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Comment by onion2k | Hacker News Reader

I'm just old enough to remember cars with mechanical hand cranks to open the windows. You couldn't open the passenger side window if you were driving. It was dangerous to open the driver's side window if there was a lot going on. The rear passenger windows often didn't open at all in cheaper cars. The number of times you'd leave a window open by mistake was far higher because cars didn't alert you about it.

I'd much rather have electric windows that are cheap and easy to repair than reintroduce hand cranked windows, even just as a back up.

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I drive a car with hand-cranked windows and I don't have any of those problems, maybe just cause I'm used to it? Did you know you could go out today and buy a 2016 model car with manual window cranks? It's still an option on a lot of vehicles.

Good to hear!

Elon Musk: if you're reading this: if you put a manual window crank option in your cars (especially as a fallback in case the electric window fails), that's what I'll buy.

Maybe the hand crank could charge the battery as well. On long road trips just have your passengers crank through the night....

the rise of professional hand-cranker

My last 2 cars have had manual cranks. One of them is only 20 years old, so I think most people are probably old enough to remember cars with manual cranks.

Can't say I like them any more or any less than electric windows to be honest. Six one, half a dozen the other.

They're definitely better for 4-wheel driving (not that my car can do that) though, because if you flood your electronics, you can still wind the windows down. I had a friend who ran into trouble when the truck he was in flooded, and he was in the back with the windows up. So there's a definite advantage to manual windows in certain circumstances.

It's absolutely unsafe to handcrank windows while driving, but when is that ever needed? I long for my old hand-cranked-window MB 200D days when my newer Toyota has 3 failed electrical windows out of four. And it's costing so much I only fixed my/driver side window.

I miss hand-cranked windows. Would love to have a dual system so you can easily open the windows with the electric power off, and as a backup. I also miss the old quarter glass vent windows that cars used to have on the front doors.

What were those for? I could never figure it out.

If you angled them right, they would redirect the breeze from outside right on to your face.

I agree with everything you said but what cars are you driving that alert you if a window is open?

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