things like that in case of accidents. You might also be refused service by licensed mechanics because they are also prohibited to work on cars that have that kind of modification.

The reasoning behind it is that the cars' safety and crash testing is done with the airbags and every other safety system intact and that's what the government base their decision on when they give the approval for the cars to be sold. These test results are also what insurance companies base their premiums and insurability rates on.

If you go and screw around with safety features you become an unknown liability for yourself and others around you so that's why is it illegal to modify them without prior authorization from the NHTSA and notification of your insurance company.

[Dovah Cru]

Oh alright, thanks. I was just wondering if maybe the yee-haws up here in maine just didn't care if you cracked your head or not. heh. Thanks for the info man.

[TA^Guy]

For a show car I don't think it would matter much as most people rarely drive show vehicles. Shoot I've seen show trucks with TVs everywhere, steering wheel, dash, visors, even in the outside side view mirrors. On a daily driver I would try to find a different location for a TV.