Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
carpe demi

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


           

Panic Switch

 Redesign of the panic button to prevent user error.
  (+1)
(+1) 		  [vote for,
against]

The panic button was a great invention, but seems to be too prone to being pressed accidentally (at least on my car). Early in the morning, when attempting to unlock my car, I've often confused the panic button with the unlock button or accidentally pressed both at the same time. As kind of a jumpy, paranoid person, I'm usually scared half to death by this and toss my keys about as I fumble to find the button again and make the chaos stop. During this time, the neighbors stare, the dogs in the neighborhood all start barking, and I become rather flustered.

I believe the solution to this problem would be to make the panic button found on many keychains more like the "hold" switches found on many CD players. A switch would be much harder to confuse with the lock and unlock buttons and would be very difficult to switch on accidentally. To deactivate the panic alarm, one would simply slide the switch in the opposite direction. As I've never used my panic button because I was panicking (it just causes me to panic), I can't be sure how well this idea would work in an actual panic situation.

Also, I'm not sure if this exists already. It would be easy enough to make that it could, but I've never heard of or seen one.

—cynicalgracielle, Dec 25 2003

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       The panic button is usually red.How do you confuse it from the others? If you're that tired in the morning, maybe you should'nt be driving.
—python, Dec 25 2003
   

       My mother bought a toyota this year, and she also hits the panic button by accident a lot.   

       What we need is some kind of "panic button cube" to cover it up.
—phundug, Dec 26 2003
   

       The panic button on my car key is indeed red, but it is on the side and is all too easy to activate when gripping the key normally. So I commiserate with your plight, but if the panic button is not really easy to activate, what is the point of it?
—DrCurry, Dec 26 2003
   

       A major flaw in the Honda's keychain (circa 2002) was that the panic button was thin and narrow, and if you had 2 or 3 keyrings chained onto yours, it could press it in your pocket for you. But, most people don't daisy chain keyrings for extra capacity, either.   

       (+)
—Baker^-1, Dec 26 2003
   

       Perhaps the system should assume that you're in a state of panic and sound alarms, etc. if you fail to press your "I'm not panicking" button?
—hippo, Dec 26 2003
   


 

back: main index
business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle