Posted on 01/17/2016 4:42:18 PM PST by Graybeard58
This document establishes new Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) No. 401; Internal trunk release, that requires all new passenger cars with trunks be equipped with a release latch inside the trunk compartment beginning September 1, 2001.
Instead of a release latch, this document also permits the installation of an alternative system such as a passive trunk release system which would detect the presence of a human in the trunk and would automatically unlatch the trunk lid. During the summer of 1998, eleven children died when they inadvertently trapped themselves in the trunk of a car. This new standard will provide children and others who find themselves trapped inside a passenger car trunk a chance to get out of the trunk alive.
You are free to buy a car from another manufacturer that has the kind of trunk opener you like.
Way back when, this used to be called "voting with your dollars".
>>You are free to buy a car from another manufacturer that has the kind of trunk opener you like.
>>Way back when, this used to be called “voting with your dollars”.
That works for the people who just view a car as transportation (i.e. females and feminized men) and one is the same as any other. But cars are one of those items that is more than just the sum of its practical functions.
So, if I want a Mustang and Ford decides to put the automatic trunk opener in all its vehicles, then I will have to pay for it.
Also, back when it was known as “voting with your dollars”, things like this were called “options”. Now, they all become standard equipment and once one manufacturer does it, there is an army of feminized men and radicalized women who demand that the same device be installed in every car “fo duh chilluns”.
Redundant braking systems, too. Diagonal FL-RR / FR-RL dual master cylinders. It was a cheap addition, but avoids a single point of brake failure.
Call it the “Fort Marcy Park Release”
” kidnapped people “
I remember when both cell phones, and carjackings were relatively new. Some geniuses put their victim in the trunk, a few miles down the road, it occurred to them that he might have kept a phone, in there. They pulled over, and popped the lid. Happily, that was where he kept his shotgun. One of the two lived to go to prison . . .
Thanks, the list is virtually endless. 90% of the improvements were VERY CHEAP and had great bang for the buck. The others...more political than smart.
Amazing amount of knee-jerk reaction your posting prompted.
“Detectâ€, “Automaticallyâ€....sounds electronic to me.
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That one is electronic but it’s not mandated, it’s “allowed”.
Amazing amount of knee-jerk reaction your posting prompted.
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Yes. The article mentioned 11 children died in 1998 in car trunks. Would an inside latch have saved a few of them and be a good thing? I bet the parents of those 11 children believe so.
I’m glad I showed my g/children this simple mechanism, even if none of them have been locked in a car trunk.
Biz doesn’t NOT do something because of the bottom line (bad publicity alone can kill a company).
IF things were so great/grand, it wouldn’t require a govt MANDATE to make it happen; biz would jump to say, “Look at feature XYZ, for a few $.xx/$xx.xx more vs. our competition”
Want to make a automobile ‘safe’? Don’t allow them to be built, driven by humans, driven over 55 MPH, driven in adverse weather conditions...
Your male insecurities may leave you wanting a car which compensates for your own feminization, but I tend to think of a vehicle in terms of practical aspects.
Before you think I should turn in my man card, lets compare a few things. How many elk carcasses have you had in the bed of your pickup? How about deer? How many chain saws fit in the trunk of that Mustang? How many cords of wood?
Can you tow your backhoe with the Mustang?
Want to arm wrestle?
>>Before you think I should turn in my man card, lets compare a few things. How many elk carcasses have you had in the bed of your pickup? How about deer? How many chain saws fit in the trunk of that Mustang? How many cords of wood?
Trucks don’t have trunks, so they are not relevant to this discussion. I have an F-150. We don’t have elk in Florida, but I have hauled deer carcasses.
>>That one is electronic but it’s not mandated, it’s “allowedâ€.
The third brake light and air bags were once “allowed” too. Once one manufacturer decides to install them, it tends to lobby for making them mandatory.
Third brake light was not “allowed” and was never popular. Nor did any manufacturer lobby for it to be made mandatory. Likewise airbags - in the decade preceding the airbag mandate, NO cars had airbags.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/10/05/man-found-dead-from-gunshot-in-burning-car-identified/
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940907&slug=1929231
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/theres-an-escape-release-in-your-car-trunk
Sadly, it’s not just a Hollywood thing and it is getting surprisingly more common.
>>Yeah, actually, some trucks do have trunks. This is a 2002 Lincoln Blackwood truck.
The Chevrolet Avalanche is a better example of an exception that has no real relevance in this discussion.
>>Third brake light was not “allowed†and was never popular. Nor did any manufacturer lobby for it to be made mandatory. Likewise airbags - in the decade preceding the airbag mandate, NO cars had airbags.
So, the question is this: do you want to pay for a piece of standard equipment that will detect the presence of a person in your trunk and automatically open it? How often does a person get locked in your trunk that can’t find the glow in the dark trunk release? Is this a solution in search of a problem?
I think that it is a silly accessory. Apparently, quite a few FRReepers think that it is has value. What do you say? Would you pay an extra $50 for this feature?
The Blackwood's "bed" is fully upholstered and opens by remote. It's a trunk.
GM made an Envoy and a few others with trunks or trunk-like fitments. The Chevrolet SSR is another perfect example of a truck with a trunk.
Sorry, dude. Trucks *have* come with trunks.
>>Third brake light was not “allowed†and was never popular. Nor did any manufacturer lobby for it to be made mandatory.
For a thing this “not popular”, I can’t seem to find a car made in the last 20 years that doesn’t have one. GM put these things in their cars first. Then they became mandatory. Do you really think that there was no lobbying going on to make them mandatory?
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