Interesting article on "deadly" keyless ignition

Unfortunately, tragedies have happened.

Keyless ignition or otherwise why would you think a vehicle left running couldn't lead to carbon monoxide poisoning? .

 

I'm amazed that this hasn't happened with the G3.
I've seen numerous posts where people have left their car in ready mode after leaving the car.

 

My Prius barks at me when I open the door before shutting the engine off. This should be on all cars with keyless ignition

 

Maybe some sorta interlock would help, say if you open the driver's door, it goes into Park and shuts down?

 

So people don't notice the dash all lit up or hear the alarms? Always someone else to blame. I guess they would complain if they burnt their house down because they forgot they left the gas hob on their stove. Maybe that should beep and alarm or automatically turn off after 2 hours?

Nah, this is just a problem that some class action lawyers have decided is something it isn't so they can make some $$$$s.

 

I want to agree with you, and on a lot of levels I think there is truth to this.

But I don't think it always is as simple as just "Class Action Lawyers" out to make a buck.
As the OP admitted...it never occurred to him that someone might leave their car running in their garage. He didn't connect the dots.
And unfortunately, tragedies HAVE occured, which means for whatever reason, it has happened and people do fail to notice their vehicle is on, and have left them on in enclosed areas.

Plus the auto industry HAS reacted. They are making more forceful alarms and including auto-shut off features.
And since it can save lives? I can't be against it.

I'm all for personal responsibility in the operation of the machines we own. Whether that be a Prius or a propane space heater.
But if lawsuits in the wake of deaths, DO lead to improvements in software and safety systems? I'm fine with it.

And I would say this, The Prius is a little more dangerous in this regard. It's NOT just a push button Start/Stop, it's also Hybrid Synergy Drive, which can leave The Prius "ON" but entirely quiet, with no engine immediately running.

I know The Prius does have warnings. But if they improve them? I'm fine with it. Because while I may think I'd never make that mistake or nobody should make that mistake, I can't gauge the momentary frailty of any one persons human condition at any given moment and unfortunately most often with Carbon Monoxide poisoning there is no second chance.

I think the technology exists to make existing systems safer. And it's already being applied in newer vehicles. If this was spurred in some part by lawsuits in the wake of tragedies? I'm OK with it.

 

This is a tough one. How much of an obligation does the auto industry have to protect people who are aging up and may not be as attentive to visual and audio alarms when exiting a vehicle? My wife is deaf and she would not be able to hear an audio alarm anyway. I had not thought about these issues before this thread. Hopefully, Toyota will issue a recall to install an autolock that will shut the systems down when the SKS is beyond transmission range.

 

If you stop the car, then open and close the door, and 5 or 10 minutes go by, it would make sense for the car to automatically shut off.
In the PIP if you turn go to ACC on it automatically shuts off after (maybe) 10 minutes even if you are just waiting for someone, in the seat, and listening to the radio.

There is a passenger seat pressure switch to detect when the air bag should be enabled. I'm guessing that there isn't one for the driver. But you could even add this. No one in the driver's seat then the car will shut down after x minutes.
Even better, the car won't start to move unless you are in the seat. I once chased down a car that someone had fallen out of in a parking lot.

Mike

 

My Prius runs so rarely in P at idle, I would be surprised if the CO than was emitted could build up to a deadly level. (it appears that in "science fair" testing it is only half as much as a normal car. If your garage is air tight, it will still build up)

Now in a normal car tuned badly, CO can really build up at idle.

 

So their contention is it is -impossible- to leave the keys in the ignition and on? Sorry, there are too many morons for that -NOT- to happen!
The Prius beeps at you three times if you close any door of the car with the car on (ready). It gets REALLY upset if it is in any gear but "P".

Maybe they want a nerf bat to deploy and boff some sense into the driver/operator.

 

Maybe catalytic converter ??? That supposed to "convert" it to less deadly carbon dioxide??? One of their main function is this

CO + O = CO2 .....

 

Not sure about this I often leave car on use the mechanical key to lock the door (you can not lock it with the remote in Ready) when I have a short chore (which could be longer than 10 min) ... in cold weather that is significant saving even warmer days car will go a short warmup cycle...

 

I see "deadly keyless ignition" all the time from morons who park their cars in dry grass.(**)

Perhaps we should outlaw grass? Or Cars?


(**) No...not that kinda grass. The vegetation consisting of typically short plants with long narrow leaves, growing wild or cultivated on lawns and pasture, and as a fodder crop. If you live in California?
Consult somebody over thirty or Google the word "lawn."

 

The cat. does help, but in a closed garage what happens is CO2 builds up, and the garage eventually is depleted of O2. Under this case the cat. can't help as there isn't enough O2 to "burn" the CO. The car doesn't actually produce much CO except in this depleted O2 condition. Then it does and can't convert it to CO2.

Maybe the safety thing to do is add a CO detector and to emit a warning, which, if not acknowledged, will then shut down the car. Or maybe that is too complex for -some people-.

 

Alarms and warnings are the last resort of the lazy engineer. It's like when you've got a pipe or beam crossing a passageway, low enough that you could bump your head: painting it safety yellow is the cheap and easy way out, and not that effective: people are still gonna brain themselves. Raising the obstruction is always preferable.

Another example is the reverse beep, it's a stop gap fix for a shifter that leaves you guessing as to what gear you're in.

Again, just make it so opening the driver's door shuts the car down.

 

That sounds insane to me .... even for a prius !! Where you do not have a big hit on 12V battery or anything else to re-start the engine...

I think there are way to many legit instances when you get out of the car and leave it in Ready mode or just on for a regular car ... there is no way to engineer out the human (for now)

And what about remote starter ??? Car started warming up .. open the door car shuts down ... not so clever I think.

 

The Prius does not use the 12 volt for starting.

It already has a similar behaviour: shut a regular car down and you're still in accessory mode, able to listen to the radio, for example. Not so with the Prius.

 

Well it does not turn a starter motor with the 12 volt battery, but it sure uses it to power ECU's, the High Voltage relay that puts the car in Ready, etc.