The Car, the Ding and the Dog

My car had been acting strangely so on a day when I needed to run some errands and go to a doctor's appointment, my Mom allowed me to borrow her car. She came to my place, picked me up and then drove to her place where she got out and I hopped over to the driver seat. I had Tippy with me, and once I changed over to the driver's seat, Tippy bounded from the back seat into the passenger's seat which was empty after I switched seats.

I got buckled in and made all the usual adjustments that need to be made when getting into a car that was driven by someone else before me. I then took off driving down the street. When I got to the stop sign at the end of the street, I stopped and immediately the car began going "Ding Ding Ding" after about three or four dings it got quiet again and no matter what I looked at I couldn't see any reason for the dinging, but just to be safe, I went around and checked to be sure all the doors were shut tight then got back in buckled my seat belt and began driving once more. I turn the corner and continue heading home. I get to the next stop sign once again I hear "DING DING DING". I'm looking befuddled at the dashboard trying to spot an idiot light that might somehow tell me what is going on. I don't see anything that looks recognizable to me. The dinging stops and I'm like ok what is going on inside the car when this happens so I start not only paying attention to my driving, but also trying to be aware of what is happening inside the car.

Once again I head down the road this time I get to an intersection with a yield sign, so I slow down and let the drivers who have the right of way go and yep ... you guessed it I hear "DING DING DING" once again three or four dings and all is quiet. I still don't have a clue what is causing it but right now I need to focus on traffic and be ready to take my turn at going through the intersection.

I drive maybe a mile and as I'm approaching the next intersection I prepare to make a right turn. Everything is going good until I slow down to make the turn and again I hear "DING DING DING." By this time I've started talking to the car demanding that it reveal to me the reason for the intermittent dinging. My Dog of course is trying to figure out if I'm talking to her or not and I decide I'm grateful for air conditioning because there are people walking on the side of the road who probably would have heard me had the windows been down. As before, the car only went ding three or four times and I'm still clueless.

Drive a little further and I approach a traffic light I'm hoping it turns green by the time I get there but no such luck .... It's still red. I begin slowing down, the car goes "DING DING DING", I'm talking to the car once again, then it dawns on me. As I'm slowing down for the traffic light in the midst of the dinging and talking, I realize that Tippy change from laying down to sitting up when I slowed down. Could this have something to do with the dinging?

Thinking I have a theory I drive to the next intersection where I the light is red ... I hit a lot of red lights when I drive for some reason, but once again I notice in the midst of the dinging and such that Tippy is changing positions she had laid down after I started moving again at the last light and now that I was slowing down again, the dinging started at the same time Tippy is sitting up. I also got a glimpse of a little tiny light on the dashboard the looked like it might be a picture of a seat belt. I figured it out.

Mind you I have never driven this car before, and my car is an older car with very little computer technology in it ... I suddenly remembered that my Mom had said something at one point after she bought the car that it had sensors that told her if an occupied seat had their belt buckled or not. I concluded that Tippy weighing about 50 pounds didn't weigh enough for the sensor to detect her at all times, but when I was slowing down for a light or stop sign, she would shift her weight bracing herself so she was pushing against the seat to keep from rolling onto the floor. I'm guessing that the kinetic energy magnified her braced weight triggering the seat belt alarm. So the car thought there was a person that needed buckled in when in reality it was my dog in the seat.

Once I got home, I called my Mom to tell her about the dinging and asked her if she thought that might be it. She confirmed that it could be possible, though she also laughed as I'm telling her about how I was talking to her car and Tippy looked at me like she couldn't figure out if I was talking to her or not. So, When I left my place to go to my doctor's appointment, I not only buckled myself in, but I also pulled the passenger seat belt across the seat and buckled it the theory being that if the car was telling me someone wasn't buckled in because of the weight of my dog, this would solve the problem.

I was very relieved when I got to the end of my driveway and came to a stop without any dinging and when I got to the end of my street with still no dinging I concluded that buckling the invisible passenger in while my dog sat in the seat solved the problem. So, if you're in a car that dings when you stop, consider checking to see what is on the seats and whether it might be causing the car to think someone needs buckled in .... Otherwise you're apt to be having a very one-sided conversation with the car while risking your own sanity.