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Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

> It's only in the last decade that I've noticed the specific language of "keep your seatbelt fastened even if the light turns off".

It makes you wonder why they ever even turn off the seatbelt light. Just keep it on the whole time, just like the equally anachronistic no-smoking light.

I feel like the light is just there to mollify the older generations who didn't grow up with mandatory seat belts wearing in cars, fought those laws loudly, and are still bitter that the government makes them take a sensible safety precaution. Are there enough of those people still flying that it makes sense to keep that light in use?

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There are times when the pilots are expecting turbulence, when they are notified by ATC or other planes ahead of them. During that time, the light means passengers shouldn't use the lavatories.

> It makes you wonder why they ever even turn off the seatbelt light.

To tell you when it's relatively safe/not so safe to use the bathroom.

The seatbelt light nowadays is mostly a don’t move around sign.

During take-off and landing, it is. At cruise altitude, it really does mean "the pilots are expecting turbulence and suggest you stay seated", at least in my experience.

Of course they don't always get it right both ways: Sometimes reports of turbulence ahead turn out to be false positives, and at other times, strong turbulence can happen without any warning.

I've been on smoothe flights where the sign was kept on practically the whole time. Unfortunately I suspect some pilots forget about it, and I have observed that the public have gotten used to getting up to use the bathroom even when the sign is on (excluding takeoff and landing). I haven't flown enough to notice a pattern with specific routes or airlines.

A "stay in your seat" light would be an improvement.

That's a good point! They even have a design for that on the bathrooms already (and now I wonder if that's always been the case, or if there was a time when people were frantically searching for the seatbelts there when the chime came on :)

>Are there enough of those people still flying that it makes sense to keep that light in use?

There are entire states in the US that take that approach. Live free or die and all that.

So free.

>There are entire states in the US that take that approach.

Which ones? Rust belt? Flyover zone (or some such term)?

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