Keyless Engine Start Has Allegedly Caused 28 American Deaths

Keyless engine start technology is being blamed for at least 28 deaths in the USA after owners parked their car in their garage and forgot to cut the engine

Matt Kimberley

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

Keyless Engine Start Has Allegedly Caused 28 American Deaths

Keyless car entry and start systems are being held responsible for ‘at least 28’ carbon monoxide poisoning deaths in the US.

After recently being accused of allowing an easy way for thieves to steal your car in seconds without even using force, keyless start is now coming under fire because a small number of Americans are apparently forgetting to turn their engines off.

After parking in their garage they simply exit the car and go about their day, according to a New York Times investigation. The idling engine then slowly fills the house with deadly carbon monoxide. The number of tragic and unnecessary deaths is still under review.

A report quoted by the newspaper says that keyless start, which means drivers don’t need to remove the car’s key from a bag or pocket, is now standard on almost half of all new vehicles sold in the US. Evidently engine tech is now so advanced that people can’t hear them running in an enclosed space.

Ford is reportedly introducing a safety net that will cut the engine after 30 minutes of idling if the key isn’t detected in the car, but other car makers are said to be against the idea.

Source: New York Times

Comments

I’m probably going to get flack for this, but here goes…..
I’m suprised this hasn’t happened sooner. What with cars automating a majority of their functions on new cars (lights, wipers etc) it wasn’t going to take long for people to take things for granted that the car does alot of the ‘work’ for you. I bet you have all seen idiots driving with no lights on for example, because the dash is alight and the assumption of the lights being on is there. Engine start/ stop is another one. People clearly assume the engine will switch itself off when you are out of the car or parked.
It’s a balls up on two fronts, Manufacturers and Owners.
The manufacturers who haven’t:

Added fail safes into their cars already to prevent laziness or oversights from customers.
1. Properly informed owners of how the systems work as they don’t always read the manuals.
  And the owners:
2. The owners for being lazy/ stupid/ ill informed in the first place to think the car will do everything.
3. Not reading up or asking for info on these systems so they know how to work them and react accordingly.

Just my thoughts on this, so i may be wrong.

Ive left a hybrid car running once and hit the lock doors button on the smart key. All the car did was beep at me once. And no engine noise because hybrid. With headlights off the only way i could tell it was still on was by peering at the instrument cluster.

Having fancy technology is great but big things come with big responsibility

America explain!

Because my country is unfortunately all about convenience.

Haha, what a bunch of idiots. Im sorry but this is natural selection at its finest.

yessir!

Sorry but would NOT happen with a europeean vehicle like a Peugeot.

How do you even manage to do that? I’ve driven a Toyota Auris once and it just takes off as soon as you take your foot off the break. I mean, honestly, call me biased, but only Americans are stupid enough to not notice their cars driving off.

Eh… not quite. Maybe re-read the article… They are leaving the cars running in their Garage, which is causing their Houses to fill up with carbon monoxide.