[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Even I don't understand the logic of switching off such an important safety feature.

Originally Posted by arvind71181

one scenario which I can think of is when there is only the driver in the car traveling a long distance he can switch off the passenger airbag. it's activation would not be required in the above scenario

The passenger airbag would also be required to be switched off if a child/ infant is occupying the front passenger seat.
It is a requirement mentioned in the child car seat manuals, but it also says that children should be seated in the front only if all the rear seats are occupied by other smaller children and only for short distances.
Moreover, a seat is only for one person, be it a child or an adult. not for more than one. But we have no such rule being implemented even for bikes, forget cars.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Even I don't understand the logic of switching off such an important safety feature. The safety of my wife who sits in the front seat is obviously of paramount importance so I would never switch that Airbag off. However this being India where large numbers of our truly 'uniquely gifted' people love to even leave on the plastic dust covers on their car upholstery, I would not find it amiss if many of these owners keep the airbags switched off to 'save' wear and tear.

Please read thru my post above. It is provided not to save wear and tear but have specific purpose. Here in USA, most new cars come with weight sensors in front passenger seat that decides if an adult is sitting on front seat or a child. Based on that, it activates/deactivates the front passenger airbag. In this case, driver does not have manual switch (like Skoda) to activate/deactivate the front passenger airbag.

Coming back to deactivating the front passenger airbag, it is necessary in case of a minor sitting in front passenger seat as it will cause more harm.