Keyless Ignition

[samhexum]

Carbon monoxide from keyless cars has killed more than two dozen people since 2006, as drivers unwittingly leave their vehicles running inside garages, a new report has found.

 

Toyota models, including Lexus, were behind almost half of the 28 deaths and 45 injuries that were identified Sunday by the New York Times.

 

In all cases, drivers unintentionally filled their homes with toxic fumes by leaving their cars on inside attached garages.

 

Keyless ignitions use radio signals transmitted through a fob the owner carries to start the engine. But drivers run the dangerous risk of forgetting to turn off their cars before going inside.

 

Fred Schaub was found dead last year in bed after parking his Toyota RAV4 in the garage and going inside with the fob in his pocket.

 

The level of carbon monoxide in his home was at least 30 times higher than what humans can tolerate.

 

“After 75 years of driving, my father thought that when he took the key with him when he left the car, the car would be off,” his son Doug Schaub told the Times. “The plants inside the house lost their leaves.”

 

The keyless technology comes standard in over half of the 17 million new cars sold each year in the United States – yet there are no federal regulations on automatic engine shutoffs or beeping sounds to warn drivers the car is still running.

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed three times to adopt regulations that would require car manufacturers to install external and internal warning beeps.

 

Some brands – like Ford – have voluntarily implemented features where the engine cuts off after 30 minutes of idling if the fob isn’t inside the vehicle.

 

There is no federal agency that keeps comprehensive records on carbon monoxide deaths related to keyless-ignition vehicles – so the exact number isn’t known and could be much higher than the 28 identified by the Times.

 

Others have been left with severe injuries as a result of carbon monoxide from keyless cars.

 

Timothy Maddock now lives with a brain injury after deadly fumes from his girlfriend Chasity Glisson’s Lexus flooded their Florida home in 2010.

 

Glisson died.

 

“It’s just been so hard,” said Glisson’s mother, Kimberlin Nickles. “All I’ve ever wanted is something to be done for the cars to be safer.”

 

Fire officials in Palm Beach County, Florida — a haven for the older generations — have seen a spike in incidents involving keyless ignitions, so they started handing out carbon monoxide detectors and signs with the warning, “Carbon Monoxide Kills. Is Your Car Off?”

 

“They were literally driving their own vehicles into the garage and closing the door,” said District Chief Doug McGlynn.

[geoffk]

why is shutting off the car so difficult to remember? you have to put your foot on the brake and press the start button to go and you need to push the button to stop. I have never left my car running.

[+ azdr0710]

do these people not hear the car running when they get out of it in the garage??.....

[+ Tarte Gogo]

do these people not hear the car running when they get out of it in the garage??.....

At least they can get a Darwin Award.

[nynakedtop]

i have made this mistake several times.... the cars i have used that are "keyless" are generally hybrids, so they run almost silently at times. there is very little to alert the low functioning clueless dizzies (a position for which i am the #1 representative) that there is a car still running.

 

guilty as charged.

[leeper]

I read the article about the keyless ignition issue earlier today in the print edition of the New York Times. While the deaths and harm caused by the carbon monoxide poisoning is indeed tragic, I took exception with the tone of the article which seems to suggest that this is the car's fault or the auto manufacturers fault. It is due to people needing to pay better attention to what they are doing. Just like the parents who "forget" they have kids in the back seat, or think the accident caused by their texting while driving is not their fault, it clearly is. The Palm Beach Fire Dept. started handing out carbon monoxide detectors and signs that say "Carbon Monoxide Kills. Is Your Car Off?" Perhaps dealers can hand out these signs with the cars they sell to help out people who are clearly absent minded or distracted - one wonders if these folks should be driving in the first place. By the way, all of my current cars are keyless and I have been driving keyless cars for over a decade. I always make sure they are off, before I unbuckle my seatbelt. I am sympathetic with those impacted by the deaths and impairment, but I believe people have to take the majority of the responsibility for their own actions or inactions.

[+ poolboy48220]

I thought this was about keyless entry - this is about keyless ignition. Since I've been a faithful used-car buyer since 2005, I haven't (yet) had a keyless ignition car. Hell, a remote fob to unlock the car is a novelty to me. This line...

After 75 years of driving, my father thought that when he took the key with him when he left the car, the car would be off

scares me a bit. My car has an alarm if I leave it and the lights are still on.

 

I did enjoy the car I had back in the late 90's with the keypad/combination lock to get in. I was in better shape then & wearing tighter pants, and I could leave my keys in the car. Plus, I used the prefix code from the Reliant in Wrath of Khan as my entry code. Easy to remember.

[+ deej]

My car has an alarm if I leave it and the lights are still on.

 

Yeah, my car actually honks the horn if I close the driver's door while it's running.

[+ Avalon]

It was not until I was in my early 20s that my parents got a home with a garage that had a closing door. My mother told me that I when I visited if I parked in the garage to be sure and turn the engine off when the door was closed.

 

I can't remember the name now but years back there was a teen angst movie where a young couple killed themselves in the garage with the door closed and the car running. The girl set the kitty outside before they did it.

[Boink]

Yeah, my car actually honks the horn if I close the driver's door while it's running.

 

I don't own a keyless car, but I rent cars frequently and it seems ALL recent cars are now keyless. I HATE them! The car I have right now honks every time I close the driver's door whether it's running or not. And the car is so silent it is impossible to 'hear' whether it is running or not. I just can't get used to the big fat cumbersome fob. It's so easy to leave it in the car when you exit - something I would NEVER do with a key. I dread the day when I have to buy a new car because I know having an old fashioned key ignition won't be an option. I have always kept a spare car key in my wallet; that's gotten me out of a jamb several times. I won't be able to do that with a fob. I'm not the least bit surprised by these carbon monoxide deaths and I wouldn't categorize them as Darwin Award worthy.

[TruthBTold]

At the same time perhaps the car companies who are prone to these accidents could begin to think of options that would turn a car off after a certain amount of time that it has idled. This might prevent suicides also. Now before you start yelling at me please first know that I have never owned a car nor have I ever driven so this is just a suggestion based on no experience. Sorry.

[samhexum]

I can't remember the name now but years back there was a teen angst movie where a young couple killed themselves in the garage with the door closed and the car running. The girl set the kitty outside before they did it.

 

Surviving (1985)

2h 23min | Drama | TV Movie 10 February 1985

Promising student Rick Brogan discovers that his father whom he idolizes is cheating on his mother. Heartbroken, he finds comfort in the arms of his old crush but her father opposes the relationship which pushes Rick over the edge. Rick (Zach Galligan) is the apple of his father's eye; smart, handsome, and idolized by his younger siblings (River Phoenix and Heather O'Rourke). By stark contrast, Lonnie (Molly Ringwald) is a troubled and withdrawn girl, struggling to put the painful memory of a failed suicide attempt behind her. Both teenagers are dealing with loneliness and family pressures when they begin to find solace in each other, and a young romance develops. As Rick and Lonnie's bond begins to grow stronger, and they become increasingly withdrawn from their friends and families, their protective parents begin to worry that the young lovers are becoming too involved and grow increasingly uncomfortable with the teenagers' relationship. Finally, when Rick's parents (Ellen Burstyn and Len Cariou) decide that Lonnie is a bad influence on their son, and Lonnie's parents (Marsha Mason and Paul Sorvino) decide that boarding school would be the best place for their troubled daughter, Rick and Lonnie, desperate not to be separated, make a tragic decision to take their own lives. In the wake of the young lovers' fatal suicide pact, the two devastated families are left to try and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and must somehow find a way to go on.

 

 

Ellen Burstyn ... Tina Brogan

Len Cariou ... David Brogan

Zach Galligan ... Rick Brogan

Marsha Mason ... Lois

Molly Ringwald ... Lonnie

Paul Sorvino ... Harvey

River Phoenix ... Philip Brogan

Heather O'Rourke ... Sarah Brogan (they're heeeeeeere!)

For years my ex-roomate & I would imitate Marsha Mason yelling HarVEY! when she discovered her kid's body.

[+ LIguy]

i just bought a 2018 and there's a bell that goes off if I leave the car while it's still running.

[+ bashful]

i just bought a 2018 and there's a bell that goes off if I leave the car while it's still running.

 

I had a 2011 with keyless, had a hard time remembering to leave fob in car at the car wash, or when I valet parked. My 2012 had regular key start that I liked because I was so used to a key. Just got a new car with keyless ignition. Going to have to test to see what happens if I walk away with the engine running.

[+ Avalon]

Surviving (1985)

2h 23min | Drama | TV Movie 10 February 1985

Promising student Rick Brogan discovers that his father whom he idolizes is cheating on his mother. Heartbroken, he finds comfort in the arms of his old crush but her father opposes the relationship which pushes Rick over the edge. Rick (Zach Galligan) is the apple of his father's eye; smart, handsome, and idolized by his younger siblings (River Phoenix and Heather O'Rourke). By stark contrast, Lonnie (Molly Ringwald) is a troubled and withdrawn girl, struggling to put the painful memory of a failed suicide attempt behind her. Both teenagers are dealing with loneliness and family pressures when they begin to find solace in each other, and a young romance develops. As Rick and Lonnie's bond begins to grow stronger, and they become increasingly withdrawn from their friends and families, their protective parents begin to worry that the young lovers are becoming too involved and grow increasingly uncomfortable with the teenagers' relationship. Finally, when Rick's parents (Ellen Burstyn and Len Cariou) decide that Lonnie is a bad influence on their son, and Lonnie's parents (Marsha Mason and Paul Sorvino) decide that boarding school would be the best place for their troubled daughter, Rick and Lonnie, desperate not to be separated, make a tragic decision to take their own lives. In the wake of the young lovers' fatal suicide pact, the two devastated families are left to try and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and must somehow find a way to go on.

 

 

 

Ellen Burstyn ... Tina Brogan

Len Cariou ... David Brogan

Zach Galligan ... Rick Brogan

Marsha Mason ... Lois

Molly Ringwald ... Lonnie

Paul Sorvino ... Harvey

River Phoenix ... Philip Brogan

Heather O'Rourke ... Sarah Brogan (they're heeeeeeere!)

For years my ex-roomate & I would imitate Marsha Mason yelling HarVEY! when she discovered her kid's body.

 

THANK-YOU so very very much! I greatly appreciate your help with these movies. It is available on YouTube.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing Len Cariou; he plays the grandfather on "Blue Bloods".

[samhexum]

 

Ellen Burstyn ... Tina Brogan

Len Cariou ... David Brogan

Zach Galligan ... Rick Brogan

Marsha Mason ... Lois

Molly Ringwald ... Lonnie

Paul Sorvino ... Harvey

River Phoenix ... Philip Brogan

Heather O'Rourke ... Sarah Brogan (they're heeeeeeere!)

 

 

Sad that the 2 youngest cast members are the only ones that are dead.

[MikeyGMin]

This line... scares me a bit. My car has an alarm if I leave it and the lights are still on

The part that should scare you is that a 91 year old man was still driving at all!

 

My car beeps at you several times if the fob gets too far from the car. If you can't hear that the car is running and you can't hear the warning beeps, then you probably can't hear a siren coming up on you either.

[instudiocity]

Nearly the same thing just happened to me, except I was parked under the Arrivals path at LAX. Somehow, I jumped out of my car, grabbed my suitcase out of the trunk to catch a shuttle to the terminal and left my car running.

 

Flash forward to three days later, my key fob can't unlock my car -> dead battery. Ok, so I open with my valet key, put everything in and call for a jumpstart - after all, it's just a dead battery.

 

Three attempts to crank later, the attendant says, "Are you sure you're not out of gas?" I'm thinking, 'No! I've got 3/4's of a tank!' Lo and behold the tank was EMPTY!

 

Lesson, hopefully, learned.

Edited May 15, 2018 by instudiocity

[rvwnsd]

My 2012 Dodge is keyless and I have never left it running. When I have opened the door with the engine running this annoying bell goes off, similar to the one that goes off when the lights are left on.

 

The self-cleaning gene pool strikes again.

[Rangar]

My 2016 Cx-5 was the 1st car I owned that had keyless ignition and absolutely love it. Eliminated the need to carry keys Not once did I ever get out and accidently leave the car running (I did for the 1st time in the 10 years I'm in my house try to back out without opening the garage door but that's for another post).

 

I don't get it instead of turning a key to start/stop the engine you push a button. Driver action hasn't been removed from the equation. I do, however get the guy's 75 year old father thinking

that when he took the key with him when he left the car, the car would be off

 

When I do purposely get out of the car and leave it running it will beep for about 10 or 15 secondes because the fob is in my pocket and it was going out of range. Though I never tested it and I'm not sure if its true or not a friend told me that if the fob gets too far away from the car it will automatically shut off. So if someone tried to steal my car when I left it running they wouldn't get to far. Makes sense. I'll have to check the owners manual.

[sincitymix]

my car shuts off automatically if it doesn't detect the key fob.

[+ Avalon]

I remember many years ago I had a cousin whose car after it was started up using the key, the key could be taken out and the car would still run.

[BabyBoomer]

I remember many years ago I had a cousin whose car after it was started up using the key, the key could be taken out and the car would still run.

 

That had to be back in the 60's.

 

~Boomer~

Edited May 15, 2018 by BabyBoomer

[Nvr2Thick]

I remember many years ago I had a cousin whose car after it was started up using the key, the key could be taken out and the car would still run.

 

That's how my Harley works. I'm not sure if they've changed it in recent years, but the key just unlocks the ignition. You can start the bike as long as the fob is in proximity, and then you can drive away without it. When you're a few hundred miles away and you shut off the engine you're screwed.

[+ Avalon]

That had to back in the 60's.

 

~Boomer~

 

Yes it was.