Volvo heartbeat sensor

[geminilee]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, but I thought this section was as good a place as any.
There is a commercial out now showing a new safety feature of Volvo cars. Apparently they have a heartbeat sensor in the car, to tell you if there is an insane rapist or mugger hiding in your back seat. In the commercial, a woman is walking across an empty parking lot late at night, and notices the little flashing light on her key fob letting her know there is someone in the car. Perhaps next they will have a sensor to tell you if someone is hiding under the car, waiting to slash your ankles with a blade?

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by geminilee

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, but I thought this section was as good a place as any.
There is a commercial out now showing a new safety feature of Volvo cars. Apparently they have a heartbeat sensor in the car, to tell you if there is an insane rapist or mugger hiding in your back seat. In the commercial, a woman is walking across an empty parking lot late at night, and notices the little flashing light on her key fob letting her know there is someone in the car. Perhaps next they will have a sensor to tell you if someone is hiding under the car, waiting to slash your ankles with a blade?

I think this would be better used to protect babies of the thoughtless morons who forget and leave thier kids in the car.

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

Originally Posted by geminilee

Apparently they have a heartbeat sensor in the car, to tell you if there is an insane rapist or mugger hiding in your back seat. ...Perhaps next they will have a sensor to tell you if someone is hiding under the car, waiting to slash your ankles with a blade?

But what if a zombie is in the car? Zombie's don't have heartbeats!

[justusfour]

Originally Posted by Spam & Cookies-mmm

But what if a zombie is in the car? Zombie's don't have heartbeats!

There went the rest of my Starbucks. YOMANK!

From another message board: "Yeah, but will it detected pulseless Archimedes-screw-based artificial hearts???"

[PallasAthena]

Oh, geminilee! You beat me to posting about this! I saw the commercial last night and just about peed myself from laughing so hard.

As far as detecting a baby's heartbeat, would it be sensitive enough for that? Because that might actually be useful. But crazies hiding in the backseat? Puhleeez.

[DrRocket]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

I think this would be better used to protect babies of the thoughtless morons who forget and leave thier kids in the car.

There is that. We've had at least 2 incidents in this burg in the past couple of years of that happening, sadly with fatal results.

My wife, a country gal who's mindful of security concerns in the big city actually thought this was a pretty cool idea.

[Banrion]

Let's not blow this out of proportion though. So far it is only a feature in a Safety Concept Car, not scheduled to be put into production as yet. Also, the UL does not appear to be the basis for the sensor, but the previous brought up situation of leaving a child in the car. The way this feature is designed, it will not alert you to someone hiding in the car, unless you are paranoid and ask it to check when you approach the car.

http://www.autoworld.com/apps/news/F...ry.asp?id=2814

Heartbeat sensor warns if anyone is inside the car

The heartbeat sensor registers the vibration of a beating heart - both human and animal. The sensor is activated if, for instance, a sleeping child has been left in the child seat and the driver locks the door. A signal is transmitted to the remote control unit, which alerts the driver via a combination of audible signals and vibration pulses.



The heartbeat sensor is also activated if anyone enters the car and hides inside it. In such a case, the driver is not alerted automatically; instead, he or she must manually request this information within a distance of 300 feet from the car.

[Morrigan]

Originally Posted by Spam & Cookies-mmm

But what if a zombie is in the car? Zombie's don't have heartbeats!

I was wondering about vampires....especially the ones who can start and stop their own hearts. That could really freak someone out...

Morrigan

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Banrion

Let's not blow this out of proportion though. So far it is only a feature in a Safety Concept Car, not scheduled to be put into production as yet. Also, the UL does not appear to be the basis for the sensor, but the previous brought up situation of leaving a child in the car. The way this feature is designed, it will not alert you to someone hiding in the car, unless you are paranoid and ask it to check when you approach the car.

http://www.autoworld.com/apps/news/F...ry.asp?id=2814

Then why would the commercial feature a woman walking alone across a parking lot at night only to turn around because the key fob said there was someone in the car? If it were to protect kids from being forgotten in the car, wouldn't you think it would show, I dunno, a kid? Being forgotten?

[Radical Dory]

Originally Posted by geminilee

Then why would the commercial feature a woman walking alone across a parking lot at night only to turn around because the key fob said there was someone in the car? If it were to protect kids from being forgotten in the car, wouldn't you think it would show, I dunno, a kid? Being forgotten?

Maybe child neglect isn't commercial enough?

My 1990 Volvo already has this safety feature, by the way. It's called a "window".

[Troberg]

Volvo safety is overrated. I have a messed up thumb nail, which happened because I closed a Volvo door on it.

Seriously, though, they have had a lot of problems, such as:

* Cars getting hit from the side being ripped in half just behind the front seats.
* Sudden spontaneous fires that sets the car ablaze in seconds (drivers have barely escaped by slamming the brakes and jumping out of the car as fast as possible).
* On some models, the front suspension fell apart if every bolt was not tightened after 10000 km or so.

Volvo is pretty safe, but not significantly safer than any other car in the same weight and price class. And I have my thumb to prove it!

[Bug Muldoon]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Volvo safety is overrated. I have a messed up thumb nail, which happened because I closed a Volvo door on it.

Seriously, though, they have had a lot of problems, such as:

* Cars getting hit from the side being ripped in half just behind the front seats.
* Sudden spontaneous fires that sets the car ablaze in seconds (drivers have barely escaped by slamming the brakes and jumping out of the car as fast as possible).
* On some models, the front suspension fell apart if every bolt was not tightened after 10000 km or so.

Volvo is pretty safe, but not significantly safer than any other car in the same weight and price class. And I have my thumb to prove it!

1 Open door
2 Leave vehicle
3 Close door

Not rocket science, Troberg

And I'd like some sources on your claims. Spontaneous combustion in production cars sounds a bit UL-ish.

[Troberg]

1 Open door
2 Leave vehicle
3 Close door

Not rocket science, Troberg

I was ten years old at the time.

And I'd like some sources on your claims. Spontaneous combustion in production cars sounds a bit UL-ish.

I saw that on some consumer information show on TV. Apparently, the problem eventually was found to be some electrical failure that caused it to flood with petrol, eventually overspilling into a hot area. Or something like that. There had been around ten such incidents, most of them in Germany.

Actually, cars catching fire is not that uncommon. Heaters, especially petrol fueled, are a notorious culprit.

[lavender blue]

If it makes you feel any better, Troberg, I too have smashed my thumb in a Volvo car door when I was around 10. Except my sister closed the door, not me. No permanent damage, but it did involve a trip to the Emergency room, missing half my softball season, and a wonky looking thumbnail for a while.

Strangely enough, I came away more convinced of Volvo's safety, just because anything that caused that much hurt had to be built solid!

[me, no really]

The automobile association here says that most incidents of kids being locked in cars in modern times occur when they are in the car, and have found the keys to play with, and press the button. They are locked in, and don't know how to unlock the car, and the parents are now locked away from the keys. The obvious solution is to not leave keys where the kids can get them. A technological solution would be to have a key lock that doesn't have a button, maybe the car locks automatically whenever the key fob goes out of range or something, so if the keys are in the car it doesn't lock (unless you deliberately want it to by pressing a traditional lock down, or manipulating a control on the dash board or something).

me

[Troberg]

If it makes you feel any better, Troberg, I too have smashed my thumb in a Volvo car door when I was around 10. Except my sister closed the door, not me.

Actually, it was my sister who smashed my thumb as well. Perhaps it's sisters who are the real risk?

The automobile association here says that most incidents of kids being locked in cars in modern times occur when they are in the car, and have found the keys to play with, and press the button. They are locked in, and don't know how to unlock the car, and the parents are now locked away from the keys. The obvious solution is to not leave keys where the kids can get them. A technological solution would be to have a key lock that doesn't have a button, maybe the car locks automatically whenever the key fob goes out of range or something, so if the keys are in the car it doesn't lock (unless you deliberately want it to by pressing a traditional lock down, or manipulating a control on the dash board or something).

My father had a Corvette that worked like that. Just get the lock remote close to it and it unlocked, walk away and it locked.

Originally Posted by Troberg

Actually, it was my sister who smashed my thumb as well. Perhaps it's sisters who are the real risk?



My father had a Corvette that worked like that. Just get the lock remote close to it and it unlocked, walk away and it locked.

You are correct but it didn't last long. They only had it for two years, 97 & 98My 98 had that feature and it worked perfectly but there were so many problems with it the did away with that feature in 99

[RickRS]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Actually, it was my sister who smashed my thumb as well. Perhaps it's sisters who are the real risk?

I don't have any sisters and I have never gotten a thumb or finger smashed in a car door. Proof that sisters ARE a risk to one's digits.