Keyless safety problem?

You didn't say whether you forgot to press the Power button, or if the car stayed On after you pressed the Power button. I have seen the car stay On if you press the Power button before the vehicle is completely stopped. Regardless, my comment is that you simply need to be focused on the task at hand. My habit is to look for the shutdown screen that shows the trip statistics (miles driven, cost of fuel used, etc.) before I open the door. Also, I have my door locks set to auto unlock upon selecting Park, so I also note the doors unlocking when I press the Power button.

 

there have been a few complaints with all mfg.'s keyless ignitions, and even a lawsuit or two. but 99.999999% of people have no troubles, and they aren't likely to change soon. the worst ones are the non hybrids where the engine keeps running.

 

It does take some time to get used to it. So many things we go are muscle memory without actively thinking about it. I recommend not using the power button to automatically shift into park, even though it does work. If you develop a habit pattern of always reaching to the park button and putting the car in park before stepping out of the car you shouldn't have any more problems.

Active monitoring!

 

doesn't the car start moving when you take your foot off the brake?

 

The keyless entry system in a Prius II, Roman numerals 2 instead of spelled out Two because I don't care , will take time to get used to. Contrary to above, I recommend against using the Park button. I actively trained myself to never use the Park button and always the Power button. If I walk away from the car without turning off it will beep, creep forward and make the spaceship sound. If I walk away in Park I might not notice and the car stays on all night.

 

if i tried to get out of my car while in drive, the creep would break my ankles. i don't see how it's possible.

 

It's still a case of needing to actively monitor and pay attention to the car's status. If a driver always uses the power button instead of the park button because they have a habit of leaving the car powered, then it's an attempt to compensate for forgetting to power down.

Do what aviators (NASA and professional pilots) do: have a process, pay attention, and do things in a safe and similar way every time. This builds good habits, and prevents accidents.

Have a mental flow (checklist):

1. Stop car
2. Push park button (verify display indicates Park)
3. Set parking brake
4. Release brake pedal
5. Push power button (verify car powered down)
6. Exit car

 

Toyota could have put a sensor in the driver seat that could sense that there's no driver and then turn the car off .

 

...I would not want to be in a car equipped with such a sensor when the sensor failed while traveling at highway speeds.

 

We'll have to disagree. I'm applying poka-yoke to the problem to eliminate actively monitoring and paying attention. Poka-yoke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It's not compensating for forgetting to power down, it prevents it from happening in the first place. Given the choice of discipline (put square pegs in square slots and circle pegs in circle slots) or eliminating the problem (make the slots fit both pegs), I will always choose the latter. The added benefit is, it takes a 6 step process and reduces it to a 5 step process Decreasing complexity, increasing first pass yield, and decreasing rework.

 

There is nothing wrong with your way, until the day you need to change your routine. The day you need to go into park and stay in the car for awhile, and keep the power on for the radio, cooling or heat, you are likely to exit the car once again still powered up. If this is the threat (exiting with power on) you are trying to prevent.

The truth is, though the electronic switches setup Toyota created is cool, futuristic, and I like it, they should have kept the park position on the shift lever. Then this would not be an issue. Everyone already has the habit of putting a lever in park after stopping.

Cheers!

 

i suspect that it is impossible to exit the car while in drive, and we may have been trolled.

see the o/p's second paragraph in post #3. "i open the door, the car starts to move forward, i hop back in and hit the brake'. how far, beyond opening the door did he get, as the car rolled forward?

for that matter, you could do the same thing in any car if you're senile enough. there are plenty of cars in which you cannot hear the engine running.

 

I wish that was true, but twice a very long time ago I exited a car while still in drive. So I know it could happen to a Prius.

Here is how it goes:

1 stop car
2 open door with right foot still on brake pedal
3. Step out of car with left foot and hand on door handle
4 lift yourself up with left foot and left hand
5 as full weight is on left foot, continue to stand up, releasing right foot from brake pedal.
6. You are now on both feet outside if car and it starts rolling away.

I managed to jump back in both times. It was very scary. After the second time I developed my active monitoring, mental checklist to be sure I see the park position displayed before opening door.

 

Yeah, I've done it before too. I opened the door and the car creeped and I heard the spaceship sound so I never stepped out.

 

i'm not saying you can't open the door and take your foot off the brake. but if you can get out of a prius, you can get out of any car in drive.

 

Speak for yourself. No one in my household has that habit ingrained.

The last time I had a vehicle with Park on the shift lever was more than 30 years ago. My spouse has never lived in a household with such a vehicle.

I.e., except for Prius, all our vehicles have a stick shift and clutch. Just like the majority of Planet Earth. North America is an exception.

 

I agree - this sure doesn't sound too smart... I hate to sound like a jerk - but pay attention to the warning signal.

Why is it that you can pay attention to a dinging - but not a warning signal???

This "problem" that you describe is ENTIRELY the responsibility of the operator. The last thing we need on our cars is MORE interlocks.

One rarely exits the car with it in Drive. Sometime about the time that you're unbuckling the seat belt, you should be putting the car in park.

Again, I hate to sound like a jerk (but I will anyway): If you can't figure this stuff out- please do all the other drivers on the road a favor and retire your keys and driving privileges...

 

EXACTLY!!!