I was driving to work today when I hit a small bump – nothing terrible. It is, after all, pothole season here in Connecticut, a state built on an active pothole fault!
Immediately I heard BEEP, BEEP, BEEP and saw the red light between the seats start blinking. The sensor that checks that my convertible top is totally closed had tripped. It’s a false positive – one of hundreds I’ve gotten since I bought the car.
A quick forward push on the blinking switch, the whir of gears and all was well. Except, as I scanned the dash, another light was now on: SRS. It took me a minute or two to figure this out, but it finally came to me. SRS is Supplemental Restraint System, in other words, my air bags.
Later this evening, when I went to pick up dinner, the SRS light went out as always. Too late. This is the kind of thing I need 100% confidence in. So, I’m dropping the car off overnight for a quick once over. If it was just the bump, let them tell me that. If it’s really the air bags, I want them to deploy if they’re ever needed.
All this from a guy who, when he was 19, drove around for months with no brakes other than what he could get by downshifting and the emergency brake. I was dumb then. I’m probably over cautious now.