Archives

Hey,

I discovered something a while ago, maybe Manuel can answer it, maybe nobody can without research. It may have a safety side effect, which is why I mention it.

I had left my HCH-II parked in my garage with the windows open. Just on a whim I reached inside and tried to open the door from the inside handle. It would not work. The door lock/unlock button also would not work. The manual lock/unlock rocker next to the door lock handle ALSO would not work. I am guessing the lock computer (everything has a computer now, right?) determined there were no occupants in the seats, so no commands on interior controls were valid, and disabled them.

The safety concern is that if the car were upside down, you would not be sitting on the seat sensors, and the door controls could be totally disabled, and you couldn't get out.

(I think about stuff like this as my daughter totalled my first HCH-II a while ago, and she had to crawl out the window. I have no idea whether this particular situation had anything to do with the seat sensor/lock thing, but it did make a connection in my mind when I discovered the above behavior.

I can see the OBVIOUS security aspects of disabling inside door controls, it would make it WAY harder to break in with coat hangers, etc.

So, has anyone else noticed this lock behavior? (Note: This behavior may require the car to sit for several minutes before the lock controls are disabled, which may mitigate any safety concerns. When I discovered this, it had sat overnight in my garage.)

One other trick I have discovered is if you leave the key in the ignition, you CANNOT lock the doors with the lock/unlock button. I thought that was really CUTE!

Jon

Hi Jon;

That is precisely why I disable the AUTO door lock on every car I have (HCH-II or Prius). In other words, if there are people in the car then I want the locks to be in the unlocked position. No exceptions.

However, in case of an accident the windows should still open on command provided that the driver side override switch allows for it.

Cheers;

MSantos

Hi Jon;

That is precisely why I disable the AUTO door lock on every car I have (HCH-II or Prius). In other words, if there are people in the car then I want the locks to be in the unlocked position. No exceptions.

However, in case of an accident the windows should still open on command provided that the driver side override switch allows for it.

Cheers;

MSantos

Hmmm, that is an interesting point. I will have to experiment with this. After a really serious accident, the windows may not work, if the battery gets smashed or wires cut. On previous cars, the door locks had a direct mechanical linkage. My feeling from trying these handles, etc. is that the door handles are just switches (door handles by-wire??) as manually flipping the lock thing next to the door handle and pulling the handle did not open the door. It may be that these handles are indeed mechanical, but were overridden by the door lock control.

Anyway, what I saw didn't absolutely indicate this had ANYTHING to do with whether the doors were locked or not! I THINK the car was actually unlocked, but can't be sure. I will have to try this again.

Thanks,

Jon

This is actually the security computer, you locked the doors, alarm sets. Vandal walks by and presses unlock, nothing happens, they manually open the lock, alarm goes off.

The machines aren't out to get us. If overturned the key would be in the ignition, car is incapable of auto-locking w/o going faster than ~9mph or shifting out of park