The LeRoys wrote:
I was really under the impression that if a child was in the front seat, the air bag needed to be disabled.
You are correct and this is done automatically. If the seat sensor senses something in the passenger seat that weighs less than 75 lbs, if automatically turns off the passenger airbag and lights a warning light on the dash telling you its disabled.
Your problem is that there is no seat sensor for the middle position, and the passenger airbag is designed to protect both the passenger and middle seat occupants. To disable the passenger airbag you would need kids in both passenger and middle seats and let Mama sit in the back.
If Mama sits in the front, the passenger airbag will be on, as it should be.
