We religiously wear seat belts on the road. BUT, on my 4WD Tacoma, driving around a farm they are not needed. Can you simply unplug the underseat sensor to defeat the annoying chime and yet not disable the airbag system?
Even if it does disable the airbags no big deal. If set belts are not needed why would airbags be?
I agree with PvtPublic. If your not wearing the seatbelt, then you want the airbag disabled. The airbags are more dangerous if your not wearing the seatbelt.
Seat sensors are becoming more sophisticated to prevent easy circumvention. Even my lawn tractor now has a piezoelectric occupancy sensor so you can’t just disconnect and jumper.
The easiest, sure fire way to defeat it is to connect it and just sit on or rest back against the belt. That way, when you want to use the belt the reminder will be capable of working without having to remember to make some connection under the seat, out of plain view.
Did you know that the more modern (last decade?) supplemental restraints are programmed to deploy at various intensity based on circumstances like “is the seat belt in use?” If it isn’t, the system will reduce the air bag deployment speed to protect the occupant. For example, if you’re not wearing the belt, you’ll slide forward on impact and be closer to the bag when it goes off. So the system reduces the force of deployment so the bag doesn’t kill you.
If you defeat the detection mechanism so it thinks you’re wearing the belt, but you’re not, it will deploy the bag full force. You risk the chance of being injured by the bag itself.
It might be even more risky on a farm if you’re using it for plowing or romping around off road. Plowing that lane on the farm, hunched up close to the column so you can see better and Wham! Hit that frozen bank from the last plowing. I’ve caught some nasty stuff plowing at a decent clip where I was astounded the bag didn’t go off in my face.
You can defeat the air bag too to avoid this risk. Usually, pulling the fuse for the bag(s) disables them. But it’s a lot harder to recognize it’s defeated and to restore it every time you decide to drive on the road.
When I take risks like this around my place, I like to have as much information as possible to fully understand the risk. Hopefully I brought to light some factors to consider in making your choice.