Report of cars being started in a way that "bypasses the ignition system" I think they probably mean that it acts like a substitute key fob, but that video isn't exactly big on details. Anyway, it got me thinking. Many places where one might place a kill switch would cause big problems if the added circuit failed while driving. For instance, a kill switch in the power wire going to the fuel pump - if that added switch or wiring fails on the highway it will be, exciting. So what I'm wondering is how one might wire a kill switch in for a Prius so that it only disables starting the car. I guess that makes it more of an enable switch than a kill switch. There is a simple way to almost do that. Cut into the wire from the start switch and add a momentary switch to restore that connection. Then the car only starts if that new switch is pressed at the same time as the start switch. Unfortunately it doesn't quite meet the desired goal, because both the added switch and the start button must also be pressed simultaneously to turn the car off. It is also attached in a very obvious place, and a skilled thief might know to check the wires near that button for modifications. If there is just a simple switch there they can jumper around it, or cut it out and twist the wires together, either way quickly removing the modification. Bonus points if the modification honks the horn when the start button is pressed without also pressing the kill switch. But again, only when starting the vehicle.
BAD idea, as the power button is also used to turn the car off. I would not want to have to jump through hoops - or be unable to power the car down - during a high stress event (emergency). Yesterday's "gee-whiz" supertech becomes tomorrow's "ho-hum" obsolete. Security and thieves are constantly evolving - defense vs attack. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I agree and should have been clearer in the post about it. The stop button already caused me a fair amount of stress the first time the combination meter failure broke the normal "one push of start button while running turns car off" behavior. I'm sitting in the car, it won't turn off, no cell phone on me to search for an answer. It finally dawned on me that since the car was more or less a computer with motors that it would probably turn off if the button was held down for a long time, and luckily that worked. To this day I'm not sure what one would do if that method also failed, since unhooking the 12V battery won't matter once the car is in READY. Start pulling fuses until the car dies? Seems like a really bad idea to try to remove a fuse while 10A (or whatever) is going through it. It's going to arc, and it might weld the fuse in place. Remove the safety switch on the battery? Again, while it has current moving through it? No thank you. While this shut off problem is entirely hypothetical, it is what one would encounter if the start button switch failed while the vehicle was in READY.
