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!
Comments
It’s not a FOBulous idea
I’m sorry, but this is the moment I say…
Smart car? Smart my ass
My Lexus beeps annoyingly about the key being missing if it goes out of range when the car is on, which is good to know. It happened occasionally when driving when the fob battery was low too (solved by moving the key around). Another good feature is that you can’t lock the car if the key is inside it or a door is open, so no accidentally locking it in the car either.
Could this have something to do with the fob’s battery life? Like if the car and key ‘talked’ to each other too often it could maybe lead to the fob’s battery emptying sooner?
I found out my real key won’t even start the car without the transponder being present.
2006 Mazdaspeed 6
This info+ tile= fun game of hot and cold!
Mine makes a really annoying buzz and says Ford key not detected, this happens even if I get out and stand next to my car while it’s running..
Ive drivin a VW jetta an hour down the highway with no fob and it wasn’t until i shut the car off at the store, did i realize it wasn’t in the car.
We all know that 1 as*hole that might throw the key fob out the window as a joke, possibly while drunk.
My dad asked me to get the oil in his fiancé’s new (at the time) explorer changed. She drove over and left the car running since I met her outside. Since she need only have the keys in her purse to start the car, I drove the 20 miles to the dealer without the key. When I realized what had happened, the guys at the dealer were nice enough to work on the car and change the oil while my dad delivered the key.
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