[Aditya]

For most of the current generation of drivers, keyless ignition (engine start/stop button) is nothing out of the ordinary. This feature is extremely convenient and even available on some budget hatchbacks. However, have you ever thought of the older generation of drivers, who have used old fashioned keys all their lives? How do they cope with this advancement in technology?



At least in the US, it appears, not so well. There have been cases when older people have just forgotten to turn off their cars’ engines after parking in the garage (attached to their house) and walking off. The carbon monoxide emissions from the cars have filled up their homes and resulted in their deaths. Since 2006, more at least 36 people have been killed and dozens of others have been left with injuries including brain damage.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, depriving the heart, brain and other vital organs of oxygen. Victims are sometimes found with a cherry red rash, a symptom of carbon monoxide molecules attaching to red blood cells. Some who survive live with irreversible brain damage. One couple described a life where they now struggle with severe memory loss and are dependent on hired assistants.

Keyless ignitions are now standard in over half of the 17 million new vehicles sold annually in the United States, according to the auto information website Edmunds. Rather than a physical key, drivers carry a fob that transmits a radio signal, and as long as the fob is present, a car can be started with the touch of a button. But weaned from the habit of turning and removing a key to shut off the motor, drivers — particularly older ones — can be lulled by newer, quieter engines into mistakenly thinking that it has stopped running.

This hazard did not go unnoticed.

the world’s leading automotive standards group, the Society of Automotive Engineers, called for features like a series of beeps to alert drivers that cars were still running without the key fob in or near the car, and in some cases to shut the engine off automatically.

However, no law has been implemented as yet.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees the auto industry, proposed a rule for keyless vehicles in 2011 mandating a one-second audible external warning to drivers to turn off the ignition. The rule would cost the auto industry $500,000 a year, according to an agency estimate. But after lobbying from the industry, the proposal has remained in limbo.

For now, regulators say they are relying on carmakers to incorporate such warning features voluntarily. But a survey of 17 car companies by The New York Times found that while some automakers go beyond the features recommended by the standards group, others fall short.

Safety measures have been a matter of contention among automakers, sometimes even internally. Toyota, for example, has a system of three audible signals outside the car, and one inside, to alert drivers getting out of a vehicle that the motor is still running. But when Toyota engineers determined that more effective warning signals were needed — like flashing lights or a unique tone — the company rejected the recommendation, according to testimony in a wrongful-death suit.

The Toyota Avalon, for example, is designed to beep once internally and three times externally in such circumstances.

However, the deaths of Ms. Sherry H. Penney (81), a former university chancellor, and her husband, James D. Livingston (88), a retired physicist, indicate, such alerts are not always adequate. The couple forgot to turn off the engine of their Avalon.

Some automakers have designed newer models that alert drivers more insistently when the engine is left running — or that shut it off after a certain period. Ford’s keyless vehicles now have a feature that automatically turns off the engine after 30 minutes of idling if the key fob is not in the vehicle, the company said recently. (According to a federal lawsuit, Ford began introducing the feature in 2013.)

But many older vehicles have not been retrofitted to reduce the hazard, despite the modest expense of doing so. It cost General Motors $5 per car to install the automatic shutoff in a 2015 recall, according to a G.M. report to the safety agency.

In Palm Beach County, Fla., which has a large number of older residents, the fire department noticed a spike in incidents as keyless ignitions became common.

“They were literally driving their own vehicles into the garage and closing the door,” said Doug McGlynn, a veteran firefighter. Mr. McGlynn says such incidents became so numerous in Palm Beach County, where he is a district chief for the Fire Rescue Department, that his unit began handing out carbon monoxide detectors and signs for residents to display in their garages, with a clear message: “Carbon Monoxide Kills. Is Your Car Off?”

The tactic appears to have worked. The department started a public information campaign in 2015, and from March 2016 to October 2017 it recorded a 30 percent decline in carbon monoxide incidents caused by vehicles, most with keyless ignitions. But despite the local progress, deaths and injuries are mounting across the country.

Regulations require automakers to address other hazards associated with keyless vehicles — theft and rollaways — and those measures might also reduce the carbon monoxide danger. But the safety agency has found shortcomings and inconsistencies by automakers in meeting those rules.

Even among cars from the same automaker, there is inconsistency. Fiat Chrysler said that on its keyless cars, a dashboard warning is displayed if the key fob is removed while the motor is running, and that “on certain 2018 model year vehicles,” an internal chime sounds for 30 seconds. (For older models, it said, the chime sounds until the key fob returns to the vehicle.) But a spokesman would not discuss the feature on a model-by-model basis.

At Mazda, keyless ignition is now standard, and some vehicles have an “advanced keyless entry” system that helps alert the driver to a running engine. If the driver gets out, the doors are closed and the engine is running, six repetitions of a double beep sound inside and outside the car, and a warning light activates on the instrument panel. On other Mazda vehicles in the same circumstances, the external warning sounds only if the key fob is still in the vehicle.

And Mazda has not incorporated a system that automatically shuts off the engine after a certain time of idling.

Even when precautions are in place, some safety experts, lawyers and victims say the automakers need to do more. At Toyota, such voices came from inside the company.

According to testimony in a wrongful-death lawsuit, Toyota began an investigation into its keyless technology, conducted by its technical center in Michigan, after an employee drove 250 miles to Chicago in 2007 and realized that the remote key was still in Ann Arbor, Mich. (The witness did not know how this happened — for example, whether the fob was close enough to send a signal, but not inside the vehicle, when the car started.) Toyota engineers noted that Mazda vehicles beeped externally six times, as opposed to three external beeps in Toyota models. According to a company document cited in a deposition, they concluded that “Toyota vehicles do not have adequate smart-key-absent warning system.”

Shaun Austin, a quality control manager for Toyota in North America who testified in a wrongful-death suit, stressed the issue internally. A Toyota team in North America was in touch with corporate headquarters in Japan about adding flashing lights and a unique tone that would alert the driver if the car was still running without the key fob present, he said in a court deposition, but all those suggestions were rejected.

At one point, the traffic safety administration appeared to start taking a keener interest in the hazards. It undertook an investigation of seven automakers in 2013-14, conducting tests and asking for documentation of their safety features for keyless vehicles. But the inquiry was quickly and inconclusively wound down.

In a statement in March, the agency said it was evaluating comments on the proposed rule and the data for carbon monoxide deaths and injuries.

In the meantime, in a society increasingly growing older, the hazard is likely to be compounded by demographics.

Sources: NY Times Article 1, NY Times Article 2

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the International Scene. Thanks for sharing!

Forgetting to switch off the engine is really the height of carelessness. That said, of late, I've noticed that a lot of the newer cars give out a loud + prominent beep if you walk away with the smartkey in your pocket & leaving the engine running. I thought this was more of a "smartkey not in car" warning, but now I know the real reason.

Irrespective, car makers should put a sort of a timer. Say, an MID prompt after 30 minutes of idling. If you don't press "OK", the engine switches off.

Also wondering if the "remote engine starting" feature that is becoming popular (even Venue & Hector have it) has caused any such problems in USA. What if someone remotely starts the car in their garage & then forgets about it?

[NaXal]

I saw a Ford commercial where they explained how people in North America needs to keep their car/pickup engine running 24/7 due to extreme weather & use cabin heater to stay alive or use the cabin as their work place.

It's hard for people like me from a hot country like India to understand the need to keep a car/pickup running at idle or how it's a life saving thing but from this below video, it seems manufacturers are actively testing & expect their vehicle engines to run/idle 24/7.

https://youtu.be/GIja2Cvh2Hs

Now I am not saying one needs to keep their engine idle inside the house but forgetting to turn off isn't that of a farfetched mistake one may end up doing absentmindedly.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

We park on streets, basements and open garages. Even in independent houses with closed car parking, it is rare to find any ventilation openings into the car park area.

I suspect these cases occur in heated car parkings, where there is a centralised heating system. I can't figure out what masked the acrid smell of vehicle exhaust in any other situation. Such construction is rare, almost non-existent in India. Is there a real cause for alarm here?

[Ashir]

As pointed out by Backseatdriver, I don't believe this is an issue for Indians because of absence of central air conditioning inside a car garage or car parking. Most of the garage owning people either have an open garage, or there would be a vent to ensure proper ventilation.

Nevertheless, DRLs (if equipped) can also act as a visual indication for a turned on car. This, combined with smart key reminder, would have made the SAE lobby to park the idea of a regulation.
With the advent of autonomous cars, this might be a concern in future. However, last I heard from the Government was that the Future is Electric.

[GutsyGibbon]

In CA you can't buy or sell a house without a carbon monoxide detector. People dont replace broken ones, or end up disconnecting when they run out of battery. Some people dont have detectors in the garage,which can cause the issue.

[benzinblut]

Events like these give a bad name to internal combustion engines.

It's clearly the driver's mistake. In the age of smart this and smart that, we humans are getting dumber by the day.

[dark.knight]

For being such an advanced nation architecturally, American homes are poorly designed/built to begin with. These irrelevant issues won't exist to begin with if all homes :

1) Had garages with a tilted fibre-panel ventilation window running vertically across the length of the garage, or if the shutter doors had an open grille running across its width on the top. Preferably both should exist as the cross-ventilation will take out any and all gases with them.

2) If there were no door leading to the home from within the garage, instead the owner must exit the garage from the shutter and onto the main door.

A carbon-monoxide detector is unnecessary if the above two golden rules are followed, a garage is like a bathroom, it must be as cutoff from the home as possible and well-ventilated to begin with. Of course, as with any privileged nation, the car owners too lose sight of all the things they should do before exiting a vehicle merely because they take its ownership for granted.. who doesn't remember to turn off a vehicle before getting out?

Keyless go must also be auto cut-off (in say, 30 minutes of "P" engagement) once the key is no longer detected inside the vehicle for said period.

[SmartCat]

In my Honda BRV, the system does NOT allow me to lock the car from outside when the engine is running.

[Jeroen]

I have to admit, when we just got our first car with this keyless lark, it did happen to me twice.

Even with all the warnings and beepers, I still managed to leave the car engine running, parked, whilst I went into a shop/mall. For some reason I was under the impression the car would shut itself down if the FOB moves away. No such thing of course.

It is careless, but it also shows how things such as beepers are not always a very effective way of drawing one's attention.

Jeroen

[Motor_Nut]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

In my Honda BRV, the system does NOT allow me to lock the car from outside when the engine is running.

Same is the case with my face-lifted Baleno and now I understood why it made sense! Once I forgot to switch off the ignition, got out of the car and tried to lock it. To my utter annoyance, it kept on beeping but rejected all my locking attempts. I was in my apartment basement parking and exhaust fan noise made it difficult to hear that engine was still running.

After few moments, I got to know my silly mistake, sat in the car and shut it off. For the record, my earlier car used to start with key-in ignition.

[BoneCollector]

This system is indeed convenient for many but for old timers, it can be dangerous even in our scenario. I know of someone who stalled his car on exit ramp of a mall, and in confusion, couldn't start his car and it rolled back. However there were no injuries.

Originally Posted by SmartCat

In my Honda BRV, the system does NOT allow me to lock the car from outside when the engine is running.

Originally Posted by Motor_Nut

Same is the case with my face-lifted Baleno and now I understood why it made sense!

Maruti has another good feature wherein there is beeping if you move away from the car when ignition is on. If you are an alert driver, you cannot miss that beep.

[landcruiser123]

Trust Indians never to do this with their kitna deti hai influenced attitude.

I honestly don't understand how people can be forgetful not to turn off their car after a drive. Won't you ever observe the noise, tachometer or vibrations?

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I honestly don't understand how people can be forgetful not to turn off their car after a drive. Won't you ever observe the noise, tachometer or vibrations?

Most petrol cars today are so silent at idle that it's very difficult to say whether the car is running or not.I test drove an Elantra recently and that too was almost dead silent at idle even while standing outside. And that is one of the most affordable and common cars in the US.

Added to that, if you're distracted, you may forget to turn off the engine- just like how we occasionally forget to take the keys of the door etc

The problem becomes worse for older people as their hearing abilities would've reduced.

May the departed RIP.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

The problem becomes worse for older people as their hearing abilities would've reduced

Yeah, right. Glad we cleared that up. I was not careless, just old!
Jeroen