Darwin claims 13 people, Lawyers now suing carmakers for no "auto-shutoff"
11-16-2015, 05:27 PM
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Darwin claims 13 people, Lawyers now suing carmakers for no "auto-shutoff"
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/keyless-...181827029.html
I hate when I find myself in the position that I’m defending multi-billion dollar companies. My inner George Orwell just doesn’t like it.
But watching lawyers line up to sue carmakers on behalf of customers who failed to turn their car off and attempting to call it automotive neglect is shameful. If you can start it, you should know how to shut it off.
Push-button ignitions have been a growing trend for carmakers over the past 10 years. It was first something only a handful of luxury cars offered. The key fob transmits a frequency to the car, which acts as a secure handshake, that allows the driver to just push a button to start the car. When you’ve arrived at your destination, it allows the driver to push the button again to shut the car off.
But a few people—13 total, according to some reports—have died because they parked their car in their own garage, forgot to shut off the car and then hours later succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Others have been more lucky. Numerous people have filed complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying carmakers should do more.
It’s possible to leave the car running in the garage, creating toxic fumes, a Henderson, Nevada, resident complained about their car on the NHTSA website, after they “had a couple of ‘almosts’”.
A Sacramento, Calif., woman complained that her Nissan fails to shut off after she “forgot to turn it off four times. Twice it ran all night in my garage, but fortunately the gas fumes did not enter my house where I was sleeping.”
In her March 2015 complaint, she implored NHTSA to issue a recall and force carmakers to install some sort of timed shut-off device. Especially after she loaned her car to her daughter, who also forgot to turn off the car.
All this, apparently, is the carmakers’ fault, ten of which are now the target of a class-action lawsuit over push-button ignitions.
(Funny, how other groups such as the home builder is not at fault for connecting the garage to the house, or the dealership for selling them a car that didn’t turn off automatically after a set amount of time.)
What responsibility do carmakers have for forgetful or distracted customers? There are telltale signs that a car may have been left running after it is parked. Often, if the key fob is removed from the cabin while the car is running, the car will beep a warning. Things like the stereo is running, the lights being on and, of course, that sound coming from beneath the hood suggest the car may be not be off as well.
Yes, thankfully, car engines are much quieter today than ever before, but not inaudible. I have found myself sometimes wondering if a car was running or not during idle because of all of the sound deadening material and highly tuned engines. But standing outside of a car, I can tell when it is running and when it is not.
It might be even more understandable if the car featured a start/stop element so when the car stopped in the garage the engine was actually off when the person exited the car. But even in those cases, the driver should be the person responsible for their vehicle. If they use it as intended it should provide years of joy and transportation. If they don’t, it won’t.
Of course, there could be more features added to keyless ignition switches. NHTSA continues to gather data on the previous incidents and has suggested carmakers include audible alarms if a car is left running and the driver exits the car. But there has been no recall, in part, because the cars are working the way they were designed to work.
Carmakers could add even more features such as an automatic kill switch after a car idles for 15 minutes without moving. Nowadays, the car could even send you a text message to let you know when your car is just sitting burning gas. The car’s alarm could go off. Carbon monoxide sensors could be added to cars to warn owners or call the fire department if the car has run idle for six hours at the same enclosed location.
But all of those features will cost money, and most if not all would be a waste of it. Then again, consumers will pay, either for the new devices or for carmakers to defend themselves against these lawsuits.
There have been lots of times carmakers have been neglectful and/or deceitful. The lawsuits that followed were just and people were rightly compensated. The system worked as advertised, even when the machines did not.
But suing someone for your own inability to not shut off a car just strikes me the wrong way. And I fear this is only going to get worse in the future. Pretty soon, key fobs will be replaced by apps, and your cellphone will act as the key. Perhaps Apple, Nokia and the telecom firms should consider adding a few more members to their legal teams. They’ve got pretty deep pockets too.
I hate when I find myself in the position that I’m defending multi-billion dollar companies. My inner George Orwell just doesn’t like it.
But watching lawyers line up to sue carmakers on behalf of customers who failed to turn their car off and attempting to call it automotive neglect is shameful. If you can start it, you should know how to shut it off.
Push-button ignitions have been a growing trend for carmakers over the past 10 years. It was first something only a handful of luxury cars offered. The key fob transmits a frequency to the car, which acts as a secure handshake, that allows the driver to just push a button to start the car. When you’ve arrived at your destination, it allows the driver to push the button again to shut the car off.
But a few people—13 total, according to some reports—have died because they parked their car in their own garage, forgot to shut off the car and then hours later succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Others have been more lucky. Numerous people have filed complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying carmakers should do more.
It’s possible to leave the car running in the garage, creating toxic fumes, a Henderson, Nevada, resident complained about their car on the NHTSA website, after they “had a couple of ‘almosts’”.
A Sacramento, Calif., woman complained that her Nissan fails to shut off after she “forgot to turn it off four times. Twice it ran all night in my garage, but fortunately the gas fumes did not enter my house where I was sleeping.”
In her March 2015 complaint, she implored NHTSA to issue a recall and force carmakers to install some sort of timed shut-off device. Especially after she loaned her car to her daughter, who also forgot to turn off the car.
All this, apparently, is the carmakers’ fault, ten of which are now the target of a class-action lawsuit over push-button ignitions.
(Funny, how other groups such as the home builder is not at fault for connecting the garage to the house, or the dealership for selling them a car that didn’t turn off automatically after a set amount of time.)
What responsibility do carmakers have for forgetful or distracted customers? There are telltale signs that a car may have been left running after it is parked. Often, if the key fob is removed from the cabin while the car is running, the car will beep a warning. Things like the stereo is running, the lights being on and, of course, that sound coming from beneath the hood suggest the car may be not be off as well.
Yes, thankfully, car engines are much quieter today than ever before, but not inaudible. I have found myself sometimes wondering if a car was running or not during idle because of all of the sound deadening material and highly tuned engines. But standing outside of a car, I can tell when it is running and when it is not.
It might be even more understandable if the car featured a start/stop element so when the car stopped in the garage the engine was actually off when the person exited the car. But even in those cases, the driver should be the person responsible for their vehicle. If they use it as intended it should provide years of joy and transportation. If they don’t, it won’t.
Of course, there could be more features added to keyless ignition switches. NHTSA continues to gather data on the previous incidents and has suggested carmakers include audible alarms if a car is left running and the driver exits the car. But there has been no recall, in part, because the cars are working the way they were designed to work.
Carmakers could add even more features such as an automatic kill switch after a car idles for 15 minutes without moving. Nowadays, the car could even send you a text message to let you know when your car is just sitting burning gas. The car’s alarm could go off. Carbon monoxide sensors could be added to cars to warn owners or call the fire department if the car has run idle for six hours at the same enclosed location.
But all of those features will cost money, and most if not all would be a waste of it. Then again, consumers will pay, either for the new devices or for carmakers to defend themselves against these lawsuits.
There have been lots of times carmakers have been neglectful and/or deceitful. The lawsuits that followed were just and people were rightly compensated. The system worked as advertised, even when the machines did not.
But suing someone for your own inability to not shut off a car just strikes me the wrong way. And I fear this is only going to get worse in the future. Pretty soon, key fobs will be replaced by apps, and your cellphone will act as the key. Perhaps Apple, Nokia and the telecom firms should consider adding a few more members to their legal teams. They’ve got pretty deep pockets too.
