If you’ve ever set a bag of groceries or something of a similar weight on your car’s front passenger seat and it caused an “airbag off” light to illuminate, it means your vehicle has determined that whatever is riding shotgun does not warrant a frontal airbag. More specifically, sensors in the passenger-seat cushion have sent feedback to a control unit as part of what’s known as an Occupant Classification System (OCS). It’s a device that detects the presence or absence of someone or something in the front passenger seat, and it’s found in most newer, U.S.-sold cars and trucks.
You can thank the government, which starting in 2003 began requiring advanced airbags in all light passenger vehicles. That means that they can inflate with less energy or not deploy at all, based on the size and weight of the occupant of the passenger seat. The reasoning behind this mandate is to save kids or small adult passengers from being injured or killed by the front airbag, which bursts open in about 1/20 of a second. Children under age 12 are not supposed to ride in the front seat of any car or truck. It is universally recommended by automakers and regulators that they ride in the rear seat, where there’s less chance of injury. But for instances in which you must have a small person?whether child or adult?up front, the OCS exists.
While federal law requires cars and trucks to have the systems, it does not include a common weight threshold for d...