Weight Requirements for Front Passenger Airbags?

[GolanB]

Yesterday while driving my teen who took the front seat, we noticed that we received a "PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF" notification on the display.

- The seatbelt was engaged.
- Current approximate weight is 95 lbs as measured by Dr's office scale.
- On occasion, the notification would disappear, and come back.

Are there any known or documented weight requirements for the Tesla Model 3 front passenger seat that I should be aware of that we might not be satisfying properly?

 

[GolanB]

So after reviewing the Tesla Manual https://www.tesla.com/content/dam/tesla/Ownership/Own/Model 3 Owners Manual.pdf and speaking with a support representative, we concluded that my teen should not ride in the front passenger seat because they're right on the border of when it gets enabled. I would imagine this may also happen with lower weight adults.

 

[timurx]

20-100 lbs is a big window.
My daughter is 17 and very petite.
85lbs and 5’9” the airbag is on and then off.
Sometimes we can get it to be on all trip, but lately it’s been more off than on.

 

[timurx]

Does this mean that a small adult should ride in the back? When see rides in my wife’s lexis NX300 it’s always on.
She learned to drive and drives the YP, I think the airbags are always on for driver side

 

[tm1v2]

Wow, that requirement to be over 100 lbs for reliable airbag activation seems problematic for petite adults. How does that 20-100 lbs uncertain airbag threshold make any sense for front passenger safety?

I haven't paid any attention to the corner of the screen where that airbag off warning shows, I will start doing so now! I might need to fatten up my wife, for her safety...

 

[ODWms]

Wow. That seems crazy. I’m surprised I haven’t seen anything on this before.

 

[holeydonut]

Bumping this back up again… is there a way to force the passenger air bag to be on? My mother in law is 100 lbs, and the passenger airbag keeps flip flopping between on and off.

I sure as *sugar* am not going to tell her to sit in the back seat since Elon thinks she’s too small to ride shotgun.

But if there’s an accident and the airbag doesn’t deploy for her, my wife is not going to be pleased.

 

[BigNick]

Bumping this back up again… is there a way to force the passenger air bag to be on? My mother in law is 100 lbs, and the passenger airbag keeps flip flopping between on and off.

I sure as *sugar* am not going to tell her to sit in the back seat since Elon thinks she’s too small to ride shotgun.

But if there’s an accident and the airbag doesn’t deploy for her, my wife is not going to be pleased.

Add some weight to the seat before she sits in it. Maybe fold up a weighted blanket and have her sit on top of that?
Or have her keep her purse in her lap?

 

[KenC]

The question is, is it safer to sit front or back, with only your seatbelt? Do the rear seats use belt tensioners like the front?