Seatbelt Lights

Hi, I just bought a 99 Solara SLE   Excellent car in my opinion. The one annoying thing (so far) is that the seat belt lights NEVER go off! (unless you are wearing them!). I had a friend burn to death after being trapped in his seat belt and I don't want that to happen to me. The flames were too hot, nobody could get near him till the firefighters started dousing the blaze, sadly this all happened to late.  I was wondering if I could easily remove the bulbs in the dash or is the bulb integrated with a zillion other things and my airbag system won't function wihout the bulbs or worse? I would think if the bulbs were gone, than anything further down the line would presume all was well. Those bulbs are annoying and a hazard!. The passenger side indicator is beside the clock, smack dab in the center of the dash at the very top. Am I thinking too much into this? Can I just remove the bulbs? Does anyone have an exploded view of the dashboard? Either the center stereo area or the instrument panel or both so I can get at them??? Thanks for any help, guidance in this matter    Ron (weekend hang-glider pilot !!!)

Sorry to hear about your friend, however I would go out on a limb and say seatbelts save more lives than not

I agree that seatbelts save way more lives than they take, but when someone you know is killed in about as tragic a way as is possible, it has a more personal feeling for you. Then the state you live in FORCES you to wear seat-belts when they KNOW fully well that many deaths are attributed because of them. I don't know, it just angers me. ESPECIALLY SINCE SCHOOL BUSES HAVE NO RESTRAINT SYSTEMS AT ALL ! Why ? Because a retrofit would COST too much? Costs overide the safety of our children or are they just not that important. Motorcycles don't have them either. You'd look pretty foolish wearing one on a motorcycle anyways. In the 1 small motorcyle accident I was in I was thankful tp be thrown clear of the twisted carnage that followed. I also believe that between front, side, and curtain airbages, I'm pretty well covered.   BUT>  This whole subject is for another place/forum/time. Mine was just a question regarding the removal and possible consequences of removing the annoying flashing lights in the dashboard. Please send no more replies on the worthiness or unworthiness of seatbelts as I don't want to incur the wrath of a moderator. Thanks Ron

You should always wear your seat belt. Now that safety is out of the way all you should have to do is find a two pin plug that goes into the seat belt latch and unplug it then the car will always think that the seat belt is on.Certified Security Specialist

Always check info with a digital multimeter.

I promise to be good.

Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.

Ron, I have LOTS of things to say vis-a-vis seat belts and air bags, but you're right, this isn't really the place to argue it. To your base question, I'm not an expert on Toyotas, but given the complication in electrical systems on cars in that price level and above, I don't think a resistor is going to be a doable project. A '90 Tercel, yes. A '99 Camry Solara, no. What you may be able to do is fool the seat belt latch into thinking it's closed- try jumpering the the wiring to the buckle (harness side). Make sure you check carefully to see if this can be done- you don't want to blow an airbag or a belt tensioner.