California Headlight Delay Issue
Today, while we were working with a talented team at A-Z Bus Sales, we came across an exception with the 'California Feature' (which allows drivers to escort children across the road) on Type A buses.
Article: What is the 'California Feature'?
In this installation, the brown activation wire (the constant high input that allows drivers to remove the key to escort children across the road) was connected to the headlights. By this method, the driver has 10 minutes after they turn the ignition off to escort students across the road - as long as the headlights remain on.
On this Type A, Girardin / Chevvy vehicle, the headlights stay on for approximately 15 seconds after ignition is turned off.
The Child Check-Mate System was, therefore, seeing the inputs that tell the system that the driver was unloading and crossing children - but only for 15 seconds. This causes a few issues:
- You cannot deactivate while the input (in this case, the headlights) is high
- When the high input disappears (in this case, when the headlights turn off) if the doors are not closed or if the parking brake is not engaged, then the alarm will begin to sound.
If you know what is happening, this has a very easy workaround - follow standard California deactivation procedures... but wait a few seconds before depressing the button. In practice, it should probably take you 15 seconds to thoroughly check the vehicle before depressing the button.
