While disabling the passenger airbag is legal in Japan, it does not meet New Zealand requirements. NZTA said it is currently "working through implications" for the Warrant of Fitness (WoF) system. WoF inspectors have a list of the cars they believe could be affected and will be checking those. However, they are not required to perform a specific visual check for disabled airbags at present. The modifications carried out on vehicles in Japan involved disconnecting the airbag and placing an extra component into the vehicle's electronics, resulting in the car's self-diagnostic systems registering the disabled airbag as functional.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 10, 2016 19:07 UTC