'Very Smart People'; but a Keyless Car's Downside Killed Them

[MULTIZ321]

'Very Smart People'; but a Keyless Car's
Downside Killed Them.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/business/keyless-carbon-monoxide.html.


Richard

 

[taterhed]

My condolences to the family. RIP. A tragedy. having said that....

Turn off the key to shut off the car.
Push the button to shut off the car.
Put the car in Park before walking away from the car or use the parking brake.

I'm ok with an 'auto shutoff' feature for a vehicle left running (idle) for extended periods of time. Most cars have it in some form. OR an extended horn alert.

But why are electronics responsible for deaths....but keys aren't? This isn't the first time someone tragically died when a car was left running intentionally or unintentionally.
A guy died in a Corvette because he couldn't open the door. Automatic door openers?

At some point, people need to take responsibility for the consequences of operating potentially lethal machines that they are not familiar with.
And yes, my car will start-up when the door is opened and the car is 'ON' (hybrid) and honk if you leave it running and walk away (that does the trick).
It's a good feature and should be incorporated.

But, half of the car electronics shut-down when you're moving to keep you from doing anything 'unsafe.' Passenger or no.
Too much big brother IMO.

 

[elaine]

I am paranoid about remembering to put my keyless car in park after I heard that someone died from a rolling car in a grocery store parking lot. I try to always use parking brake as a habit just in case. I keyed cars, you can't remove the key unless it's in park. When I first got my car, I forgot to turn it off when I went into the 7-11.

 

[taterhed]

I see your point.

But, if you leave the key in the car......well, then you can do the same thing.

We clip the keyless to belt (loop) or purse or briefcase. Has the same nice effect....most cars won't operate without the remote key near the car (for long) and some will shutoff (bmw and ???) if you open door with car in gear and motor running. Many honk when you walk away.

It's all about new habit patterns.
I still drive a stick (manual) car as well. You have a completely different set of problems.
People made all these complaints previously about 'automatic transmissions' when they were introduced, and then about 'manual transmissions' when they forgot to set the parking brake.

Adding additional layers of government regulation and fool-proofing are really not the answer IMHO.

Boeing is learning the lesson of 'too much fool-proofing' right now...methinks.

Of course, we garage our cars and just leave the keys in the ignition....so I have a different habit pattern I suppose.

 

[bogey21]

I find newer cars to be better but more complicated. I own a 2011 Mazda. I would probably buy a newer one but I hate the new "entertainment" consoles. My 2011 has buttons on its radio. Without looking, by touch I can change stations, switch from AM to FM to Sirius and even change bands. I'm realtively old, 84½, and feel like having to change stations and manage all the gizmos on and around the steering wheel would make me an accident waiting to happen...

George

 

[RX8]

If my Ford is running, and I get out and close the door with the key fob in my pocket, it will loudly honk the horn 2X to alert me.

I wonder if the Toyota does the same but this couple left the key fob in the vehicle.

 

[SmithOp]

Apologies for the poor taste but apparently it takes more than a rocket scientist to operate keyless cars... I can’t imagine not noticing the car is still running in the garage.

George, god love ya, you are an old fogey, reminds me of my dad, he still hung on to his AM push button radio in the Crown Victoria.

When I get in our car it starts playing my music from my phone, I can take and make calls, it speaks texts to me and I can select quick replies like “answer later, im driving”.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Patri]

Apologies for the poor taste but apparently it takes more than a rocket scientist to operate keyless cars... I can’t imagine not noticing the car is still running in the garage.

Can't imagine it or not, it happened. I could see that the passenger might not notice if getting out first. If the car runs very quietly maybe the driver didn't realize it either. Just thought stopped meant off.

 

[WVBaker]

Apologies for the poor taste but apparently it takes more than a rocket scientist to operate keyless cars... I can’t imagine not noticing the car is still running in the garage.

George, god love ya, you are an old fogey, reminds me of my dad, he still hung on to his AM push button radio in the Crown Victoria.

When I get in our car it starts playing my music from my phone, I can take and make calls, it speaks texts to me and I can select quick replies like “answer later, im driving”.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

The adage we live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology, is so true.

By the way, I liked my Crown Vic.

 

[klpca]

Such a terrible tragedy. I hope that by telling the story it will help someone else. Maybe it's time for carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in the garage.

We had a rental car for a few months while we were waiting for our non exploding airbags to arrive, and the dealer loaned us a Toyota Camry Hybrid. We went over to a friends house for NYE - movie and dinner - and left the Camry on the street and drove with our friends to the theater. When we got back to the house to drive home we discovered that we had left the car running the whole time. It was a combination of the fob/push button and the quiet engine, but it was a big surprise to get in the car and discover that it had never been turned off. I felt stupid but about 6 months later a friend confessed that they left their Tesla running at a parking garage at the mall for a few hours. It's a thing.

 

[x3 skier]

Something that automatically turns off a car is a bigger problem to me. I can see me driving down the expressway at 70 MPH when some software or hardware glitch decides it’s time to shut down the engine.

Cheers

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

….

Adding additional layers of government regulation and fool-proofing are really not the answer IMHO…

You can try to make something idiot-proof, and if you succeed Nature will respond by evolving a more advanced idiot.

 

[Passepartout]

t was a combination of the fob/push button and the quiet engine, but it was a big surprise to get in the car and discover that it had never been turned off. I felt stupid but about 6 months later a friend confessed that they left their Tesla running at a parking garage at the mall for a few hours. It's a thing.

Ummm- So what is a Tesla doing when it's running? About all that's left is the radio and climate control.

 

[chellej]

I have a hybrid with the keyless technology and it is so quiet you cannot tell it is running.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I can see how it would happen. The car my stepdad bought is not a fancy car, it's a Hyundai Elantra with that feature. He left it running when we went in to dinner and came out to the car still going. He is 85, but he was a retired engineer, so not a dolt. I didn't notice that the car was running. It is extremely quiet at idle.

 

[Sandy VDH]

My car, if you try to walk away from the car it will beep and the car will not lock with the fob, or the door lock (dimple). You can log it with the manual key lock only.

Why couldn't they just implement some warning if the key and the car separate.

 

[klpca]

Ummm- So what is a Tesla doing when it's running? About all that's left is the radio and climate control.

No idea - but he was pretty embarrassed and told me not to tell his wife I'm not a tesla girl so it's a mystery to me - I'm still toodling around in my Mini Cooper.

 

[Passepartout]

Our Honda Clarity plug-in is simply not running when it's stopped in EV mode- which is 95% of the time. You can't lock it with the fob inside, and it beeps if you walk away with the fob and without turning the car off. You CAN walk away and lock it with the climate control on, (for instance if a child or pet is in the car) but it's gonna beep.

Contrary, however, in the context of the OP linked article, with no running engine, there's no carbon monoxide. Toyota hybrids use the IC engine for climate control. EVs don't.

Jim

 

[controller1]

Such a terrible tragedy. I hope that by telling the story it will help someone else. Maybe it's time for carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in the garage.

We had a rental car for a few months while we were waiting for our non exploding airbags to arrive, and the dealer loaned us a Toyota Camry Hybrid. We went over to a friends house for NYE - movie and dinner - and left the Camry on the street and drove with our friends to the theater. When we got back to the house to drive home we discovered that we had left the car running the whole time. It was a combination of the fob/push button and the quiet engine, but it was a big surprise to get in the car and discover that it had never been turned off. I felt stupid but about 6 months later a friend confessed that they left their Tesla running at a parking garage at the mall for a few hours. It's a thing.

Perhaps if the people in the original post had working carbon monoxide detectors in their house (not necessarily garage) they would still be alive today. Did they live in an all-electric house? Many people with all-electric houses elect to not install a CO detector because they believe they are not at risk.

 

[DrQ]

I did this once when I first had my new car with push button start, BUT it screamed at me and would not allow me to lock the door.

It is a sad story.

 

[OldGuy]

Keyless remote carbon dioxide deaths was a story on the NBC Nightly News just now.

At least 38 deaths so far.

 

[taterhed]

Really, 38? Wow. It's more of a problem then I thought.

How do you leave your car running in the garage? Hybrid, I understand. Normal car?

Maybe I underestimated this. Wow.

 

[Snazzylass]

I love, love my Nissan Altima '14. Love the engineering on the seats, mpg. It's a great car! But, yes, one day at work I left the car running ALL day! What a dope! No big deal. I wasted gas. My manager was a former Nissan Dealer and didn't notice my car running when he left for lunch. oh well!

Another co-worker at my current job did the same thing - twice. In her case, she did have a key, but must have left it in the ignition running. Well, better than leaving the baby in the car, right?

On the other hand, it will not let me leave the car without putting it in Park. Yup! It's keyless - super handy! I missed that feature when I rented a car recently.

 

[PigsDad]

How do you leave your car running in the garage?

I have no idea. Our will chime/beep loudly if you open the driver's door while the engine is running. I thought most/all vehicles did that -- am I wrong?

Kurt

 

[davidvel]

Keyless remote carbon dioxide deaths was a story on the NBC Nightly News just now.

At least 38 deaths so far.

How many with keys?