And you are still going to need the burned remains of a drifter in the driver’s seat.
I always thought that was what soon-to-be-ex spouses were for? 
I figured they would be in the passenger’s seat. And some drifter carjacked you. That’s the story you take to the police…right?
With a Tesla, you can engage or disengage creep from the control panel.
I must retract that. I tried it in my car tonight and I only get warning lights on the dash for opening the door and unbuckling the belt, as long as the car isn’t moving. You only get bells if the car is moving around 10 MPH. I didn’t try opening the door at that speed. 
Manufacturers of riding lawnmowers and heavy equipment such as fork trucks solved this concern years ago. Agree with the concept or not, driver’s seat occupancy sensors stop the engine (or lock the transmission/brakes) when the seat is vacated. Inclusion of this scheme in the auto world would address the OPs question, and by today’s standard, would not involve cutting edge technology and development, nor require much expense on behalf of the manufacturers to implement if they so choose.
They choose not to. So be it.
What baffles me, is not so much the OP, but rather: The nasty attitude displayed in much of the response, especially when one considers the poor reading comprehension exhibited by some with the strongest um, opinion.
If your 10-MPH riding lawn mower stops dead in the middle of your yard, there’s no problem.
If you’re doing 75 MPH on the interstate when you lift your butt of the seat to scratch your ass or fish for the Skittles you just dropped, and the engine shuts down or the brakes kick in, you’ve got a Major Problem.
Yeah, that’s one of the safety interlocks I’ve disabled on our Kubota. My gf barely weighs enough to be detected. If she shifts her weight even slightly (like you do mowing a mild grade) the tractor used to shut down.
A young girl was killed at a drive through a couple of days ago when she dropped something at the pick up window and opened her door to reach down and pick it up, her foot came off the brake and car went forward trapping her.
Here’s the story - http://myfox8.com/2016/03/24/28-year-old-woman-killed-in-freak-accident-at-drive-thru/
I see both sides of this (and, for the record, don’t think the OP is an idiot). I personally like the “creeping” function both because it’s simple mechanics and convenient for inching along in traffic jams, backing out of parking spots and other reasons already ascribed.
Anecdotally, when I was a brand new driver and in a rush to get into the house to get my gear for wrestling practice, I left the car in drive whilst getting out of the car. I heard the gentle sound of tires on pavement and dove through the open driver-side window trying to use the brake with one hand and get to the column-mounted gearshift, but was a bit late. I managed to take out the 20’ wide garage door and, support columns and rafters.
Dad was pissed, but insurance covered everything… so we got a new garage door for free!
As Mark Twain said, “I am a fool. God loves a fool.”
show me that it’s a problem which requires a solution. Isolated instances of people having brain-farts isn’t going to cut it.
In fact, I was watching a Tesla user guide video recently and they actually have a button in the UI that switches this behavior on or off. So clearly some people still like it. I like it.
The heavy trucks that I used to drive would shout at me if I opened the door with the ignition on and the park brake not applied. “APPLY HANDBRAKE”, loud enough to make everyone around turn around and look.
Man dies after being run over by own car. Baby dies after being run over by a car that wasn’t put into park. Woman is crushed by her own car (ok, this one’s a manual, but same principal).
That’s from a quick google search, all within the last year. I found a bunch more. I’d say this is something that happens with some regularity, and is often (as you can see) fatal.
Three more cases, also within the last year. Google is full of these. I’m actually amazed at how often this happens and people fucking die. I’m thinking this sort of interlock should be mandated by law now.
This just in, people who do stupid shit with 2 ton death machines don’t always walk away from their folly.
I think an interlock could work, but it would just have to be in limited situations otherwise it could end up causing more problems if accidentally invoked (like at 70 mph). An interlock like this might work:
-Sound an alarm and activate the ABS to squeeze the brakes a slight amount when the car is in this condition:
–The car is stopped and
–The brake pedal is pressed and
–The door is opened
To get it out of this state, the user would need to press the gas or put the car in park. You could even have an override where you could make it creep like this if you put the car in first. This should prevent the car from creeping in this dangerous case but not affect other situations.
Or their kids, unfortunately.
Sure, something like this; the key point is that on most modern cars, this is a software fix. I know resources are limited and thorough testing would have to be done to make sure there aren’t any unintended consequences, but it does seem certain that it could save lives.
There could be an even simpler solution. When you come to a stop, after about a second, there is an audible and tactile click from the brake pedal that informs the driver that creep is disabled and the brake is being held on. The brake hold would remain on until the driver lifts his foot off the brake and presses down on it again. That would seem to me the most logical approach for a mix of safety and convenience.