Threat level Orange, better lock our car doors

So when did we become so obsessed with locking our car doors every time we get out of them. It seems we have reached a ridiculous state, especially in this day and age. My Dad bought a brand new truck in 1965 and I do not think the ignition key EVER came out, for the entire 35 or so years he owned the truck. So I am pretty sure the doors never got locked and his life and the truck or my Dad was none the worse for wear. Now a days I see people lock their doors when the stop to pump gas, they are never further than 1 foot away from the car. I see them lock their doors when popping in to pick up the dry cleaning, kind of stupid when you think about it, and when they park the vehicle in the garage, trust me I was as surprised to see it as you are to read about it.

Where did it start and where will it end, this bizarre obsession with locking up the goodies we leave in our cars. Chrysler did not even do away with the pushbutton start and start using an ignition key until 1949 a scant 60 years ago. Now you can get cars that don’t even have traditional keys, little FOB’s with and RFID (radio frequency identification) chip you carry in your pocket or purse that tell the car to lock or unlock the doors as you get close or are moving away from the vehicle. They also activate the push button control on the dash so you can turn the car on or off. Believe it or not, Sharp has developed a new chipset for cell phones that will be able to perform all the tasks of the key FOB, a whole new level of multitasking that your cell phone will do for you. This little gadget can be programmed to keep you from talking on the cell phone when you are driving. That is the first bit of cell phone technology I like by the way. Now we have gadgets telling us what and when we can talk on the phone, I love it (read sarcasm). This is a major reason I drive a 51 year old jalopy, absolutely none of that crap on my car, the man is not going to tell me when I can talk on the phone!

I can see where those types of keys are time savers and offer conveniences the old chrome plated brass keys do not. The major difference between the two as I see it is cost verses convenience, my brass key cost less than a buck from an aftermarket company that supplies retro keys for the older cars, and another buck or so to get the kid at the hardware store to cut it for me. I have even cut them myself with a file designed for sharpening a chainsaw. I am not sure what the wireless key fob adds to the cost of the car overall, the system requires an extensive array of electronics in the car, that is on top of the cost of the little gadget you would carry. And don’t get me started about what it would cost to replace one of those gadgets, in time and money. You would have the cost of the gadget and then the cost to reprogram an off the shelf unit to recognize you and your car. The cost of the reprogramming the thing one time alone will be more than I spend in a lifetime on chrome plated brass keys.

So enough about the advances in key technology, sounds crazy even saying “key technology” has advanced doesn’t it? So why is our society so security conscience when it comes to locking our car doors. I never lock the doors on my old jalopy because if it is stolen and by chance I get it back I do not want to have to replace the window that was busted out. What do we keep in our cars that is so important we keep it locked up? In mine there is an old canvas bag full of tools, they have saved me numerous times from walking, there is my registration and proof of insurance, maybe a cup of coffee and a radio. Nothing that seems important enough to “lock down”, from my perspective anyway.

Well if it not the contents, well then maybe it is the car itself that we do not want stolen. Let me tell you friends any car newer than about 10 years old is not like my old car, which I could steal with a screwdriver and a piece of lamp cord in about 30 seconds. You would almost need an advanced degree in electronic engineering with a minor in radio frequency identification technology to get the thing started at all let alone in the time it will take you to walk into get a coffee, even if you had to wait in line at Starbucks. I think we are applying old world thinking, it is just a chrome plated brass key, to new world technology, complex and probably encrypted, electronic gadgets which “boot up” the cars of today. After all if it is stolen, it is only a car, it is not like you are abusing your kids by kicking them out of the car miles from home to walk home (that happened to me and my sister twice). If by some chance some random electronic engineer with a minor in radio frequency identification technology wants your car, he will defeat your home alarm system and steal it right out of your garage anyway, so enjoy your coffee and live with reckless abandon, leave the car door unlocked.

What kind of key starts and locks your car?