It's in case you're alone, and prevents someone else from being able to jump into the passenger seat and carjack you. Most new cars have a customization option to change that behavior.
Riiight. Or they could just carjack me when I'm getting in the driver's seat? Or putting my stuff in the trunk? Or while walking towards the car?
It's just silly. But thank you for explaining.
If you are sitting in your car and they yank open the passenger door and jump in, they can get a lot closer to you, faster, than they can if they approach you while you are outside your car.
FWIW I absolutely do not buy that theory. It's probably some initiative to reduce carbon emissions by reducing the number of solenoid actuations.