Cooked to death in an Audi

[idun]

What a terrible thing to have happened. Two brothers got home from a nightclub, the eldest got out of the car and locked it and the younger, a little the worse for wear stayed in the car. If someone had thought of him the next morning it could have been OK, but there is a canicule and he died.

No way of getting out of the locked car, no way to blow the horn and there was no brise glace in the car, although would he have known if there was?

Apparently big expensive cars have these secure systems these days.

So sad.

[Théière]

The horn normally works no matter what, likewise hazard lights and a good kick of a window will burst it unless unconscious first

[idun]

No the horn is not meant to work and didn't,  there was a full report on french news. The only suggestion was a brise glace in the car.

From the sound of it, it would have been hard to try and kick the windows out too, also as he was drunk, depending on what time he awoke, if he did then he may not have had any energy to try.

 

 

[nomoss]

For those in doubt, the story is here

http://www.turbo.fr/actualite-automobile/442972-divers-mort-audi-a6-piege-systeme-verrouillage/

[idun]

Sadly, just what I said.

What a nightmare for the young man concerned,  and his family, well, the times I think my son is in bed and don't disturb him after a night out, so I understand them not not knowing he wasn't in the house.

On tv they showed the road the car was parked on. Little used and if anyone  was passing wouldn't know that there was anyone in the car.

I thought that if a girl had been locked in she could have written M'aider on the window in lipstick and maybe someone may have seen.

 

 

[nomoss]

The story does sound a bit porous though, doesn't it?

[idun]

Porous? No, sadly these bad and what I consider bizarre accidents happen. It could end up on a '1000 ways to die' as it  I would hope, be very unusual.

[Bugsy]

Its a bit suspect given that most, if not all newish VAG group vehicles can be opened from inside when the car is locked simply by pulling the door opening mechanism twice.

Simples.

.

[Christine Animal]

It said in the article I read that one click locks from outside, but you can still open from inside.  Two clicks locks from inside and outside.  They said that the brother must have therefore clicked twice.  Peculiar story though.

 

[idun]

Just as Christine Animal has said. They showed this on french news, locking with the zapper, once for locking, twice for sealing one's brother's fate!!!! and that is how it is meant to work. And they said that this was how the security worked on other expensive cars.

The only time it will ever bother me is if I win the lottery as there isn't a cat in xxxx's chance I'd ever be able to afford one otherwise.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Bugsy"]Its a bit suspect given that most, if not all newish VAG group vehicles can be opened from inside when the car is locked simply by pulling the door opening mechanism twice. Simples. .[/quote]

OK I know that my VAG vehicle at 2002 cannot be described as newish but in France it still is, I bet their Audi A6 wasnt any newer.

In any case after removing the keys from the ignition and opening and closing a door the vehicle will deadlock after a few minutes, the horn will not work and the dors are firmly deadlocked, one, two or fifty pulls on the doorhandle, done i guess for security.

Mine has another peculiarity, the door open switch on the pasenger door often doesnt seem to activate the courtesy light although it comes on for a timed period after removing the ignition key or remotely unlocking the doors, in the latter case if i open the drivers door to remove something or once in a blue moon to spend the night in the vehicle (aire de repos on an autoroute) the doors will remain unlocked, in fact I often will press the central locking button which IIRC can only be done with the ignition key if I open the passenger door, usually to remove stuff from the interior or glovebox the doors will automatically deadlock within a couple of minutes, I worry that I may one day absent mindedly leave the keys on the seat and be locked out, for that reason I have a spare hidden underneath

It is possible that one day I may kip down in the vehicle perhaps leaving the lights on or with a defective alternator diode and find myself in the same position as the unfortunate fêtard, my key hidden underneath would not help me but i would not panic, I am prepared for the eventuality and know how to get out without breaking anything.

Editted: I have just seen about the news reports so it would seem it was a later Audi or in any case to work as Bugbear detailed, if that was the case then the brother would appear to have committed the perfect crime. I do agree about the suspicious circumstances to take till late aftrenoon to find the body does seem strange unless the whole foyer were overhung.

My previous loosely VAG vehicle, an Alhambra would automatically switch on the vehicle alarm if I locked myself in to grab some kip, when I moved in my sleep the interior movement sensor  would set off the alarm [:'(]

It is however ironic that our vehicles are now harder to break out of than in to!

[sid]

I think this is how many cars work today. Even my Renault Megane Estate has a deadlocking facility, a double click of the fob (as opposed to the normal single click) deadlocks the doors; this prevents the car from being broken into by breaking the door glass and then operating the interior door handle. The interior motion detector would then be operative though, so I guess that if the occupant didn't move because he'd already passed out then that would be the end!

The driver is responsible though!

I'll do an experiment tomorrow to check this ... thinks... make sure Madame Sid is around!

[idun]

The Audi bloke said that the only answer was to have a brise glace in the car in order to get out.

And please, none of you experiment unless you really can get out or someone trusted can help you. It really would be terrible if you died 'just checking up'.

[Théière]

Whilst it is a sad story, the occupant must surely have expired before having tried to escape, car doors are incredibly easy to bend at the top of the door frame especially when you can brace yourself against the inside.

[Rabbie]

Most modern cars will set the alarm on when they are locked so if he had moved it should have activated the alarm

[Théière]

best wait for the autopsy

[Chancer]

Agreed about the alarm and also had he been conscious and in good form his survival instinct would have made him find his way to bend the door even if it was not something that he would have thought of.

I suspect that the outcome would have been the same had he been sleeping it off under a tin roof or in a greenhouse or tent none of which would have imprisoned him.

Not much of a furore in any case, now if he had been a dog [:P]

Or much worse a child [:(]

[Christine Animal]

[quote user="Théière"]The horn normally works no matter what, likewise hazard lights and a good kick of a window will burst it unless unconscious first[/quote]

It doesn't look as if it's that easy to smash a window.

http://video.autodeclics.com/video/iLyROoaf8uZ_.html

 

[AnOther]

[quote user="Chancer"]In any case after removing the keys from the ignition and opening and closing a door the vehicle will deadlock after a few minutes, the horn will not work and the dors are firmly deadlocked, one, two or fifty pulls on the doorhandle, done i guess for security........I open the passenger door, usually to remove stuff from the interior or glovebox the doors will automatically deadlock within a couple of minutes.[/quote]Same car but a year newer but mine does not exhibit this behaviour. If I lock myself in with the remote I can still open any door from inside but it sets the alarm off, it makes no difference whether I press the remote lock once or twice. True the horn doesn't work anymore but the 4 way hazard flashers do.

The only time it will self lock is if I have remotely unlocked it but not subsequently opened a door within a minute or so which is perfectly logical and a safeguard against it becoming accidentally unlocked by the act of putting the key in a pocket or bag and knocking it.

The only thing which may be different on mine to Chancers is that I have had the motion autolock turned off, the 'facility' (if you can call it that!), for the doors to automatically lock shortly after you have moved off, it drove me nuts !

As a total aside, did you know that on most cars with central locking and electric windows manually locking with the key but holding it in the lock position for a few seconds will close all open windows and usually an electric sunroof too ?

[sid]

The point there ANO is that you probably can't lock yourself in if you have the remote in your possession, at least that's how mine works; the remote is sensed inside the car (mine is "main libres" so there is a detector). It's entirely different if the car is locked from the outside and the fob is taken away from detection distance leaving a person inside.

Yes, the deadlocking action on mine (and many others), the double-click also closes the windows.

[Frenchie]

I'm thinking of that poor guy, how distressed he must have been.....

And the family now.. they were inside the house, not knowing what was happening outside...

Hope this will lead to a radical change in the conception of this system.

[sid]

The problem with foolproof systems is that some fool always comes along to prove it wrong!

[Christine Animal]

Then you can't leave a child or a dog in one of these cars and lock the doors as it also closes the windows?

It seems as if the antivol obsession has become more important than the security of those using the car.

 

[Théière]

[quote user="Christine Animal"]

[quote user="Théière"]The horn normally works no matter what, likewise hazard lights and a good kick of a window will burst it unless unconscious first[/quote]

It doesn't look as if it's that easy to smash a window.

http://video.autodeclics.com/video/iLyROoaf8uZ_.html

[/quote]

Best to avoid macho pretty boys in those situations, especially the dope in the vest with no arm protection!

The big difference is they are trying to batter the glass in, flexing the top of the door out (from the inside) is a lot easier and the door frames around the window are only thin and bend really easily as 11 people in the underground car park in Croydon SE London will testify following the riots the other day.

Best go with the slightly Geeky types in an emergency, pretty boys are only good for looking at (from your perspective) [;-)] and would be too worried about breaking a nail to be of any real use [:D]

[AnOther]

[quote user="sid"]

The point there ANO is that you probably can't lock yourself in if you have the remote in your possession, at least that's how mine works; the remote is sensed inside the car (mine is "main libres" so there is a detector). It's entirely different if the car is locked from the outside and the fob is taken away from detection distance leaving a person inside.[/quote]

I can't comment on your "main libres", I have no idea what it means for a start, but my remote keyfob is not actively sensed in any way from outside the car and does nothing whatsoever unless a button is pressed. The sensing you may be thinking of is the transponder built into the key which has to be 'seen' by the car in order to be able to start it but that is something entirely different and means that it has to be in very close proximity the dashboard, essentially in the ignition, to operate.