J.P.

If they can do snakes on a plane, they can make a movie out of this

tex2670

I would watch that...

FrankReynoldsCPA

As long as it has Sam Jackson, I'm in.

The more I reread this article looking for some reason to cut these folks slack, the more I become convinced that they are not fit to be operating machinery.

chikoo

title call:

1. Octos in a car
2.
3.

Nextourer

Hmm, the Yaris and Corolla/Matrix don't have auto-unlock front door handles but the Prius, Camry, Avalon do. (As do all the SUVs and Sienna last time I checked). I've found Toyota tends to be more detailed-oriented and offer small features that don't appear in competitors' cars (like retained accessory power or a rear sunshade in the Gen 5 Camry or illuminated ignition keyhole & retractable overhead assist grips in the Gen 8 Corolla)

mmarshall

Decades ago, back in the early 1960s, many cars had a system where even if the door-lock buttons were pushed down all the way, it ONLY locked the doors so that one could not open them from the outside. If you pulled on the inside door latch while sitting down inside, even with the lock-button down, that would override the lock-latch and open the door. The 1963 Plymouth, for one, that I first learned to drive on was like that. Obviously, that was not good for kids, who tend to play around with things while the car was moving. If not belted in (and many cars back then didn't even have lap-belts), kids or absent-minded adults could accidentally open the doors and possibly fall out.

That changed with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, which contained a number of safety-requirements that Ralph Nader had advocated in his famous book "Unsafe at any Speed." Among other features, all cars, after that, had to have non-overriding latches that would not open from the inside even if the lock-button was down. A couple of decades later, this was extended to include the "Kiddie-Proof" locks where a secret lever, hidden in the door-jamb, deactivated the inside button, period....so that kids in back could not unlock the inside rear doors at all, even if the button was pulled up.

Aron9000

The doors in certain 80's-00's Fords are like that in the front. Stupid design because it makes the car very easy to break into with a metal rod. Especially on cars like the Mustang that had frameless door glass. Pull the window back a little, insert rod, pull door handle, you are in within 10 seconds.

mmarshall

Well, since you yourself saw it, I'll take your word for it, but I don't know how Ford, at that time, managed to get a design like that certified for sale in the U.S. market (unless it was for a non-U.S.version). Overriding inside latches were banned for U.S.-spec cars after the late 1960s.

Sulu

I don't suppose you are talking about those mushroom-shaped door lock buttons from the 1970s and early 1980s? If you locked your keys in the car, all you had to do was straigten out a coat hanger (take it from the coat hanger that replaced the broken whip antenna), twirl a loop in one end, jimmy it in to the car between the glass and door frame, work the loop around the mushroom cap and pull to unlock the car.

Then the automakers went to those door lock buttons without a cap and eventually to the swivelling lock button that is part of the inside door handle.

mmarshall

Good point, Sulu....I think you're correct that that's what Aron 9000 meant. The 1966 ban on overriding inside latches I described earlier did not specify how the button had to be shaped. And, yes, a button with a flared-top on it was a lot easier to jimmy with a coat-hanger loop than a smooth one.

1KhpWrx

iTrader: (7)

This is why old people need to stick to using the senior citizen shuttles and staying near leisure world.

sick21

I wouldn't really say they were senior citizens. Older, but not elderly.

LexBob2

Only a guess, but when you hit 65-68 your outlook will probably change. You might even stll be driving to and from work.

mmarshall

Not with the self-driving cars on the horizon.

Aron9000

No, I'm talking about that lovely ford design on the front doors, you push the little lock lever down flush with the top of the door trim. If you want to unlock the door you couldn't pull the lever up because it goes inside the door. To unlock it you pulled the door handle to open the door, maybe you had to pull the handle twice. I know Ford Rangers were like this, friend had a 90's model and his little bratty kid once just grabbed the door handle with it locked and the door flies open.

Newer Audis and VW's are like this, the locks are electric, only a little red dot at the top of the door to tell if its locked. You use the power lock button to lock/unlock the door, or just pull the inside door handle once or twice and it'll open. I don't know what happens if the electronics in the door short out or the battery goes dead, I assume there is still a mechanical linkage with the inside door handle to unlock it. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Germans found a way to redesign the door lock to make it completely electronic, they like to redesign stupid simple things that worked fine before to make them more complicated.