Driving with the windows down today I noticed the 'Side Airbags Off' light was lit. I put the windows up, it went off. I put them down, it didn't go back on. I asked my 5 year old to lean out the front window again (she had her seatbelt on and was in a booster seat) and the light went back on. It turns out that there is a chip in the side of the Fit that detects if someones head is in the path of the side airbags and turns them off.

Guess who invented the detector - the guy who engineered the scangauge. If you read the inventor's (Ron DeLong) bio, you'll see that he used to work for Motorola and invented a chip (an "E-Field" electric field sensing microchip) that detects when a human is in proximity to the chip. The chip is used in Honda airbag systems to change the airbag response according to who sits where. Link - Interview with Ron DeLong, inventor of the ScanGauge - MetroMPG.com. This is probably old news for veteran Honda drivers but it's new news to me - the Fit is my first Honda.

 

that's pretty neat. it's the little things that add up to a nice experience. :-D

 

Lol, umm... I'm pretty sure it senses weight, so when her head was out the window, she was lifting up out of her seat which turned the airbags off.

 

No, the passenger airbag was already off the whole time I was driving. At 5 years old, she's not heavy enough to activate the switch seat. Also, the booster seat is solid so it puts her weight at the outside edges of the seat. Usually the seat sensors are in the center of the seat. Also, I've put stuff in the seat that weighs as much as she does and have never seen the 'Side Airbag Off' light before. FWIW, I didn't make the rest of the post up - check out the link.

 

i think thats kinda neat if it's true. (i thought it was just by weight, too). but it is illegal for a any child under the age of 12 to be in the front seat of a car...

How Safe Are Air Bags? - How to Guides - DMV.ORG

 

I'm pretty sure it's the weight sensor too...

 

My 5lb laptop will trigger the sensor so I'm sure your 5 year old would as well. It pretty much just reads where the concentration of weight is to determine how you are positioned and if you would be in the way of the airbags.

 

I did another check on another trip with my 9 year old. I can't tell if it's weight or something else but it definitely isn't the same sensor as the 'Passenger Airbag' indicator and I've never seen it with 5 or 10 pounds of computer equipment in the seat, or a 20lb suitcase for that matter. Anyone have a wiring diagram for the airbags on the Fit?

Regarding Virginia child safety laws - only rear facing seats (read infants) must be in the back seat so FitFetish RELAX and don't play the 'its illegal' card too soon!! I've violated no law - but thanks for caring. See http://www.vahealth.org/civp/safetyseat/2007%20CPS%20Law%20Flyer%20(2).pdf for confirmation.

 

I think we should check the owners manual. There's something about it in there. If I'm not mistaken it is some sort of chip or sensor that detects how close to the side air bag is, at least in the back seat. Because I had a buddy sitting in the back seat using the "magic seat" with the front down, and it shut off the side airbag because he was sitting close to it. And I know there is no weight sensor in the back seat.

Unfortunately my manual is in the car, and I'm much too tired and lazy to go outside and get it.

 

Sorry, don't mean to pull any card. But it is illegal. That flyer says nothing about front or back seating and the info I posted for you to look at is for the state of Va. Front air bags are too dangerous for kinds under the age of twelve because they do not weigh enough. I have very young nieces and nephews and would never want anything to happen to them and I would say the same thing to my sisters if they did this. I'm just concerned for the safety of your child, but if you have no problem taking the risk then go for it. Sorry, I wont put my two cents in anymore if it offends you. Understand I was just trying to help...

 

I agree that front air bags are too dangerous for kids so no arguments there but that's why the front air bag is turned off when kids are in the front seat and the airbags in my vehicles are all disabled when my kids ride there - I check every time. The flyer I cited based on VA law notes that only kids in infant seats are REQUIRED to be in the back.

Your posting only provides guidelines, it does not cite law. Again, enough with the 'sorry but it's illegal' stuff, it isn't. IT'S RIGHT IN THE TITLE - "GUIDES" (yes, I'm shouting). Now that I feel better if nothing else, I have a sensitive spot for people who claim legality when no such legislation exists. I welcome any citation of VA code you can find and will certainly respect such. A guideline, even from the VA DMV isn't VA code and isn't enforceable by the police. The flyer I referenced reflects the latest changes in VA law and there is no requirement to put kids in forward facing seats in back, only that they be in booster seats or some other approved form of seating.

 

Yeah thats what i think it probaly is.

Tyler

 

Maybe not, found this on the Honda corporate page - "Honda also introduced the first system to sense when a child or small-statured adult in the front passenger seat is in the path of deployment of the side airbag, and to stop the airbag's deployment until the occupant returns to a desirable position."

Here's the link with a picture - Honda Safety - Airbag Innovation Notice the sensors in the back of the seat - I doubt those are just the weight sensors - but the page doesn't say.

 

Here's the Japanese patent - Science Links Japan | Occupant Position Detection System For Side Airbag System. - it isn't a weight sensor - here's the quote.

"It detects the size of seating occupant and defines if his head enters into the range of side airbag deploying zone using the occupant identification algorithm and some electrostatic capacity type sensors under the covering material of seat which determines the existence of dielectric around the seat surface."

For those of you who aren't electrical engineers, the "existence of a dielectric around the seat surface" means that a non-conductive material located close to the sensor (not due to weight) will change the electrical properties of the sensor.

Notice the dude works for Honda. Not sure how much more y'all want me to find on this to convince you . . . but your Fit is even more amazing than you think. I didn't see the scangauge guy's name on the patent though.