PLEASE PLEASE WATCH THIS RACQ VIDEO - Babies locked in cars

This was just posted on Facebook by Hire For Baby and I had to share it.

This is a REAL emergency phone call that the RACQ received. What is even scarier is the RACQ receive 4-5 calls A DAY with babies and children locked in cars :(
My Dad works for Red Spot car rental and he said he is constantly being called out to people who have locked their keys in the car due to modern cars having the auto-lock feature. Please check if your car has this and if you can disable it, it is VERY unsafe!

Another reminder to NEVER leave your baby/child unattended in the car and to NEVER leave your keys inside the car!

Babies Locked In Cars - YouTube

Thanks SO much for posting this, a great reminder.

A couple of years ago when DS was around 2 I unlocked the car with the button, strapped him into his seat and chucked the keys on the front seat. I was leaving Mums house and was chatting to her as I walked around to the drivers door. It'd had only been 1-2 mins since shutting DS's door to going to open my door when I heard the car lock. I froze, it was a warm day and I started freaking out. How could I have been so stupid to leave my keys in the car :o The car was coolish when I had put DS in, as I had parked under a tree but the day was starting to heat up. I called the RACV and I got so mad at them for asking all these questions etc. I wanted my baby out! We are in I guess what you'd call a semi rural area and it took 15 mins for the RACV to arrive from another suburb, it took him about 5 mins to get the car open. So all up it took about 30 mins to get him out of the car from the time it happened and the phone call was made to him being in my arms. Just not worth the risk and now I have not once left my keys in the car. Until that day I didn't realise my car had auto lock, what a crap feature!!

I think they should put a BAN on the auto-lock feature on cars sold in Australia!
4-5 babies a day locked in cars is NOT okay! and that's only from the RACQ! What about all the calls emergency services, NRMA etc would get?!

So scary how often it happens. DH gets ****ty at me having keys on lanyard but I find it is easier and safer as i know where they are all all times.

Same here Feeb, I have one of my keys now so I can have them around my neck. Much easier to find in a bag too!

I know it is designed to help prevent car theft, but it posses MANY MORE dangers than it seeks to prevent!
You can replace a CAR you can't replace a LIFE!
I've started a FB group to educate and get this feature disabled

The FB group is called "Take Off the Auto Lock" ..... I am really hoping this doesn't get removed by mods :(
If it does, please PM me for the link x

This is not a business page but a cause to educate the public the dangers of the auto-lock or power lock feature in modern cars and to petition to have it disabled/banned from cars sold in Australia. This is to save babies and children locked in cars because of this new technology :(

My car autolocks and I'm so paranoid about it, I always leave the driver door open while I get the kids in the car and make sure I carry my keys with me, but when we bought the car I didn't even know it had autolock and it took me a few weeks to figure out what was going on, I thought my car was defective.


I hadn't thought about turning it off, is it possible?


Umm, how about instead of pushing more power decisions on government you write to the car manufacturers instead.

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Jude 07/10/2008 | Lilac 16/06/2011

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My car autolocks and I'm so paranoid about it, I always leave the driver door open while I get the kids in the car and make sure I carry my keys with me, but when we bought the car I didn't even know it had autolock and it took me a few weeks to figure out what was going on, I thought my car was defective.


I hadn't thought about turning it off, is it possible?


Umm, how about instead of pushing more power decisions on government you write to the car manufacturers instead.

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Jude 07/10/2008 | Lilac 16/06/2011

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You should be able to take your car to the dealership if they have a mechanic there and get them to disable it through the computer software in about 30min.
I will be writing to everyone I can think of xx

Thanks for sharing. I always pop my keys in my back pocket when I am buckling my dd into her seat. Or I open my door and leave it open and out the keys on the front seat.

I will admit I am glad that neither of my cars auto-lock once a door has been opened, only if you unlock then fail to open any of the doors (including the boot) within a certain time-frame. And these are cars by different manufacturers, though both made after 2005.

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I will admit I am glad that neither of my cars auto-lock once a door has been opened, only if you unlock then fail to open any of the doors (including the boot) within a certain time-frame. And these are cars by different manufacturers, though both made after 2005.

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Mine is the same. I am paranoid about having my keys on me when I put DS in his seat, but, that's because I think someone could jump in and drive off with the car and DS! I hadn't thought about plain old locking the keys in with him. Good reminder, thank you.

My old car had it....chucked my bag and keys in the front, put dd in and was saying goodbye to dad, heard a click as I was walking round to drivers door and freaked out when I couldn't get in. I didn't even realise my car had that feature! Thank god I keep a spare set of keys at mum and dads!! Racq takes a while and on a hot day I seriously think I would smash my window!!

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Racq takes a while and on a hot day I seriously think I would smash my window!!

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Me too.

I would break the window if I had to.

A broken window can be replaced, a child's life can't.

It happened to my sister. they ended up calling 000 and the fire brigade came and broke in. she was a mess for weeks after.

Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk

My DH car has Autolock, but it wont AL if the keys are in the car. There must be a sensor in the actual key I guess. I always put DD1 in the car (but not strapped into her seat) while I strap DD2 in and put the pram away. She did once climb into the drivers side and lean on the door lock button that locked all the doors. For a split second it panicked me and my keys were in my pocket. That was enough to scare me and I always make sure my keys are on me now. DD2 loves keys and now she has a set of old usless keys to play with instead.

My previous car's locking system malfunctioned one day outside of preschool last year and locked inadvertently when I shut the door. It wasn't something that should be able to happen, DD was in the back seat and I was in the car park in the sun. Luckily, my DD was old enough and followed my instructions to get the keys out of my bag and unlock from inside, while I was on the phone to the roadside assistance people. But I was a bit freaked out that the car could do that!

I guess the warning is that even without auto-lock enabled central locking is still reliant on a computer system and there can be an issue arise out of the blue! Mine had to be fixed (under warranty, thankfully) by the manufacturer.

it's actually pretty hard to smash a window. i would think that being in a supermarket carpark there wouldnt be too many heavy objects to smash the window. i'd be calling 000...

Oh boy. That's what it is?

I left work one day & drove to the (industrial) rubbish bins, got out to throw the bags in the bin, left the car running as I was parked right next to the bin; I came back around to the drivers door to find it locked.
What I learned that night was that 1. our spare keys don't work 2. we have very nice mechanics and 3. when you have two men and a woman trying to break into the locked car, it is the woman who will eventually say 'wait... it's running... wind the window down...'

Much, much worse was a couple of months ago when I was leaving work after a really, really bad day. I had DD2 with me (had picked her up from daycare with a mozzie bite; don't ask) and had found out that DH had lost his job. So my head was all over the place, when I buckled Pie in she was playing with the keys. I took them from her, flung them over my seat, shut her door & went to open mine - locked.

Luckily it was August and I was parked in the shade, and the back window was open just a fraction. Even so, by the time the RACQ had her out she was warm & slightly sweaty. There is no way, if it had been summer or in the sun, I would have waited - I would have heaved a trolley through the window if I had to. Scariest thing ever.

What I learned that day was the RACQ is free when there is a child locked in the car, whether you have cover or not. And I never, ever, ever leave the keys in the car.