Date:         Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:49:58 -0700
Reply-To:     Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: SMART Keys and kill switches
In-Reply-To:  <B9A95A01-AAF4-406F-AEEB-C10B628276FE@pottsfamily.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Greg Potts typed:

>
> Apparently the advent of so-called smart keys simply pushed the car
> theives into doing a B+E to get the key. They break into your house,
> steal your keys and then drive away quietly. It didn't lessen the
> theft rate at all, it just put the owners at higher risk of personal
> injury.

And biometric locks, e.g. fingerprint readers, have resulted in at least
one case of thieves cutting off the owner's finger to start the car.

I like the fuel pump kill switch idea. I think I'll put one in. I reckon
it should be mounted in a discreet location, one that the driver can
reach without drawing attention before opening the door to get out, and
one that is easily accessible without having to get into the van if the
pump needs to be killed for whatever reason. (This wheel has probably
been invented before, many times, but anyway it's Monday and I'm tap
dancing here to avoid going to work.) I'm thinking that the pump's
ground wire would be pretty easy to use: use the switch to ground it to
any handy nearby good ground. Where's a discreet switch location that's
easy to fish a wire to?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR