Central locking -- safe or dangerous??

[salilpawar1]

Central locking featue - a safety and convenience feature found in many modern cars today has also become a threat. i have observed many times that people often get trapped in cars due to central locking systems. Central locking systems have led to many cases of deaths,

e.g.
1) some people got trapped and inside a santro as its central locking and power windows failed due to water logging.

2) A Mumbai-Ahmedabad Volvo bus crashed enroute with a tanker and the bus caught fire but people couldn't open the automatic door due to central locking failure (they also didnt know about the position of emergency doors).

3) recently a baleno crashed and caught fire and once again the central locking failed and the driver succumbed.

Are the above reports really giving the right info about central locking's weakness or is it just misinformation?

If it's true, then is this the problem with only aftermarket systems or with OEM systems too?

[varunroy]

[quote]
[quote=salilpawar1]Central locking featue - a safety and convenience feature found in many modern cars today has also become a threat.

Like I have said in various other threads. The best of Technology has its drawbacks. Some times they could be life threatening or even Life taking as you have mentioned. Even though millions are spent on R & D they still end up with serious flaws. We have all seen the software glitches that infect our mobile phones each day. They may not take somebody's life but they give you a big heart burn.

So long....

[revharder]

use technology. no problem, but even a good tech need hard beating quite often!

so better keep a small handy hammer strong enoughh to break the glass!

[Ram]

Originally Posted by revharder

...so better keep a small handy hammer strong enoughh to break the glass!

Observed this on the Maharashtra State "Shivneri" Volvo B7R.
There is a hammer with sharpened metal ends available, chained to a support of the overhead rack.


There are windows clearly marked as Emergency Exit.
And there are prominently marked stickers in English and Marathi.

[theMAG]

Technology works both ways. For e.g. when I'd gone to get remote locking fitted on my Swift yesterday, the Autocop guy actually suggested to not install the ignition cut-off feature as if it malfunctioned, the car will not start short of professional roadside assistance from Autocop itself. I anyway had the feature installed, coz I figure, statistically there's a 10% chance that it might malfunction. I was more interested in the remaining 90% during which time it would work in my favor.

[garvit2002]

was it the central locking or the power windows???

[salilpawar1]

I can understand dat technology has disadvantages but they are very life threatening and one can virtually cannot do anything in such a situation not to mention the innumerable false alarms caused by malfunctioning autocop systems and thus nobody comes out when a car actually gets stolen.....

[200mph]

well i keep the tool kit under my seat just as safety purpose in case of a faliure of my central locking and power windows in the innova. as for the swift also i do keep it , but i think it having manual windows should not pose a problem. technology has got its own goods and bad, nothing is perfect the better part of central locking being its convient to open and close the doors , all the alarms and ignition cut off systems that they have come up with. but at the same time all the draw backs have also been discussed and how dangerous it can be.

[amit mohan]

hi,

it is a bug in the system which i believe will safely be sorted out. Unfortunately as and when new technology comes in bugs are a part and they have/will be removed/sorted out. I donot wish to trivialise the matter though. Lives have been lost/are at stake.

[mxx]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

Central locking featue - a safety and convenience feature found in many modern cars today has also become a threat. i have observed many times that people often get trapped in cars due to central locking systems. Central locking systems have led to many cases of deaths,

e.g.
1) some people got trapped and inside a santro as its central locking and power windows failed due to water logging.

2) A Mumbai-Ahmedabad Volvo bus crashed enroute with a tanker and the bus caught fire but people couldn't open the automatic door due to central locking failure (they also didnt know about the position of emergency doors).

3) recently a baleno crashed and caught fire and once again the central locking failed and the driver succumbed.

Are the above reports really giving the right info about central locking's weakness or is it just misinformation?

If it's true, then is this the problem with only aftermarket systems or with OEM systems too?

I have heard these things before. All i can say is that this is wrong information.
In most cars when the central locking is activated, you can still manually unlock your door.


As for the busses, ram has already posted the answer above.

[rajdoll]

In most cars when the central locking is activated, you can still manually unlock your door.

I agree. And also in most of the cars, the boot is also accessible by folding the back seat thus gaining access to tools or you can even exit, if you have manual unlocking of boot available.

[sbr1304]

i too totally agree with mxx and rajdoll..
The doors can be manually opened incase of central locking too...and also abt the boot...

its too over protectiveness to have the tool box or anyother thing to have under your seat all the time...
Disclaimer : Apologies if it hurt anyone ..

and incase of anyworst situation also ...the best thing to do is not to panic..as most of the things go bad when u press the panic button.

[swiper]

Also the false alarms could be because the system is set to a higher level of sensitivity than required.

[WhiteKnight]

I think the newer generation cars have started having electronic door locks- means no mechanical link between the switch and the lock. This could be troublesome in case of a system failure.

Well this is as good as the drive by wire steering systems

[Ram]

Originally Posted by rajdoll

...in most of the cars, the boot is also accessible by folding the back seat thus gaining access to tools or you can even exit, if you have manual unlocking of boot available.

The Americans call the dikky/boot a trunk. The trunk is supposed to be so secure, that you cannot access it without its own key. Some American cars have a two sets of keys, one for the ignition, doors and glove compartment and a separate key for the trunk, which usually has a higher security lock as compared to the rest of the car.
My personal experience is that while you can get a professional locksmith to unlock your car door and give you a cut-key, he cannot open your trunk and will suggest you contact the manufacturer for a perfect duplicate.

If you remove the seat back of the rear seat, you should expect to see, solid steel cross-beams and steel bulkhead, securely preventing any kind of access to the trunk from inside the car. This of course means that, you cannot think of gaining access to tools from the trunk, leave alone exiting the car.

That being said, my description does not apply to station-wagons/combis/estates and hatchbacks which tend to have poor security, from micro-hatches like the Maruti 800 to medium-sized ones like the Skoda Octavia, to the massive Audi Q7.