# Is there any way to disable the annoying seat belt noise makers in modern cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450 "2014-12-05T22:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/21 "2014-12-06T03:25:28Z")
I had to do this in my '07 Prius. When I go around corners I’ll sometimes lean into the passenger seat (the side of the seatback) and this “activates” the seat to think there’s a passenger and the seatbelt squacking starts… There was a simple procedure of button presses on the console (that I found on YouTube) that let me disable the chime. Hopefully you have a similar solution with your vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/22 "2014-12-06T03:37:02Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > A few weeks ago, my father brought his car in for repair, and the loaner they gave him not only had auto-locking, but it had no manual disengaging mechanism- no plunger or rocker, like every other car I’ve ever been in. Can you please tell us the brand and model? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/23 "2014-12-06T03:46:22Z")
If you die in a car accident you won’t hear the noise again. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/24 "2014-12-06T04:05:58Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I’d be pretty surprised if your car allows write access to random files in it’s cpu. No longer the plan, I found a youtube vid from the other link that showed where it was in my escape. Its now on my to do list. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/25 "2014-12-06T04:38:06Z")
I guess “Ice-Pick in the Ear Drum” is a bit extreme… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/26 "2014-12-06T14:54:34Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > I had to do this in my '07 Prius. When I go around corners I’ll sometimes lean into the passenger seat (the side of the seatback) and this “activates” the seat to think there’s a passenger and the seatbelt squacking starts… There was a simple procedure of button presses on the console (that I found on YouTube) that let me disable the chime. Hopefully you have a similar solution with your vehicle. Jeebus, how fast are you taking these corners? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/27 "2014-12-06T15:06:49Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Jeebus, how fast are you taking these corners? he’s joking, the Prius can’t go that fast 😛 > [@Declan](#): > > Not sure its exactly that easy, but I figure that the seat belt chime is simply a wav file. When ever I get around to it, I am just going to replace that with a white noise wav, and let it go its merry way. The problem would be in finding it. I can’t speak for absolutely everybody, but for most cars things like the chimes, warnings, and turn signal “tic-toc” come from the gauge cluster. The cluster has a programmable tone generator which generates the sounds on demand. and some (as noted above) have moved to using the DSP in the radio to generate simple and polyphonic chimes. These are done by the radio: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VOd4P3FyTkg/maxresdefault.jpg "2013 Ford Fusion 2.5 Start-Up") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOd4P3FyTkg) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/28 "2014-12-06T15:38:53Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > I’d like to throw in another stupid aspect seat belt nags have: obnoxiously low weight requirements. I buy a gallon of milk and place in on the front seat. The sensors pick this up and start bitching at my liquid passenger to put its seat belt on. A gallon of milk weighs about eight pounds. The only humans who weigh eight pounds are newborn babies; if I have one of those in the front seat, I’m engaging in child endangerment. We live in a very weird world when the great political compromise of the day is the Drunken, Darwinian Nanny State. This is my issue with the seat belt chime as well, and I’m surprised it doesn’t come up more often in these discussions. I’d even be ok with a button to push after the warning, saying “it’s ok…it’s not a real person there.” That is, I don’t mind the nag warning once if someone forgets to put their seat belt on, but I do mind the constant nagging if I don’t buckle in my groceries. It makes for an annoying drive home. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/29 "2014-12-06T16:35:49Z")
A dummy buckle would be easy, but then you’d have to take it out to actually use the belt. There has to be a sensor in the buckle to provide the input, unplug the wires going up to the buckle and that will solve it if the switch is normally closed, and opens when you install the buckle. If unplugging it doesn’t shut it up, it’s the opposite, and you will have to jumper (short) the sensor wires. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/30 "2014-12-06T16:46:13Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > I’d like to throw in another stupid aspect seat belt nags have: obnoxiously low weight requirements. I buy a gallon of milk and place in on the front seat. The sensors pick this up and start bitching at my liquid passenger to put its seat belt on. A gallon of milk weighs about eight pounds. The only humans who weigh eight pounds are newborn babies; if I have one of those in the front seat, I’m engaging in child endangerment. We live in a very weird world when the great political compromise of the day is the Drunken, Darwinian Nanny State. the reason that is is because it looks at the same sensor used by the Restraints Control Module (RCM) to determine when to disable the front passenger airbag. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/31 "2014-12-06T19:11:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It should be noted that some models merely ding a couple of times and then settle for a dashboard warning light… This is one reason why I buy Nissans. > [@jtgain](#): > > Another thing pops into my mind. Every time I start the car, the display has a disclaimer that I should never do anything on this screen while operating the car, and I must touch “AGREE” every goddamn time. Did you test drive before buying??? I would have told the Salesman “I’m surprised you can actually get people to buy this thing, or do you?” ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/32 "2014-12-06T22:54:57Z")
Obligatory [Kentucky Fried Movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7u17Tmz5To) scene. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/33 "2014-12-07T00:59:07Z")
On my Ford F150, all you have to do is press down and release on the seat belt button and it shuts up. Heck, if you press down and release before the dinging starts, it won’t go off at all. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/34 "2014-12-07T01:04:44Z")
I don’t think that is an adequate answer. Becoming an F150 driver involves a lobotomy doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Bow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jim\_Bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Bow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/35 "2014-12-07T01:12:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I would like to permanently disable my car’s “anti-slip” mechanism that works by cutting off engine power to the rear wheels when it detects any sliding (you have to remember to turn the damn thing off each time you start the car in winter). I can handle driving on slippery roads and know what to do if a skid starts. I don’t like being left unable to maneuver through the tiniest bit of snow or ice because the wheels aren’t turning. Isn’t the purpose of the “anti-slip” (as you call it) to keep the car under control through the tiniest bit of snow or ice? If one of your wheels isn’t turning, it’s not the “anti-slip” it’s a stuck brake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/36 "2014-12-07T01:37:38Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I don’t think that is an adequate answer. Becoming an F150 driver involves a lobotomy doesn’t it? It’s a possible solution to the OP’s problem that takes all of two seconds to do. Also, not sure why you would respond in such a dickish manner, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![regginbrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@regginbrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regginbrow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/37 "2014-12-07T19:45:27Z")
If anyone still cares, I believe the reason for the seat belt alarm is to reduce insurance payments. The annoying sound -\> people are more likely to wear their seat belt -\> less likely to get seriously injured in an accident -\> cost per accident of that make/model goes down -\> lower insurance premiums for that make/model. So, these alarms are theoretically saving you on your monthly insurance payment, even if you personally never wear your seat belt. I’m not sure how well this works in practice, but I would be very surprised if these alarms didn’t increase seat belt usage at a significant rate. IANA P/C actuary, so this is merely an informed guess, but I am fairly sure it is true. This would also imply that the existence of these alarms is actually due to market forces, and not any ‘nanny-state’ involvement, as speculated above. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/38 "2014-12-07T20:50:46Z")
> [@regginbrow](#): > > If anyone still cares, I believe the reason for the seat belt alarm is to reduce insurance payments. The annoying sound -\> people are more likely to wear their seat belt -\> less likely to get seriously injured in an accident -\> cost per accident of that make/model goes down -\> lower insurance premiums for that make/model. > > So, these alarms are theoretically saving you on your monthly insurance payment, even if you personally never wear your seat belt. I’m not sure how well this works in practice, but I would be very surprised if these alarms didn’t increase seat belt usage at a significant rate. > > IANA P/C actuary, so this is merely an informed guess, but I am fairly sure it is true. This would also imply that the existence of these alarms is actually due to market forces, and not any ‘nanny-state’ involvement, as speculated above. Like **jz78817** said, they’re required by federal law these days, so all newer cars have them. The requirement for a seat belt light/chime that actually detects whether the belt is buckled or not (as opposed to the ones that just come on when the car is started) is a relatively recent development, but I’d be amazed if they had enough of a measurable effect for the insurance companies to really care. Usually the only time you’d see them in the US before the requirement was with imports that had them to comply with a requirement in another country. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/39 "2014-12-07T21:05:38Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Like **jz78817** said, they’re required by federal law these days, so all newer cars have them. The requirement for a seat belt light/chime that actually detects whether the belt is buckled or not (as opposed to the ones that just come on when the car is started) is a relatively recent development, but I’d be amazed if they had enough of a measurable effect for the insurance companies to really care. Usually the only time you’d see them in the US before the requirement was with imports that had them to comply with a requirement in another country. So federal law requires them. Is there a federal law that prohibits disabling them? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450/40 "2014-12-07T21:23:37Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So federal law requires them. Is there a federal law that prohibits disabling them? on your own vehicle? I doubt it. If you were, say, a shop which was disabling them for customers you might be in for some unwanted attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-the-annoying-seat-belt-noise-makers-in-modern-cars/706450.md?page=3)