Do you lock the doors when you're driving?

[eilonwy]

My husband thinks that this is a little strange, but I insist on making sure that all the doors are locked when Eli is in the car. I'm totally paranoid that someone is going to open the door and climb in back with him! I know it's unlikely.. especially since we don't have one of those interesting, high-risk-for-theft cars, but I just can't shake the fear. But then my husband brought up another point: what if we're in an accident? Wouldn't the locked doors make it harder to get to Eli? Now my head spins when I think about getting in the car! What do you do and why?

[anothermama]

I lock my dd's door, but it's more because I don't want HER opening the door. At least if it's locked, I have that little "click" to tell me if she's tryin' anything funny back there.

I lock the passenger side door if I'm alone, because I just know too many women who've had their purses snatched because they left their passenger door open and purse on the seat next to them. For this reason, though, I also make a habit of putting my purse behind my seat anyways.

I don' t think that the accident thing is valid and heres why....if you are in a minor accident, well, then, the couple extra seconds it takes to get the lock undone isn't going to matter. If you are in a MAJOR accident where you are worried about getting your kid out RIGHT AWAY, well, I'm willing to bet the door isn't even going to be functional. And even if it was, and rescue people are probably going to bust out the window anyhow rather than mess with it. Lots of men in my family are Highway Patrol and they are trained to just butt the window out with their club if its an extreme emergency.

[CK'sMama]

I don’t drive, but whenever I am in the car I do lock the doors, for the same reason you do. Unlikely yeah, but you never know. About the accident thing, perhaps locking all the doors but the driver side would work. That way nobody can climb in your car but there is still a way in in case of an accident.

[Mom4tot]

Yes, I do lock the doors when I am driving, either alone or with the kids. I saw a show once about women who were attacked in their cars by someone just opening the car door and shoving the woman over in the front seat. I think it is unlikely the doors being locked would be a hinderence in an accident, as already stated.

[kofduke]

My car doors lock automatically when I go above 15 mph. I've always had a thing about locked car doors, though, especially when my DH and I are driving home from Philly late at night (not that we've done that since DS, but still...)

[momto l&a]

My doors also lock at 15 MPH. If i drive my dh's car then I lock the doors. Too many weirdos standing along the roads for my liking. Though I pity the person that ever tries to enter my car or house for that matter.

I think if a person is in an accident the doors will be beyond opening anyway so being locked wont matter IMO.

[beccaboo]

A few months ago I actually had someone try to open my car door (driver's side) while I was stopped at a red light. It was locked, as it always is. Scary, though!

[Clarity]

Most of our recent cars have doors that lock automatically once you're moving (once DH locked hmself out when the truck rocked on it's suspensuion when he was hjooking up a trailer) but generally, I like it. Strangely, my brand new Honda does not!

I am not a very paranoid person, bit when I used to commute downtown, twice someone tried to open my door. Once might have been bad, the other I think was just an agressive panhandler...he was trying every door down a row of cars. In both cases my door was not locked, but I saw what they were about to do and hit it. So yes, auto locking is very good for me. But awareness is good too. In each case, I saw it coming.

[Nemmer]

Wow, becaboo and Clarity, that is scary! :eek I am not in the habit of locking my doors but I'm trying to remember more often. There have been times I've had a creepy feeling and locked it, but nothing happened. I do think it is safer to have them locked all the time.

[Trishy]

My doors lock automatically but I would lock them even if they didn't. When I was a little girl I was in the car with my mother and my door flew open as she was rounding a corner. Mom reached out and grabbed my shirt and kept me from flying out of the car somehow but it was so scary. I don't know that if my door was locked that it wouldn't have happened and I know that it is less likely to happen with a newer car but I'm not taking my chances.

[village idiot]

Mine also lock automatically above 15 mph. Before I got this vehicle, I locked the doors at night and/or if I went to the city. Too many things happening in the cities.

[girlzmommy00]

I always lock my doors while driving.
It is possible for unlocked doors to fly open on the impact of an accident. Someone I went to high school with, died when his door flew open in an accident (they opened on impact), and he fell out of the car (won't get into details but that was what killed him).
Plus I worry that the girls might open the door while we are driving.

[eilonwy]

Thank you. This thread has validated many of my fears, and I feel better about locking the doors. (Much less like a paranoid freak!) Our doors don't lock automatically, and ds is still rear-facing and in the center of the backseat (though he will be moved to one side when the new baby arrives) so right now he's in no position to unlock the doors. I'm just plain paranoid.. or so I thought.

[mamabee]

i heard that if the doors are locked, you are safer should you get in accident...soo allways lock the doors...

[asherah]

Heck yes.
I would not want to be carjacked!

[mamalisa]

Always. My mom had soemone get in her car when she was at a red light back in the 60's. Seriously freaked her out and she was paranoid about locking the car ever since.

My dh always drives when we got out and he gets annoyed that I lock the doors if he runs into a store or something. He thinks it's paranoid. I say that he's leaving me, ds, my purse and a brand spanking new Durango sitting in a parking lot running, odds are someone might just want one of those things.

[Jennifer Z]

We lock doors at all times too. DH and I are both really paranoid about it and will lock it even to put gas in the car, or if we are just hopping out of the car "for a few seconds". We are also nuts about seatbelts and always get into it with his best friend every time we have to drive him someplace...he hates seatbelts.

[candleofthought]

Yess!! just last week there was a car-jacking....and i lock out the windows too!

[TiredX2]

Locked here.

DH was actually the one who started it (and I just got used to it) so it is not even a woman thing :)

[dot2dot]

Add me to the list of door lockers. Every since that story a year or so ago when a lady's baby was stolen out of her van when she was returning a shopping cart in a grocery store parking lot. I think the chances of anything really happening are rare- I freely admit to being paranoid!:p

[Piglet68]

Wow, do I feel naive.

I had no idea that new cars automatically locked over a certain speed. My car is only 4 years old and it doesn't do that.

I rarely have the doors locked, although on occaison driving through a "rough" neighbourhood I have locked the doors. I like the auto lock key for that reason.

DD can't open the door b/c we have a child safety feature that prevents the door from being opened from the inside (you set it in the door panel and can do it just for the one door or for both). She can't open the windows in the back either: I control it up front.

Maybe from now on I'll start locking them every time I drive. I guess I worry that I'm so used to not locking them I'll end up locking myself out or, worse, locking DD in! :eek

[jayayenay]

.

[eilonwy]

Actually, as paranoid and strange as I am, I always unlock the door closest to me in the back when I'm pumping gas. Why? Well, because I watch too much television.

There's this show on called Mythbusters where these two guys try to prove or disprove urban legends. There was a legend about cellphones causing gas tanks to explode, and while they proved that that couldn't happen, they also proved that a static charge could cause a fire while you're pumping gas. These fires are more likely to happen to women because they were six times more likely than men to get back into their cars while gas was pumping and then get out again, building a static charge against the seat and not discharging it until they touched the metal thingy on the pump and ignited the gas fumes. They said the best thing to do is to leave the pump in the car and run into the store, but I have a baby in the back of the car. I'm now terrified of this contingency, so I leave the door in back unlocked (and in warmer weather may even leave it open a crack) so that I can grab him quickly before I run into the store in a panic. I also make sure to touch something metal (like part of the car door) before I remove the pump from my tank. I also NEVER GET BACK INTO THE CAR while pumping gas. It's just too scary to think about the possible consequences.

[dot2dot]

Dh and I love that show eilonwy! No worries about setting your car on fire... just make sure to ground yourself when you are getting out. I always close the drivers door when I am pumping gas. Any static electricity that you have will be released into the door. So ,yes, you can get back into the car while pumping gas, just always touch some other metal surface before grabbing the nozel!

[chrfath]

Absolutely. DS is now old enough to open doors and unlock them and he checks everyones doors before get moving. He insists that they are locked.

I just feel safer.

[Astrid]

Yep! Our truck locks automatically once you start driving and whenever we are in my car, ds reminds me to lock the door.

When I was living in a big city, a teenage boy tried my backdoor - the door right beside ds. It totally freaked me out! I was so glad the door was locked!

[Foobar]

Nope, nada, never. I HATE locking my doors while driving. I feel trapped when I am in a newer car that locks automatically.

We have the child lock thrown on Goo's car door (so she can't open the door from the inside) and I can control the windows.

[pilesoflaundry]

Mine lock automatically when the van is started up. I childlock the doors the kids sit near eventhough they can't reach the handle from their carseat. I just do it incase the push it with a foot or something.

edited for typos!

[DawnaRose]

my car locks as soon as you start the car, and I have the windows locked also.

My kids are a lil older, but still, I don't want them opening their windows and sticking their hands out, plus in the summer I just run the AC, its my first car I've ever owned with an AC so I'm spoiled by it now :D

[mamapup]

I always lock all doors. DH asks me if I'm afraid he's going to go somewhere. :) I want to minimize the chance of the door flying open in an accident - seatbelts are a must, so I'm not worried about falling out, but the door protects from outside objects and may close again on a leg or arm. I also don't want anyone I don't approve of getting into my vehicle!

By the way- if you are worried about locking your things or children in the car, always use the key to lock your doors when you are outside the car (key in hand can't be locked in the car).

[jeca]

yep, I always lock my car door when I'm driving. I have for a long time.I'm not alone though, DH does to on most ocassions. I don't think it's weird just being safe to me.

OH wait! I remember when I first started locking my doors. It just flooded back to me. MY senior year of high. I was sitting at the light waiting for it to change. Suddenly my passenger door opened and someone jumped in. I was in a little shock but I pulled out the dagger(a gift from my brother) that I always kept between teh seat , it happened really fast. I had the dagger in the air and yelled "what the F&%$..." IT happened so fast I didn't get a good look at the guy's face until I noticed his hands up and him laughing. It was a friend of mine. He though it was quite hilarious. My frineds had pulled up behind me and were messing with me. There in the car behind me cracking up. Then in all serious they(all guys) gave me a lecture in the importence of locking my doors when I'm alone. LOcked my car doors every since cause I really was terified. I remember this guy in another car with his cell phone in the air asking if he should call the police. Yeah funny now, very scary then. They were always doing shit like that.

[Arduinna]

I always drive with the doors locked even if dh is with me. Just feel safer that way. Very happy I have electric doors too, makes it very easy to get piece of mind.

[aussiemum]

Maybe this is a cultural thing, but I can't imagine worrying enough to lock my car doors while I'm driving. I think it would creep me out & I'd feel trapped. And I've never heard of car doors that lock while you drive!!!! Weird! But, to each their own & I suppose you have to make a judgement about your own security wherever you live. I do take the keys out of the ignition while filling the tank at the petrol station, & I take them out when I run into the corner shop to get milk. I leave the kids in the car when popping into the shop (windows fully rolled down of course, even in winter- it's tropical where I live). But then I suppose I'm only about 3 meters away from the car & can see the kids anyway.

Also, just wondering why a locked car door would keep you in a car in the event of an accident? Isn't that what the seatbelt is for?

[Kirsten]

I always lock the car doors when we are in it.

Actually had a man try to get into my car IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY in a busy downtown street in Portland, Oregon back in the 80s. Think he was high. I am the first car at a stop light, like I said middle of the day! He just walks up and tries to open my door. It is luckily locked. He starts screaming at me to open the door and get out. I didn't. Not caring about the car - but worried about what would happen to me in that environment if I got out! So he is banging on my car with his fists and screaming at me and no one is seeming to do a thing to help me. He is just furious that I won't get out and walks in front of my car, banging on the hood and still yelling at me to get out. All this while the light is still red. I am screaming back at him to get out of my way - that I am going when it turns green whether he is in front of me or not! I was 18, by myself in the car and scared to death as I was a small town girl and had no experience with this type of thing. Light turns green, I go forward an inch, he jumps out of the way, cussing me, and I zoom out of there! Scary!!!

So keep your doors locked!
Kirsten

[MommaWannabe]

I always did, until I heard these stories about not being able to get into the car if you were in an accident. My mom's car even has a function where, while it doesn't lock automatically, if you are in an accidnet, all doors automatically UNlock.

So, I do it sometimes, and other times I don't. Sometimes I lock all but the driver side. It just depends. You can't be 100% prepared for everything all the time. When I have a baby in the back, though, I seriously think I will be locking more. I'll have to see what our new car does - it may have its own features I don't even know about yet. :)

[kimmysue2]

Yep all the time been locking my car doors since I started driving.
I hear to many times of carjackings, heck my ex neighbor got car jacked a month be for she moved and she got beat up.
I also take night classes and check my car before I get in, once in I lock. Feel much safer.

[LunaMom]

Locked doors for me, too. In fact, I get annoyed at dh because when he drives, he never locks them and I always have to remind him.

We do have child safety locks in the back so DD can't open the door from the inside even if we haven't locked it, so that's not my reason.

I have heard a TON of stories where women were carjacked when someone came in their car at a red light or a parking lot. I lock my doors as quickly as I can after getting in, and I always lock DD's door before I close it - I have to walk around the car after buckling her in to get to the driver's side and that's a lot of time for some sicko to...well, you get the idea.

Also, if I'm alone, I make sure to only unlock the driver's side door (one click on the remote) rather than all doors so nobody can get in on the passenger side - that happens a lot, too.

Also, I have heard the thing about unlocked car doors flying open in a collision - we are always strapped in, sure, but still...

I hate when people call a cautious person paranoid - I'm not paranoid at all. I actually feel quite safe because I know I do everything in my power to keep myself and my child safe.