4 ms·
Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-
by heipei 6y ago
Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-lights? One is a nuisance, the other one a straight-up safety issue.
- bstar77 6y agoWhen I lived in Canada we had to turn on the honk mode because there were too many people using devices that block remote vehicle locking. The honk is an obvious indicator that the car did, indeed, lock.
- crooked-v 6y ago> there were too many people using devices that block remote vehicle locking I'd be interested in more context on that.
- mudita 6y agoHere's for example an article in the Guardian from 2015: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/26/high-tech-thieves-jamming-technology-steal-car https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/26/high-tech...
- bstar77 6y agohttp://vehiclesecurity.co.nz/blog/keyless-block/ http://vehiclesecurity.co.nz/blog/keyless-block/
- detaro 6y agoToo annoying to look at the car for the 2 seconds it takes to see the indicators flash, which seems to be the common alternative?
- ceejayoz 6y agoI like to use the honk to locate my car when I've forgotten where I parked it. Unfortunately, my 2016 Corolla makes a beep inaudible from more than a spot or two away. :-(
- bstar77 6y agoyes
- glxxyz 6y agoMy car flashes lights on the first click and honks on the second, which is a pretty good compromise and handy when I lose it in car parks.
- kube-system 6y agoI can't tell you how many times I'm halfway across the parking lot when I question whether or not I've locked the car.
- alkonaut 6y agoThe range of the key should be tiny, so it should be easy to see the lights flash even in daylight (and often rearview mirrors fold).
- kube-system 6y agoDepends on where you're parked. https://i.imgur.com/9UsaZ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/9UsaZ.jpg
- fiddlerwoaroof 6y agoThe range can be surprising: I had a car that could be locked and unlocked from our apartment on the other side of the complex.
- mcv 6y agoAren't the flashing indicator lights also an obvious indicator that the car did indeed lock? Or even just the sound of the locks locking. It gives an audible click in all cars I know.
- kube-system 6y agoYes, if you have line of sight. If you don't, sound has the advantage of going around corners. I have encountered situations where I might need to operate the locks without being immediately in line-of-sight, like when I leave the vehicle before other passengers, someone else needs to get something out of the vehicle, etc.
- globular-toast 6y agoJust walk back to the car to get line of sight. Even if my car did make an obnoxious sound I wouldn't lock it when I can't even see it.
- mcv 6y agoYeah, locking/unlocking the car out of sight sounds like a bad idea. It doesn't sound like a sufficiently important use case to justify obnoxious sounds.
- kube-system 6y agoWhy is it a bad idea? The noise only happens if you want it to, anyway. All of the US manufacturers who add that feature only make it occur if you press the button 2x in succession.
- Tokkemon 6y agoOnce again, we get to grace ourselves with another Technology Connections video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA
- tnuc 6y agoPutting in orange lights costs auto makers money. Please think of the poor auto companies. Saving lives is less important than a companies bottom line.
- Someone1234 6y agoHave there been studies that looked at if different colors of indicator lights (vs. brakes) "save lives?"
- xondono 6y agoThat’s one of the things I miss the most of driving through america. Being able to make your car honk from your remote is magic to someone like my that always forgets where the car was parked. I’ve tried to see if I could turn that feature on on cars in Europe but so far, no luck.
- glxxyz 6y agoI don't use it much but there have been times it has saved me a lot of wandering around...
- fiddlerwoaroof 6y agoYeah, especially the couple times I forgot which floor of a parking garage my car was on.
- Simulacra 6y agoThe dealer will disable that for you. I couldn’t stand it, yes let’s tell everyone I just unlocked my car.
- Someone1234 6y agoUnless there is thick fog they can just see you with their eyes. There's security arguments for having it (i.e. confirming locking/detecting jamming) but pretending people cannot see you or otherwise hear you, but can hear a single honk isn't a realistic set of seemingly contradictory circumstances.
- glxxyz 6y agoI have a 2006 Accord that got a lot of things like this just right. First press: locks car and flashes hazards, with no sound. Second press within a couple of seconds: honks horn. If no flash and no sound: a door is open and it's refusing to lock. Most of the time I don't annoy anyone, but when I lose it in a car park I can get it to honk at me. Why is this so hard for other manufacturers?
- dx034 6y agoI like it for locking, especially on large parking lots where not one is bothered by it anyway. Most honks on double locking are short and not as loud as normal honking. I never used it in a residential area but for supermarket parking lots it's a nice feature and I can't see how it would bother anyone.
- mtVessel 6y agoI have never been able to fathom why anyone thought that hazard lights and turn indicators should be mutually exclusive.
- ShamelessC 6y agoIs there some other feature you can use to find your car in a parking lot? I have pretty bad ADD so this happens to me a lot, but I assume it happens every now and then to most people in any case.
- spanhandler 6y agoThe alarm. Not good for anything else, so may as well use it for that. Or pop the trunk if you can, and if it'll pop up high enough to be noticeable, and if you don't have anything in there someone might walk off with. Or that iPhone feature where it makes pretty decent guesses about when you're parking a car and tells you where it is.
- ShamelessC 6y agoI'm confused. Isn't the whole complaint that the honks are too loud? Isn't an alarm worse?
- spanhandler 6y agoIn, say, a major shopping chain suburban parking lot, anyone annoyed by a car alarm going off for five seconds is just looking for something to be annoyed by. Different story on a city street or in a neighborhood, sure.
- ShamelessC 6y agoOh. It sounds like we're in agreement on this issue.
- glxxyz 6y agoI thought that was the dumbest thing when I first moved to Canada. Then I bought a car and continued to think it was dumb for a couple of years before I realised that my car too used the brake lights to indicate. They aren't red indicators, the car just flashes the brake lights. There's no difference for the observer between indicating and a dodgy connection.
- heipei 6y agoWow, that's even worse, yeah.
- kube-system 6y ago> Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked I've never encountered a car in the US that honks when they're locked the first time -- but many domestic models honk when you lock them twice in quick succession. Many people like the feature, for audible confirmation that the vehicle is locked, or finding your car in a parking lot. Abusing the feature is also a suburban dad pastime. > have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-lights This one is a safety issue, and even US regulators own data shows that amber lights are safer. However, the US does have a minimum lamp size regulation that most other countries don't. I guess the original idea was to allow the combination of the two lights in exchange for a larger minimum lamp size.
- jabroni_salad 6y agoThose things are annoying but what's really bad is GM's insistence on a 'feature' where the white reverse lights are turned on after you exit the vehicle for illumination purposes. In the parking lot, it looks like it's about to move.
- globular-toast 6y agoWhat about that stupid beep when the door is open? Are you guys not capable of looking immediately to your left to see that the door is open?