Alarm went off when in car!

[moorej999]

My wife took out our TM3 with our baby in the back seat. The baby fell asleep and then my wife pulled over, parked, locked the door, turned off her phone and had a nap as well. When the baby woke, she opened the car door and the alarm went off! It was so loud we are concerned that it damaged the baby’s hearing! I realize turning off the phone - disconnected it from the car - but the software should have known there was someone in the car when it was locked from inside and someone was also sitting in the front seat. I’m my view this is a bug.

What is the best way to report this?

 

[Casmium]

This is the equivalent of sitting in any regular car, pulling the battery out of the smart key, it's not a bug, either turn the phone on or leave the key card on the center console.

 

[ry-ballz]

Is it too late for an annulment? You can report that at your local courthouse.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Is it too late for an annulment? You can report that at your local courthouse.

I dunno.

I think it's kind of a funny story as you can really only do this in a Tesla. In a normal car you'd get too cold, and obviously you would want to leave the engine on.

As a non-parent I found the story humorous as I knew about the driving the baby around trick, but I didn't realize the mother would just stop and sleep as well. Maybe that's some new fangled take on it. I dunno.

The problem with the OP's wife is she forgot that it's tied to the phone. The OP would be better off not complaining as the alarm worked as intended. Instead the OP should simply order a FOB from Tesla. That will give him what he wants.

 

[SlimJim]

lesson for me is that never turn off the phone and stay in the car.

 

[Jedi2155]

This has happened to me several times but I was never able to get a good solution other than get a keyfob.

How to disable activated Alarm? Phone App

 

[RC2785]

There is no need to turn off your phone, if you lock the car from the inside then it can't be opened from the outside regardless of whether or not your phone is on.

 

[moorej999]

My point is that there is data available to change the behaviour of the alarm and prevent this. So why not.

 

[tuoncan]

My point is that there is data available to change the behaviour of the alarm and prevent this. So why not.

The software to trigger the alarm can be as simple as

If (car door state toggles from close > open) && (keyfob or key card or phone is NOT detected)
Alarm = ON

So as of now, before you open the door, make sure the phone bluetooth is on or have a keyfob or key card nearby, else the car doesn't know if the owner, the robber or an object is sitting in the seat.

To make it smart, there are a lot of things to be considered (e.g., faulty seat sensors, you have something on the seat). It's not an easy problem to solve. If the robber break the glass without triggering the alarm and put a rock on the driver seat, now are you saying that if the robber opens the door, Tesla should not trigger the alarm because it can't tell if it's a rock vs a person sitting in that seat?

In addition, if the seat sensor is dead, what would you want the car to do when the door is opened?

With v10 now a day, you can craw out of the car through the door and leave something on the seat. If you then use the app to roll up the window, the car would have not been able to know if you have left the car or not until they use the interior camera.

 

[jmaddr]

I think the main thing to consider is the wife turned off her phone so that she would not be disturbed.

A better solution would be just to have the wife use the do not disturb feature on her phone. That will keep the phone active, and the car knowledgeable that someone is still in the car. Further, in most phones implementation, that also keeps the phone active and will receive emergency phone calls from identified individuals which is probably important for a newborn mother.

Having the car sense somebody is still in can be problematic. Imagine having something heavy in the passenger seat and the car still thinks someone is in there. It may never lock when walking away. I like the current logic. No key, lock the car.

 

[Casmium]

Changing the behaviour of the car might cause issues with dog mode, a large dog could end up causing the seat sensor to think someone was still in the car, if your dog managed to open the door in sure you would want to receive the car alarm was triggered notification on your phone.

 

[640k]

here's another scenario - i've owned cars from the 80s that had alarms that were triggered by opening a locked door from the inside. these cars did not have seat sensors, so there would be no way to "circumvent" the alarm as some has suggested.

but what if you had something like a heavy backpack or a case of water sitting on a seat, that made the car/seat sensor think someone was in the car still, but you locked the car and walked away?

IMO - the car did what it was supposed to do. you can't make things foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

 

[SoManyM3s]

My 2010 Civic does the same thing if I leave my gf in car, lock the door and she tries to get out. This is not Tesla specific

 

[Mikedrives]

As a non-parent I found the story humorous as I knew about the driving the baby around trick, but I didn't realize the mother would just stop and sleep as well. Maybe that's some new fangled take on it. I dunno.

I once read a book by a guy who was trying for a second kid with his wife but then they had triplets. Title: "I Sleep At Red Lights."

 

[Mikedrives]

a large dog could end up causing the seat sensor to think someone was still in the car

Maybe you have to get your dog a phone?

I once had my dog in a Saab with the windows down. Dog had a harness and was fully strapped in with the seatbelt, and I went in the store for a minute. I heard a scream and I turned around and the checkout cashier was up on the counter- she had a serious dog phobia. I look and see my dog wagging her tail, looking for me. She had stepped on the seatbelt release button and released herself, jumped out the window, and gone through two sets of automatic sliding doors to look for me.

 

[Chisale]

This scenario happens to me all the time in that when we pull into the driveway I'm ready to go into the house and my wife wants to keep sitting in the car while she finishes watching a video on Facebook. I try to tell her it's time to go in now honey and if you sit here and then leave after I've taken the key away you are going to set off the alarm. Frankly, I don't think it's a problem. If you're going into a bank or something and folks want to sit in the car then just leave your phone with them. When you arrive home then your wife should go into the house and finish watching the FB video in there.

 

[Commish]

It would be great IMO if the model 3 had camping mode that could be activated from the screen. Put it right next to dog mode.

 

[jeffaajones]

My wife took out our TM3 with our baby in the back seat. The baby fell asleep and then my wife pulled over, parked, locked the door, turned off her phone and had a nap as well. When the baby woke, she opened the car door and the alarm went off! It was so loud we are concerned that it damaged the baby’s hearing! I realize turning off the phone - disconnected it from the car - but the software should have known there was someone in the car when it was locked from inside and someone was also sitting in the front seat. I’m my view this is a bug.

What is the best way to report this?

Put the phone on “do not disturb”

 

[sweetneet]

well, It is not really a bug. If the phone was turned off, how is the car supposed to "know" someone was opening the car from inside and not outside? Also - why turn phone off? Esp with a Tesla. that is bizarre to me. There is "do not disturb" mode, which i always use when I'm sleeping.

With the alarm, something very similar happened to me when I was with my son - i left my (pretty responsible, 9yo) son in the backseat for a couple minutes when i went back into the rec center we were at, as i had forgotten something. I kept my phone with me. While i was gone, My son decided to get out of the back seat so he could get into the front and play games on the screen. Of course when he opened the door, the alarm went off (got alert on my phone), and my son was quite shaken up (it plays very loud music)! Lesson learned for my son (and for me!)...the car really is totally tied to the phone and if the phone isn't detected nearby, and a door is opened, it assumes it's a burglar (reasonable assumption!). It's not a bug really...

EDIT: some are asking if it can use seat weight sensors, but i think that cause more problems than would solve. what if you had something very heavy on the seat. not sure how it shold be able to detect a person was already inside if a door is opened and phone is not nearby.

 

[Dhackos]

This happens to me all the time. My kids are playing Cuphead or Beach Buggy for a while in the car without a phone or key fob and they open the door, causing the alarm to trigger. We have solved this problem by teaching them to keep one of the doors slightly open.

The best solution is to order a key fob for your wife - problem solved!



[QUOTE="moorej999, post: 4156116,