Seat Belt Warning Lights

[evanevery]

I notice when I start out on a drive, I get TWO Red Seat Belt lights on the console. They stay on for maybe 60 seconds after I start driving and then go out. There is no audible chime or warning. I'm the only one in the car, but I do have a seat cover for my dog over the rear seats (the cover shouldn't trigger any weight sensor).

The GTK App says this:

Rear seats​

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When the vehicle drives off, a seat belt status display for the rear seats appears for about 60 seconds in the instrument cluster.​

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The green symbol A + B indicates that the person sitting on this seat has fastened their seat belt.​

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The red symbol C indicates that the person sitting on this seat has not fastened their seat belt, or no one is sitting on this seat. If a seat belt on the rear seats is opened while driving, an acoustic warning sounds and the relevant symbol turns red and flashes for about 60 seconds .​

Anyone else see this? Its kinda odd I think. Just want to make sure I'm not the only one...

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[wemct]

I have the 3 rear seat configuration. The red light will light for the seats that remain unbelted. It was distracting in the beginning but I don’t focus on it anymore.

 

[evanevery]

Thanks, glad its "normal".

I'm just not used to getting a (red) warning symbol unless there is cause for a warning. At least it ultimately goes away...

 

[Dlurker20]

Thanks, glad its "normal".

I'm just not used to getting a (red) warning symbol unless there is cause for a warning. At least it ultimately goes away...

My BMW does the exact same thing, seems common enough behavior. And thanks for posting this, I was driving my kids the other night and wondered if I’d see that in the Taycan.

 

[evanevery]

My BMW does the exact same thing, seems common enough behavior. And thanks for posting this, I was driving my kids the other night and wondered if I’d see that in the Taycan.

Must be something new in the German regs... My 2019 BMW i8 Roadster doesn't do this - but it also doesn't have any backseat!

 

[annieland]

This was the only thread I could find about this, so apologies for the reanimation. I've only driven my car on a few short trips (waiting on PPF and EVSE install), but the two red rear seat belt alerts are really confusing. I see in the manual it says it's normal. Does anyone ever just keep the rear belts fastened when no one is there? Does that cut the warning lights? Obviously I'll get used to it if I have to, but while becoming acquainted with the car any unnecessary red warning indicators are definitely not welcome!

 

[irrelevant]

I'm wondering the same. It won't be long before we'll tune it out. I'm off to search for how to best remove that idiotic speed limit sticker on the dashboard.

Honestly I don't know how we've survived as a species for so long, given all the "safety" systems now cluttering up the driving experience.

 

[tchavei]

My MB does exactly the same. It's just a quick reminder of how many belts are fastened. If nobody behind and no seat belts are fastened, it's fine.

One thing nobody has mentioned and I have no idea how it is with the Taycan but on MB the seat belts will determine what airbags will go off in case of an accident.

Fastening the seat belts when nobody is using them can become very expensive in case of a minor bump on the wrong area. Instead of triggering one airbag, they'll all get triggered.

 

[irrelevant]

My MB does exactly the same. It's just a quick reminder of how many belts are fastened. If nobody behind and no seat belts are fastened, it's fine.

One thing nobody has mentioned and I have no idea how it is with the Taycan but on MB the seat belts will determine what airbags will go off in case of an accident.

Fastening the seat belts when nobody is using them can become very expensive in case of a minor bump on the wrong area. Instead of triggering one airbag, they'll all get triggered.

I suspect the airbags are armed by a weight-sensing switch. If they were armed by having the seat belts fastened, they'd not qualify as a passive restraint system, because a passenger could forget or refuse to buckle their seat belt.

 

[tchavei]

I suspect the airbags are armed by a weight-sensing switch. If they were armed by having the seat belts fastened, they'd not qualify as a passive restraint system, because a passenger could forget or refuse to buckle their seat belt.

On the mb, the front needs a 6-10kg weight (but my bag has armed it more than once) to arm the airbag. The fact you buckle up will arm it regardless of weight (hence those baby holders needed an transponder on the bottom to disable the airbag. In the back, I believe they're just armed with the belt buckling but I might be wrong.

I do remember reading to not buckle up unused seat belts on my MB. Can't remember where though.

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