Hmm... interesting point about operating without a battery, though if my battery is dead I'm not sure having to reach over to open a different door by hand is my primary inconvenience.
I'm not sure about the safer-in-a-wreck thing either. I guess if your car is on fire and your electrical system is smashed, your front door is crunched and won't open, you're pinned in your seat so you can't reach any door lock but the driver's side... and yet despite all this massive damage the windows are intact and all the doors locked. So you feebly reach over and are rewarded with the smooth rise of vacuum door locks so that... so that... a rescuer who was too wussy too break a window can open a door and read you your last rites or something? I dunno. Seems far-fetched.
But, I have to agree about the "clonk"... that's the word I was looking for.
He again raised his brow at me, and replied "the five second interval is the correct one."
LOL! You have to admire conviction. Design by some wishy-washy committee would result in a wishy-washy car.