What Happens If A Keyless Fob 'Escapes' A Car While It's Being Driven?

There’s a fascinating book from the 19th Century called “The Imp of the Perverse”, written by Edgar Allan Poe. It revolves around self destructive impulses, personified by the titular Imp, a devious creature who wishes to tempt us into doing things “merely because we feel we should not.”

How does this relate to cars? Well, I reckon the whole Imp of the Perverse thing crops up a hell of a lot with cars. For instance, surely everyone who’s driven a car with an electronic handbrake has considered flicking the switch when they’re moving?

Then there’s the dubious arena of keyless ignition systems. What if you perhaps lobbed the fob out of the car while you’re moving? Happily, you don’t need to satisfy the Imp/your own weird curiosity, as this YouTuber has done exactly that under safe circumstances to see what happens.

The car still runs, of course (it’d cause all sorts of safety issues if the engine would merely cut out after losing signal), but worryingly no messages are displayed to warn the driver of the missing key. The Ford Fusion used in the test does at least put out a warning if the key is removed before the car is moving, eradicating the more likely issue of driving off without the key in the first place.

It’s worth pointing out that not all keyless systems will behave this way. Some are known to produce a warning message if the signal to the key is lost while driving, while others can be fairly rubbish about giving any sort of alert.

Have you ever had any keyless ignition related issues? Let us know below!