This is taken directly from the airbag section of NHTSA's Web site: http://www.nhtsa.gov .

"* NHTSA requires that any switch have a telltale (a light warning that the air bag has been turned off) that is visible to anyone sitting in the seat affected by the air bag when the switch has been activated, and visible to the driver regardless of whether the driver-side or passenger-side air bag has been turned off. This measure was adopted so that the driver will always know when an air bag has been temporarily deactivated, and so that a passenger will know if there is a working air bag.

* NHTSA also requires that the air bag readiness indicator (the light which tells the driver that an air bag is not working properly, be separate from the telltale so that there would be no confusion as to whether an air bag is capable of functioning properly, even though it has been temporarily deactivated.

* In order to prevent an inadvertent change in air bag status, NHTSA requires that the switch be operable by a key or key-like object. This requirement was adopted to prevent children from turning the air bag on or off without a responsible adult being aware of it."

I guess I would interpret this to mean that a glovebox (or secret compartment) switch is not legal and that on on/off switch that doesn't operate with some type of key is also not acceptable. I've gotten so many opinions on this whole issue that I may just take the Miata owners approach if I decide to disable the passenger airbag: Remove the airbag and put a resistor in the circuit to fool the computer into thinking the airbag is still installed and operational.

 

Thanks all for the replies. The previous discussion was quite a lively one. I don't know why I didn't find it when I searched before.

I guess I'll have to cross this bridge when I get to it depending on how I feel at the time. At least I'm much better educated on the topic now.