Interesting article on "deadly" keyless ignition

I personally can't see how the minimal run time of a Prius (when left on and not driving) is enough to build up CO that can kill. I am shooting from the hip but, I'd be willing to bet that a Prius left on in the garage overnight (or even for days) would not produce enough CO to kill someone in their bedroom. I can't see this happening in any way, shape or form. Those of you that think it could, please give me a plausible scenario in which this could happen.

Additionally, aren't CO sensors mandatory in houses now? This reeks of frivolous.

 

Were the "false" alarms with the tailpipe at the back of the garage or pointing out the door?

 

Most keys have RFID chips in them just like the "smart" feyfob that Toyota uses.
The principle difference is that you can tie-wrap an extra key to an exterior location on the hull of the vehicle so that it's not a lawn ornament if your purse gets stolen or you lose the other key.

Of course the other difference is that if you don't have a crooked, money grubbing organization representing your OEM, then getting a replacement key with an immobilizer chip is as easy as buying the key for $3 on Ebay, mating the key to your vehicle by pressing two buttons, and then paying $1 to get it cut for the door lock.
My last truck key replacement literally cost $9.....
.....for 2 keys.

I've often said that I would pay to have a dumb key for my Prius.
Just being able to leave it running and locked (like...when using it as an UPS or camping...or at a remote R/T) would make that option worth while!!

 

The 2004-2009 Prius solved this issue. The fob had to be put into the key slot if the owner wanted. I thought that was an excellent idea as it provided me a safety interlock that 30+ years of previous car driving had programmed my brain. In the 2010 Prius, I have stepped out of the car more than once with it running. This "feature" was not wanted.

 

Pointing into the garage.

 

I expect that if the sensor was at the back of the garage and the tailpipe at the front the sensor would not go off unless the car ran with the door closed which is what I would want.

I'll have to put a sensor there and see what happens.

 

It's easy to see where the solution to this is going. The same camera that detects if you are a distracted driver will also know that you are not in the car. The seat occupancy detectors are going away. Cameras are really really cheap.

 

It happened to my wife. She works for a bunch of very demanding Doctors, so her mind was elsewhere one fine summer's day. She left the Prius in the parking lot running all day long.

I get a call from her saying that I was the greatest husband ever (?). Ok, I said, what did I do? You got the car nice and cool for me. I said, What? I didn't do that. So, I said you are lucky somebody didn't steal your Prius.

Her HyCam doesn't have the key slot. You can't lock your keys in your car but she can't lock her purse in the car either. If I am with her, I carry the fob.

No, they should not outlaw keyless ignition. They should outlaw stupid people. The day will come when you will have to take a test to buy a new car. You don't pass the test, you can't buy the car. That would eliminate some of the crazy crap we see in the media everyday.

I want to say more but I will stop for now. JTM


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I went to lunch, came back and got out to talk with someone getting out from the car next to mine and went into work talking, came out 4 hours later to find my car idling. Not a Prius, in fact not even a keyless. Ranks right up there with the time I sat down at a customer meeting and a car behind me sounded its emergency alarm. Looked out after a while and it was mine. Found out I had butt dialed it off the key fob.

Can happen, it is the drivers fault as were both of those incidents.

 

Yes, and because they cannot make an automobile 100% safe, they are responsible for any lawsuits that may result. It is the cost of doing business.

 

You said what???? What a missed opportunity. The correct answer was "Yes I did hunnie. I thought it would be a nice touch considering what a hot day it was"

Dear me, what a rookie mistake

 

Hindsight is 20-20. I was shocked nobody stole it. She only did it once. Rookie? 36 going on 37 years as a rookie, and I am well cared for. First marriage for us both, and she's a lady.

 

The vehicle needs to be safe with out being dangerous. Some people intentionally do things that the average driver would never do. Keyless entry should not be one of them.

 

All cars equipped with keyless ignition should have kill switch, similar to riding lawn mower but with timers which set to turn off the cars in 5 or 10 or 15 minutes in cases there are no drivers in their seats. There should be by-pass plugs in the engine compartment (maybe) to allow mechanics to keep the engines running while doing services. Drivers are allowed to get off their cars, for example, to pick up their mail or lift their butts off the seats while driving without letting the engines turning off on them.

 

A Master Kill Switch is a grand idea. But I don't know of any manufacturer that has this switch. And, somebody would wire around it.

 

The start/stop dash button is basically a kill switch.
Simply move this to a seat pressure switch and put some logic in there.
Require a certain amount of weight, don't turn off while driving, etc.
When the person gets out, or X minutes after they get out, the car turns off.

I'd be surprised if no manufacturers other that Tesla do this. I am not aware of any off hand though.

 

They can use the same seat sensors as they have now for the passenger airbags' seat sensors and all related wiring should be connected to the cars' computers. No one can defeat it, just like back-up beeping thing.

 

There is a lot of ad-hoc engineering taking place without some critical thinking. These master switches and interlocks would quickly be used as convenience controls instead of safety things. Most people would just start getting out of their cars without turning them off since the "interlock" will do the trick. I've notice this with auto-headlights, the Prius Auto-park shift, etc.

So what happens instead of making all cars safer, they may make for more "exotic" disasters. Imagine the first case of someone getting out of their car in a garage and the auto-off safety interlock does not work because the car's previous owner re-wired it or someone put a bag of groceries in the seat and forget to take it out. A battle to overcome every possible human bonehead will never be won.

 

This isn't "ad-hoc" engineering. I do agree that should be avoided.
A bag of groceries in the seat won't trigger the switch. That is pretty easily accomplished.
How often has a "start-stop" dashboard button stopped working? I'm sure it happens, but it is probably an extremely low frequently. Much lower than a more complicated physical key ignition switch.

No, nothing will ever be 100% fool-proof.
But if you can make it more convenient and safer at the same time, why not?

 

I can remember the 1974 model year when all cars were required to have a starter-seat belt interlock.
This meant that the drivers seat belt had to be clipped or in place before the starter would engage.

My Dasher/Passat worked great until five years of ownership. One morning it simply wouldn't start. Between my Dad and myself, we got it to start. We figure that the neutral safety switch had died. Checked it, it was good.

Long story made short, we determined the the starter interlock control assembly had died. Only two wires going into a box just slightly larger than a relay. We put a large bare wire around the two prong post, essentially defeating the interlock.

I drove the car another five years with no other problems.


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