I spent two and a half hours last night working on our lawn tractor. There was an intermittent problem starting the thing, seemingly affecting my gf more than me. Turns out the “safety interlock” that keeps the tractor from running unless someone is sitting in the seat wasn’t detecting my gf’s weight (she took it as a compliment). So I removed the safety interlock.
Our push lawn mowers all have “dead man switches”. You know, the bar that if you release it, stops the mower. Thing is, I sometimes let go of the bar in order to move things out of my way, etc. So each push mower has a bungee wrapped around the handle to defeat the safety thing.
My Jeep [del]has[/del] had a seat-belt chime. I know to wear my seat-belt, thank you. The chime is unnecessary and was a pain in the ass to defeat, but I did.
I understand some safety features. My chainsaw has a kick-back chain brake. I am not a lumberjack, and appreciate the brake.
But why have safety features that impede function?
Well, obviously to prevent [del]lawsuits[/del] injuries.
The only interlock I bypassed on my lawn tractor is the one that kills the engine when you put it in reverse with the blade down. What a PITA that was.
Some automatic pistols have a magazine safety. Such guns cannot be fired without the magazine inserted, even if there is a cartridge in the chamber. Magazine safeties are a topic of impassioned debate on gun boards. I can see both sides of the issue. It might be useful, in some circumstances, to be able to fire the pistol by single loading or if the magazine has been accidentally dropped from the gun. On the other hand, it is also useful to be able to disable the gun by simply dropping the magazine. One complicating issue is that, in some designs, the magazine safety has undesired side effects. Browning Hi-Powers are not noted for having good triggers to start with, and the design of the magazine safety makes it even worse. Step one in doing a trigger job on a Hi-Power is to remove the magazine safety.
Oh, incidentally, just this morning as I was dropping my son off at his babysitter I thought I’d ask the babysitter’s husband why his fingers were bandaged up.
He pulled off the bandages to show me his new stubs. He cut his fucking fingers off 3 weeks ago fiddling with his running lawnmower. Ouch.
Yep, on our tractor you have to remember to depress the “driver awareness button” in order to use reverse without the engine stopping. That one goes next.
Well, I removed it. On my last vehicle, I got the seatbelt male ends off of a car in an auto graveyard and used it. Yes, I wear my seat belt in most circumstances. But if I’m getting in and out repeatedly while hooking up a boat trailer, I’m not gonna hook it up/remove it dozens of times in my driveway.
I would prefer adults only versions of medicines - I know the Pepto Bismol looks delicious in its pink loveliness, but I swig from that stuff regularly - I just want a normal lid. Same goes for all my painkillers - there never are and (most likely) never will be children in my house - let me choose more appropriate bottles and lids, please!
ETA: I would turn my seat belt chime off, too - I wear the belt religiously, and I don’t need any reminders. I’d also get rid of the open door chime - if the damned door is open when the key is in the ignition, it’s because I WANT it that way!
My best friend’s dad died in a lawn tractor accident so I am cool with the lawn tractor safety features. I’m on it for two hours a week at most, sometimes one hour every two weeks, for 5 months out of the year. Not worth the risk for a little bit less time spent having to re-start the engine.
Yes, people die/loose digits/etc using power tools. But plenty of people are comfortable accepting a small element of risk in exchange for better functionality. Talking with my neighbors, we all have done various work-arounds on our tools.
My ideal situation would involve the availability of different levels of safety. For someone who is not comfortable without maximum available safety, have a model with all the bells and whistles. For someone more comfortable using the device, or without small kids in the household, have a cheaper version without the various safety interlocks, or a medicine vial without the safety cap. Win/win.
I seem to remember a decade or so ago that some OTC medications were doing just this - selling bottles with regular lids, prominently labeled that they shouldn’t be purchased for households with children in them.
Also, my riding lawnmower lets me turn the key to a specific position, which allows me to reverse with the blades still turning. Good compromise, in my opinion. Of course, I always leave the key in that position now.
Not when you factor in the way people think and act. One set will complain that they have to pay more for safety features. One set simply won’t buy them because they are more expensive. One set will think they don’t need them when they are the type of person the safety feature is implemented to protect. As much as I enjoy seeing these Darwin experiments get what’s coming, they do have families, and sometimes they will cause far too much collateral damage.
Eh, it only takes a second of distraction to have those results.
The first power tool my dad gave me was a circular saw and he included a nice written note about how to respect the tool and always be safe and how he got the same talk from his father. Ten years later my father cut off two fingers while using his table saw. He was very ashamed of himself and apologized to me for not following his own advice.
Myself, every time I have to hit that foolish button to back up my lawn tractor I always contemplate bypassing it. Then I always remember the stories of people running over their kids while backing up their tractors. I’ll keep that button around for a few more years yet.
Well, hey, nothing’s safer than a lawn tractor with a butt detector so overly cautious that it won’t start even when the user is sitting securely in the seat.
On the other hand, instead of bypassing the safety, could the OP have added a nominal amount of weight to the seat, say, 20 pounds; enough to allow the OP’s GF to start the thing and use it but not enough to keep it running if she did in fact fall off?
I got my hands on a bottle of ibuprofen that has a big, easy turn cap for arthritic people, and I refill it and use it exclusively now. If I could just find one like that for my tylenol…
There are safety features, and there are safety features. Some of the things being described here are the reasons that companies invented safety features in the first place - so John Homeowner doesn’t manage to kill or maim himself with his overblown ideas about his own competence. Course, I mow with tough shoes on, long pants, safety glasses, and hearing protection - I ain’t fooling around out there.
The one I get annoyed by is the “feature” in newer cars that locks all the doors once you get up past a certain speed. Dammit, there are no kids in my family. No kids will be riding in my car. I don’t need my nanny-car locking me in (this is particularly annoying when I’m a passenger and don’t notice it, so the car stops, I pull the latch to get out, and nothing happens).
I want the “no kid switch” on cars so you can turn off all the kiddie features.
