Poll: Car Keys in the Sun Visor? Does Anybody really do that?

[Olas]

It's crazy! I used to live in NH/ME and SO many people do that there. Not a ton of auto thefts up in the white mountains and it makes moving cars or borrowing cars really easy. I was watching with a group of people that are from other places and they thought it was nuts that I thought it was pretty normal.

I feel like there must be someone with New England ties on the writing staff that knows people who do this.

Perhaps it's less ridiculous than I thought then, seeing as how Walt is in New Hampshire when stealing the car.

It's a irrelalvant cliche too, now, since new and newer cars won't lock if keys are inside. To stop people locking their keys in their cars.

Since new and newer cars won't let you lock your keys in them, it needs to stop being shown.

The car he's stealing is also really old, es evidenced by the fact that it plays cassette tapes, looks old, and characters later in the episode actually mention how it is really freakin old. I guess the writers did their homework.

 

[the7ofswords]

I think you see this pretty often out in the middle of nowhere, where people and crime are less common. Considering Walt's remote location at that point, I'm not too terribly bothered by it.

I also thought it was an interesting bit of character exposition. Walt's immediate reaction upon breaking in is to attempt to pop the cap off the ignition switch and try to hot-wire the car. He doesn't even think to look for an easier way to deal with his situation. Just like when he had an easier (and legal) way to help his family in the aftermath of his diagnosis, he decided to turn to crime, instead. He over-complicates things ... mostly due to his ego issues.

It hasn't even been a week, and by all the gods, I do miss that show already!

 

[Bad Jim]

Yeah, Terminator 2 had a whole bit involving this practice. And I remember even back then finding it overly convenient.

It wasn't all that convenient. The T800 was about to hotwire the thing anyway.

I've seen people do it in real life too. It's a dumb idea, but people do it. Though I guess it's not as bad as leaving your house key under the doormat.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yeah, Terminator 2 had a whole bit involving this practice. And I remember even back then finding it overly convenient.

It wasn't all that convenient. The T800 was about to hotwire the thing anyway.

Yeah, it's supposed to be this pay-off scene where it's like, "Look, he's learning. =D", but meanwhile Sarah and John are choking on gas while the Terminator is wasting his time looking for keys.

 

[Lightknight]

If I lived in a small town with a non-existent crime rate where everybody knows eachothers name, then sure. The type of people who do aren't likely to be on these new fangled internet boxes.

 

[Zeren]

If I lock my car, and I always do, that means my main key is with me. If my spare was in the car, that would mean it was locked in there. If I somehow lost my main key, my spare is at home.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

My car is a '78 VW Cabriolet, and as I usually leave the roof down unless I'm at home or there's bad weather, leaving my keys one the visor would be much the same as leaving them in the ignition.

 

[Bad Jim]

Yeah, Terminator 2 had a whole bit involving this practice. And I remember even back then finding it overly convenient.

It wasn't all that convenient. The T800 was about to hotwire the thing anyway.

Yeah, it's supposed to be this pay-off scene where it's like, "Look, he's learning. =D", but meanwhile Sarah and John are choking on gas while the Terminator is wasting his time looking for keys.

You mean the bit where they raid Cyberdyne? It's pretty obvious why the keys would still be in the vehicle. Who the hell would steal a police van while there are dozens of armed cops around? Okay, so it did in fact get stolen, but the T800 had to incapacitate over a dozen cops to do that.

 

[loc978]

Seen it with farm vehicles, never with a daily driver... especially near as big a population center as Albuquerque (woo! spelled it right on the first try!).

Me personally... I live down a long driveway in the middle of nowhere with a big ol' dog for an alarm system... but I still take my keys inside with me. Usually lock the car, too (except for the convertible, that would be pointless).

 

[elvor0]

If you do, you're an idiot and deserve to have your car easily stolen should someone attempt to do so. Not only that, what the hell is the point of having your spare keys inside the thing you're locked out of?

It's a irrelalvant cliche too, now, since new and newer cars won't lock if keys are inside. To stop people locking their keys in their cars.

Since new and newer cars won't let you lock your keys in them, it needs to stop being shown.

Hardly. It's a relatively new thing, not everyone has that. In fact I'd say /hardly/ anyone has that. I don't know what it's like in America where the internet and TV has me believe that everyone there buys brand spanking new cars on credit or monthly payments as normal, but in Britain, most people drive second hand cars. Driving second hand cars as normal, does not net you the general population having special devices like that on them. That and old cars still exist and people drive them, because most people drive cars that are at least 6 years old in Britain. I mean heck, my first car was a 1995 Fiat Cinquento in 2010.


It's like saying that because you have a 3D TV, it's stupid that anyone on TV is portrayed as having anything other than a 3D TV because anything but the latest gadget is irrelevant.

 

[AdmiralCheez]

Around where I live, apparently there was a huge problem of people going to convenience stores and LEAVING THE CAR ON. Not just leaving the doors unlocked, not just leaving the keys in the ignition. No, they left the engine running while they shopped. And when they came out, their car was, unsurprisingly, stolen.

 

[shootthebandit]

the car on the show looked older (pre-immobliser) and most likely someone with a basic knowledge of electrics could hotwire it so it wouldve better if walt done that rather than just finding the keys.

more to the point a car being left for a long time in the snow, im surprised the battery even started

 

[Billy D Williams]

Edit: My perspective is probably a little biased since I live in St. Louis Missouri where theft, and crime in general, is pretty huge. I also come from a family that's very security conscious, which is another way of saying paranoid, so take that as you will.

Hey, same here! Well I live in Hazelwood, which isn't actually in the city itself but I'm like 15 minutes away lol.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Yeah, Terminator 2 had a whole bit involving this practice. And I remember even back then finding it overly convenient.

It wasn't all that convenient. The T800 was about to hotwire the thing anyway.

Yeah, it's supposed to be this pay-off scene where it's like, "Look, he's learning. =D", but meanwhile Sarah and John are choking on gas while the Terminator is wasting his time looking for keys.

You mean the bit where they raid Cyberdyne? It's pretty obvious why the keys would still be in the vehicle. Who the hell would steal a police van while there are dozens of armed cops around? Okay, so it did in fact get stolen, but the T800 had to incapacitate over a dozen cops to do that.

Besides, even if that one was less convenient than just hotwiring it, the one earlier in the movie where John showed him how to find the keys wasn't.

Also, didn't it happen at some point in Independence Day? It really is a widespread cliche, and I never understood it either. It doesn't even make sense from a convenience standpoint, since you'd need another set of keys to get into the car in the first place. Unless you're a big enough idiot to not only leave your keys in the car, but leave the car unlocked. And I have a hard time believing anyone with the two brain cells needed to pass a driving test would be dumb enough to do that.

 

[Kajin]

My sister used to keep her keys in the ignition of her car. Always hated it when she did that, so every time I walked by her car I made a point to do something annoying. Usually I'd take the keys out and hide them somewhere in the house.

 

[Tanis]

I've never done this, nor do I know anyone who has ever done this.

When I was using a company car we actually had a bit in the manual that WARNED US if we did something like that...
We could, and probably WOULD, be held libel if they car was stolen.

 

[Madman123456]

I have my keys in my pocket and my spare key in the "key bowl" with other keys that i don't use all the time.
About Terminator 2, i thought that must be an american thing, like drinking booze from brown bags which i didn't understand until i read a law saying that you can't drink alcohol in public.

I never hid spare keys in the visor nor did i ever saw anyone do that.