Dozens of people have died because of the Start/Stop button on their cars.
At least 28 people are believed to have died in the US due to keyless start-stop ignition systems. Accidents occur when people forget to turn off their engines.
Keyless ignition systems are becoming increasingly common, but they can also cause tragedies in certain situations.
The newspaperNew York Times (NYT)Reports indicate that at least 28 people have died in the US from inhaling carbon monoxide (CO) from vehicle emissions. At least 45 people have been injured, and some have suffered brain damage as a result.
Keyless ignition systems are present on half of the new car models sold in the US market today. While convenient, this feature is a silent killer if the driver forgets to turn off the engine when parking in a garage.
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| Keyless ignition buttons are "silent killers". |
This is entirely possible, especially with quiet-running cars. If the garage is connected to a closed house, the exhaust fumes from the car will poison everyone in the house.
Despite the increasing number of fatalities, most car manufacturers have no safety measures in place to prevent vehicles from emitting CO in undesirable circumstances.
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| Many people forget to turn off their engines when they go inside because the car runs so quietly. |
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) once called for keyless ignition systems to be equipped with the ability to warn the owner when the vehicle is still running, but this call was not well received.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also issued new regulations requiring similar changes, but many automakers are still ignoring them.
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| Some of Ford's newer models are equipped with an automatic engine shut-off feature. |
However, some newer Ford models have the ability to automatically shut off the engine if the car is idling for 30 minutes and the key is not in the vehicle.
The reason automakers are reluctant to add this safety feature is because it could cost them around $500,000 per year.
