Faulty Gas Gauge and Weight in Passenger Seat

I have two questions/issues:

1 - Last Friday I was driving, and headed to get gas. I had less than 1/4 of a tank, but I was not on Empty - in fact, the gas gauge did not pop up, indicating I was very low.

I was coming up a small hill, when suddenly my 2007 FJ died. 4:45pm on a Friday, on a heavily-traveled road. I could not get it to start... I was able to put two gallons of gas in it, and it started right up.

Why did this happen? I know I needed to get gas, but it wasn't *that* low. Any tips for this?


2 - I bought a pumpkin on Saturday, and put it in the front seat. Within a minute or so of driving my FJ started beeping - I could not find the cause. I finally pulled over, adjusted things, and happened to leave the pumpkin on the floorboard. When I started driving again, no beeping.

Apparently the weight caused the passenger seat issue - the seat belt was not buckled.

What can I do to turn this feature off, or adjust it?

Thank you!