Like most (all?) vehicles sold in America today, the Ford F-150 pickup truck has a seatbelt reminder system that illuminates an idiot light on the dash and sounds a chime if you forget to buckle your seat belt. However, there is a way to defeat this feature, at least on the previous generation of F-150s (the ones with the rounded body styling - not sure if this aplies to the new ones with the angular, boxy styling). The owner's manual clearly documents a Rube Goldbergesque procedure for turning off the warning chime.
Frankly, I'm shocked. Ford vehicles are LOADED with Cover-Your-butt features, like requiring you to depress the clutch before the starter will engage, or requiring you to have your foot on the brake pedal before you can shift out of the "Park" position. None of these "Keep Ford From Being Sued" features can be disabled (or, at least, none of the disable procedures are documented). Traction control can be disabled, but only temporarily; always defaults to "on" whenever you start the car, so you have to keep disabling it every time you get behind the wheel.
So how the heck did the procedure for disabling the seat belt reminder manage to slip past Ford's team of Corporate Lawyers and make it into the owner's manual?!?!?! I bet some heads rolled over in the legal department after that one... ;)
-- Life is short - drive fast!
