If you’ve ever gotten in a vehicle and failed to fasten your seatbelt right away, you’ve probably heard the annoying seat belt reminder warning ding going off. If the high-pitched note is a bit irritating, that’s by design – it’s supposed to persistently remind passengers to buckle up while driving. After several models in the Ford portfolio flunked out of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) seat belt warning test, The Blue Oval set to work and has now issued improvements to the system in three of its nameplates with hopes of making it more effective.
According to a report from the IIHS, those three models are the Ford Maverick, the Ford Expedition, and the Ford Escape. The trio previously fell short of the NTHSA guidelines for seatbelt warning indicators. Specifically, the 2022 model year Maverick failed the test, as did the 2022 Escape.
Both of these vehicles were chided for receiving “poor” ratings, which indicated that they did not generate a sufficiently audible signal and visual alert when the vehicle is moving at speeds of at least six miles per hour and the system detects an unbelted occupant. Said alert must be loud enough to be heard over the background noise and must last at least 90 seconds, or 30 seconds if a previously fastened second-row belt is unbuckled.
The Escape was given a poor rating because its warning lasted less than eight seconds and did not activate quickly enough; the Maverick, meanwhile, flunked out for the same reasons, plus it just wasn’t loud enough. Similar failures industrywide prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) to propose an expansion for the seat belt warning system.
Ford took that feedback to heart and issued improvements to its warnings, and now, the 2023-2024 Ford Escape, Ford Expedition, and Ford Maverick are all in the green when it comes to the seat belt warning systems.
“Automakers can boost a vehicle’s performance in this test with just some small software changes,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “These easy tweaks can have a big impact on safety.”
He added, “This rapid progress represents a big win. Making sure everybody uses their seat belt on every trip is a simple way to save lives.”
A little good news in a rather expensive world.
Active users of the app have grown by a staggering amount.
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It's apparently something that a lot of folks want.
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In total, 201 owners showed up for the gathering.
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Confirmed, I currently have a 2024 Escape as a loaner car, and the seat belt reminder is the most obnoxious thing I've ever heard. I mean I wear my seat belt, but on a ride around my property it's unbearable.
No, they added a STUPID seatbelt screen that does not clear itself for at least 1 minutes, even when all of the seatbelts are buckled. This is the STUPIDEST design decision and this needs to be fixed.
No, they added an ANNOYING seatbelt screen that does not clear itself for at least 1 minutes, even when all of the seatbelts are buckled. This is the DUMBEST design decision and this needs to be fixed.
The term is called “alarm fatigue “. I’m glad the insurance people are happy but I will pay hundreds of dollars to get that noise gone. They have zero respect for people with sensory issues.