I recently recieved a medical waiver from my states seatbelt laws due to a neurological condition that makes seatbelt use painful. The problem is the Fasten Seatbelt light. Is there any legal way this can be shut off, or do I have to simply live with it.
my neighbor fastens the seatbelt across the seat and sits on top of it. Clever and stupid at the same time. You could also go to a junkyard and get the metal part (male) from a similar car to plug into your car’s seatbelt holder (female). That will trick the sensor into thinking you have buckled up.
However, please know that not using your seatbelt greatly increases your chances of death or serious injury. This is a lot more painful for all involved (like your family) than some phantom “neurological condition”.
Yup, I’m aware of that. I’m also aware that if I try to drive whilst in pain, I’d be so distracted that I’d be even more of a threat than if I was DUI and pain free. Also, if you felt a pain like somebody shanking you in the shoulder with a broken bottle every time you buckled up, you’d hardly call it a “phantom” condition. Not trying to be rude, but I had to say it.
Put some duct tape over it 
No, in all seriousness though, if your car has a driver airbag, you should look into disabling that system. One can get seriously injured even killed, by not wearing the seatbelt when the airbag inflates. Don’t try to do it yourself though. That airbag is a lethal weapon. Go to a qualified mechanic for that.
Good luck.
That is an excellent point.
The combination of a shoulder harness and an airbag is great for reducing injuries.
But, when you remove the shoulder harness from the equation, injuries will increase as a result of incorrect positioning of the driver/passenger when the airbag deploys.
The trick will be getting a mechanic to deactive the airbag because it is a violation of federal law to remove or deactivate any mandated safety equipment. This may require another medical waiver in order to have the airbag disconnected.
If your condition is so bad that you consider yourself more of a threat than a DUI, then sell you car and use another means of transportation. It is for your own good and the safety of all other people on the road.
Or at least, don’t fool it into thinking that you are wearing a seat belt. Newer airbag systems detect if you are wearing the seat belt or not. If you are not, then they alter the timing and force of their deployment. You don’t want to screw with that. Either ignore the light, or put some tape over it.
A much better alternate would be to find some way to make the seat belt work without causing you pain. Surely some device could be fashioned that would keep the belt off of your shoulder, yet still offer most of the benefit of having a seat belt.
You have a serious medical condition that needs to be addressed before you operate any motor vehicle. If the MVD in your state knew about you, they would suspend your license. You should do yourself and everyone else on the road a favor, and cease driving until this condition is aliveated medically. You are not handicapped, you are partially disabled, and it is not the same thing. The New Health Insurance Legislation will do you no good of course, but hey whats a Congress for if it cant serve the interests of the Corporations?
Would a four or five way harness like the ones in the below link work?
Or perhaps the sheepskin belt covers?
http://www.jcwhitney.com/car/seats-seat-belts-and-hardware/c3267j5s18.jcwx
I have to respectfully disagree with those who are saying you should get off the road. There are unfortunately many people with very real disabilities that can and do drive much more safely than many without. Many of them even require modifications to the vehicle.
The laws and the system of justice allow drunks to drive for years on end, even after countless violations, and they pose a serious danager to all of us. People who drive with medical conditions such as yours assume added risk only to themselves.
I had another thought on this one. If you put spring cliips on the belts at the retracter spool housings such that they’d be on but not under tension, would this alleviate your pain?
I would like to comment on the idea that people are saying Z69105 is not disabled. A neurological condition that makes seat belt use painful no doubt causes other problems in his/her life.
People tend to minimize other people’s disabilities if they haven’t experienced a problem themselves.
More on point, the airbag issue sounds like it needs to be addressed for the driver’s safety. It seems to me that the seat belt could be rigged to at least work as a lap belt. Why not just fasten the belt and put the shoulder harness behind your back?
I know it can be done because I just tried it in my Tundra.
Just because it is painful for him to wear a seat belt doesn’t say a thing about his driving ability. I was going to leave a nasty reply but your screen name says it all.
This point was addressed earlier, if his seat belt is not buckled his airbag will deploy in a much safer manner for him.
My thoughts are based on making the driver more comfortable while driving and solving the problem of his seat belt light going on. One has to look at the big picture and decide which idea is the safest.
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Is it more safe to drive without a seat belt to prevent a more forceful deployment of an airbag just in case the situation arises?
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Or is it better to have a driver be more comfortable and a lap seat belt on?
I would go with the odds and choose # 2 because the seat belt could help in the much more likely event of having to brake quickly. And if it is true that the airbag might deploy less forcefully without a seat belt fastened, the benefit of it deploying, no matter how forceful, very likely outweighs the alternative of having no airbag at all.