An Actual Death Trap
An Actual Death TrapYet another cringe worthy headline showed up on Twitter recently (September 2018). A man trapped in his car because the battery was dead. And for 14 hours. He was very, very lucky that the car wasn’t outside in the sun, or the outcome would have been very, very different.
This one hits home for us because of another incident several years ago that prompted this article on this site, but in this case, a man lost his life. So, all this needs a more thorough examination.
The problem is finding oneself locked in a car that has lost its power. It is a direct result of the move to all 
electronic everything, right down to the door latches. It is also the result of very, very poor design.
Both of the incidents involve GM Coupes: a Chevrolet Corvette and a Cadillac XLR. They feature these flush door handles with a electronic button inside this opening that unlocks and opens the door if the key fob is present. If the power is lost when inside the car, the electronic button on the armrest no longer works, and while there is a back 
up option, it is not remotely obvious and effectively not intuitive.
Where’s the Release?
The back up option is a mechanical release handle on the floor below the door, not on the door where any typical human would think to look. In the most recent episode, the owners manual was missing from the 12 year old XLR, which is all too common in older vehicles. And he didn’t have a cell phone with him, or he surely would have 
been out of his car much sooner.
In the previous incident, the gentleman had gone to the car to check on his dog, leaving his cell phone behind. Relatives reported that there was evidence that the man was looking through the manual for help when he succumbed to the heat. He and dog passed away.
It is far too easy to blame the victim here. It is true that they were not familiar with the feature. Both cars were bought used, so expecting the seller to go over more obscure features is wishful thinking.
Age Again?
It is also way too easy to blame age — the men were 75 and 72, respectively. This is when I point to an incident relayed by 20 year olds. Their friend had bought a new BMW. He then let them in the car to check it out and locked the car from the outside.
The joke was that there was no way to unlock the doors from the 
inside. I immediately pointed out that there IS a way out — just not where you would expect to look. The unlock button is placed in the middle of the dashboard, and the entire group was clearly unfamiliar with this quirk in a BMW. And it belongs exclusively to BMW.
Age is NOT the issue. Expectation and intuition is. Where did these 20-somethings look for an unlock button?
Back to technology and design, Tesla’s vehicles all feature electronic latches. As to getting out, the rear doors in the Model S require pulling a cable located under each rear seat. The front doors are released mechanically from the inside.
The Model X front doors are all mechanically released from the inside. Perfect.
The Model 3 has a mechanical handle exactly where you would hope. On the armrest pretty much where a hand would actually be while using the armrest. It was tempting to simply open the door with it each time. A superior design.
The latest Lincoln Continental also has electronic door latches. A back up release is just below the armrest but still on the door, and only the driver’s door. However, Lincoln says that the doors will not remain latched if the power goes out.
The last two examples are far better thought out. And before anyone else finds themselves trapped in a GM Coupe, irrespective of age, we think a new way to open the doors from the inside must be devised and the cars recalled.
In our last show, we talked about changing the behavior of the one vs the behavior of the millions. And this is yet another example.
Changing the one, the manufacturer, eliminates the need for millions drivers to read, and frankly memorize, crucial new features or the entire owner’s manual. It also eliminates the need for millions of salespeople to somehow suddenly become effective teachers. Someone else’s dad, mom, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband or wife should not have to die or nearly die over poorly thought out designs.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
There are three basic locations to try, as shown in the image, but experience tells us you might just as well skip to the last one. The first, top to bottom, is to simply drop the key fob into the cup holder. If this fails, hold the key fob against the front of the console, as we are doing in the image (second). There are several places that can be tried in this case alone.
If all these fail, the next recommendation is to remove the battery from the fob and run through the options again. As it happens, this is exactly what we had to do with the Model X we had and we landed at the base of the console before the car recognized the fob. That location, with the key fob resting in place, is shown in the second image. The fob was recognized at last and we were able to operate the car.
If you were given a key card, place it against the left side of the of the space at the front of the center console just below the screen, as shown to the right. The vehicle will recognize the card, the instrument panel will come to life and the car will be ready for action. Don’t lose the card!
If your mobile phone has gone dead or is missing, place the key card on the center console behind and between the two cup holders. The car will recognize the card and will allow it to be driven.
In the earliest versions of the Model S, the back of key fob is to be placed against the passenger side front fender, somewhat below and to the right of the emblem, as shown in the image. When the fob is recognized, the door handles will extend as they do normally.
The concept is the same in the newer Model S, but the location is changed. However, it remains on the passenger side. Place the key fob near the base of the passenger side windshield wiper. The image to the right shows the exact spot that worked in the model we tested, and we tried several. Then press the driver’s door handle. The handles will extend if it is recognized, but it took a full 20 seconds in the car we tested. Try repositioning the fob if this fails. If it continues not to be recognized, try removing the battery and go back through the process.
Tesla’s Model X uses an entirely different back up location. There again is no hard key or key cylinder. In addition, the door handles do not extend in normal operation as with the Model S. The mirrors will extend when the key fob is recognized.
To get in, the key card is placed on the door frame between the front and rear doors on the driver’s side and just above the bottom of the windows, as shown. As with other models, the mirrors will extend inviting you inside. The vehicles can be locked this way as well.
In case over the air updates weren’t innovative enough, the latest solves a problem that has stumped the best minds at every auto manufacturer: a car is shut down and left in the sun to overheat, and any occupant unable to exit, human or animal, perishes of heat stroke.
We have cautioned many times in these posts about the advance of technology in automobiles. The advances are racing ahead faster than motorists – and perhaps manufacturers – can keep up. We even came to the conclusion that reaching true self drive mode would resolve these issues by taking the car out of the hands of drivers and relieving them of the responsibility.
Stress Can, Will, and Does Put Drivers in Danger
Stress Dangers
In our last post, we discussed the gap in the knowledge of automotive technology in first responders, as represented by a video from truthaboutcars.com and YouTube. It featured a man pulled over in his Tesla for having a computer mounted on his dashboard. The item is linked here.
But as we thought more about this, the video painted a very clear picture of how people tend to react to stressful situations.
In truth, it is the car’s entire instrument panel! The screen offers control of everything, as well as a view to the functioning of the car, and mapping, etc. The center console is simply not in play.
A Thank You
“Thank you 73 year old lady, 2013 mini nervous and panicked in parking lot with dead FOB yesterday. Your video heloed get everything up and running. Hard to read a manual with out reading glasses in stress situation. Thank you again.”
She describes perfectly the difficulty people face solving a problem and reading a manual while under stress. And stress is the central theme.
She identifies herself as 73, and the stress is due to the all too common key fob problem that we put a great deal of emphasis on here at DashboardSymbols.com. The video we discussed earlier puts the stress of being pulled over on full display.
Is Age the Issue?
But first we also get to once again dispel the ageism myth. The driver in the video is clearly quite young and still stutters and stammers his way through his interactions with the police officer.
This reaction to stress happens to us all irrespective of age, and returns us to our primary thesis. The relentless increase in automotive technology continues to outpace driver knowledge. And for those of you tempted to blame the driver for lack of effort, we will repeat that all of us learn by use and repetition, and if a new problem crops up, it will make little difference whether or not the driver has read about it in the manual months earlier.
And it is all too often the little things — and things that could easily be removed from the equation, taking us back to key fobs. If the battery in the fob dies, there is a back up plan, but there is no standardization. We know of and have documented exposing hidden keys holes from 15 manufacturers, a dozen variations for retrieving the standard ‘hard’ key from the fob, and over 50 distinct starting variations.
The hidden key holes are a particularly pointless exercise intended only to make a square inch of the car prettier. What it does in truth is leave drivers with dead key fobs vulnerable outside of their cars, fumbling for a mechanical key and trying to expose a lock cylinder. Will it happen on a warm summer day at home? Most likely it will be dark, rainy, cold, snowy, or in a parking garage with cell service blocked.
Make no mistake, these are safety issues and the responsibility lies with the manufacturer to make getting in to the relative safety of the car as easy as possible, and the majority of manufacturers are failing.
At the very least, once inside a manual can be consulted to get help to get the car started, but remember that stress is still in play.
Unfortunately, it will take someone getting hurt or worse, or a manufacturer getting sued before this will change, and even if it does, there will be millions of vehicles already on the road holding tight to the old ways.
——————————————————————-
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY