It can happen to anyone -- Here are the top three things to do to avoid locking your kids in your car and avoid a potentially disastrous situation.
It happens to the best of us; we get distracted reading an important work update email on our smartphones while stepping out of our cars on our way to the supermarket. Or we're in a great hurry to make it to the gym early in the morning, and we almost unconsciously park our vehicles and run into the gym. Locking yourself out of a car is as bad as it is. But can you imagine having your children stuck in the car at the time of the dreaded event? It's definitely an incredibly nerve-racking occurrence no parent should ever have to experience. Unfortunately, wishful thinking is not enough to magically keep the troubles away. Accidents happen, the unexpected occurs, locks and keys break when you least expect them – and a conjoined mix of at least a few of these factors can easily lead to disaster. Knowing how to prevent this from happening to you (again) is most certainly one smart thing to focus on.
We all have at least one friend or acquaintance who has accidentally locked themselves in their car, one way or the other. Maybe an overly-playful dog was responsible for accidentally shutting a door locked. With the keys also locked in the car at the time of the incident, things obviously went downhill from there on. Add a young toddler or baby in the back seat of a boiling car in the middle of the summer and you get the picture.
While you may not own any dogs or other overly-active pets who could cause such an event, it is not impossible to avoid locking your kids in the car. Unfortunately, lots of people are unaware of the most effective, yet simple prevention methods they should be focusing on. So they end up locking themselves out, while their small children are trapped in the back seats.
Prevention measures are definitely the best things to focus on to at least lower the odds of such an event from happening to you. Below we are going to discuss three of the most successful ways to avoid locking children in cars all parent drivers should know:
This might be easier said than done in some cases when your children are old enough to use tricks to grab your keys when you are not looking – but young enough not to understand how to unlock a car if trapped in.
Try not to give them the opportunity to get a hold of your keys in the first place. Act smart and be one step ahead of them. Pay attention to your surroundings and the places you normally drop your keys when parking your car. Keep in mind your key fob has an auto-lock feature that will enable your kids to easily lock themselves inside the car. It is therefore essential never to leave your keys in a random place where your kids will have no problem reaching. Opt for locked drawers or high shelves that a small child cannot climb on.
Make sure to have spare sets of keys done by getting in touch with the expert automotive locksmiths Certified Contractors can recommend to you. If you are not sure your keys are working as well as they should be working, you can also ask an authorized car locksmith to have the matter looked into. A skilled lock technician that handles car services should have no problem rapidly identifying any potential car key or key fob malfunction. They have the right tools and software to immediately address any necessary repair, cut duplicate keys, reprogram transponder keys, or even fix jammed or broken ignitions.
To avoid locking your kids in the car, you should, needless to say, make a habit out of checking if they have accompanied you at the time you have left the car. Always remove your children from your car, even when you need to do the quickest stop at a corner shop. In those states where the temperatures get ridiculously high in the summer, this is a legal requirement.
Once checking your kids are with you at all times will become a habit, you should considerably lower the risk of accidentally locking your kids in the car. Plus, it might sound like a no-brainer for most of you, but you should always check that your children are not hiding beneath the back seats when parking your car.
There are plenty of cases when people leave their phones or wallets in front of their car seats, or next to them, and they need to double check the area every time they must leave the vehicle. There are also drivers who place reminders such as post-in signs on their dashboards. While the thought of having to leave a post-it note on your car to remind you to grab your kids with you when exiting the vehicle might sound embarrassing to most of you, it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Finally, remember to have a local locksmith number saved in your contacts, or let the 24/7 Certified Contractors service send over the fastest, most skilled authorized locksmith in your area in times of need.
