On Sat, 25 Aug 2012 19:24:32 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:45:33 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:44:35 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:32:20 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Last four or five cars I've had the door lock when you put the shift
lever in Drive.

We rent a lot of cars and that is the first setup option we turn off.

Why? They unlock too. I don't find it a problem either way. If you
are in a bad area, locked doors can be a good thing.

I just don't want the doors locked. I can think of as many bad things
it can cause as I can things it fixes.


I don't like the auto-locking. My '97 Lumina locks all doors as soon
as you start it. The after-market alarm can be programmed otherwise,
but my wife drives it mostly, so my son set it up that way, and I
agree.
I don't like the "trapped" feel, but at least there's still a
mechanical unlock lever. The power windows bother me more when I
think about being underwater in the crate.
That was my uncle's reason for not wearing seatbelts. When they first
got common I took him fishing in my '64 bug. My best friend had
recently been killed when he flipped his '53 Pontiac on the DC
beltway. Tossed out and the car rolled on him and cut off his legs.
Three other guys in the car were only bruised.
So I started using the belt. Felt better anyway after I got used to
it.
So I get into the bug with my uncle and fasten my belt.
He actually got all apoplectic that I was so dumb.
Said "What if you go in the river?!?!!!
I either ignored him or told him to shut up, can't remember.
One of cable shows did a piece a few years ago on how Floridians
should attach a center punch to a string on the dash in case they end
up in a canal. I vacation in canal land every year, and have thought
about doing that. Never got around to it.