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MY dog used to lock itself in the 3 series - it did it once a mile away from home with the engine runnong 'cos I needed the lights to check the tyre press. That was fun. :-(
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When I worked in a DIY store a lady locked her baby in the car (by accident of course), it was a boiling hot day and the car was in the sun. I've never heard a baby scream so much, in the end we broke the window with an hammer.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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GM cars in the US now come with OnStar by default. OnStar is a remote concierge service, for directions, breakdowns etc., and the basic package costing $200 pa allows a remote operator to unlock a car in situations like this.
www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/plans/index.jsp?seo=...s
This kind of service should also be available in about 2011 when Ecall is made mandatory in the EU, which is being run by www.ertico.com
I'm running the recruiting for one of the major developers of the software and hardware.
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This is one of those things that I am paranoid about, not so much with my previous cars, as I knew how to break into them with little or no damage and, more importantly, no broken glass flying around. Now with my escort I panic because without special items I don't know how I'd get in without breaking a window if I locked the baby in.
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Why do people now always assume everything is someone else's problem? Why call a motoring breakdown organisation to free a locked in child - why not call an accountant or a drain unblocker or the greengrocer? And get him to fix the washing machine while he's about it.
She's only a weak defenceless woman after all - couldn't she think of finding a hammer for herself if she was that worried?
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Agree, although I can understand the reaction in a panic, I almost called an emergency loscksmith when I locked myself out of the house once then calmed down broke a window and replaced it for £20 ish
If the emergency people were just going to break her car window anyway - well they could have told her that and said - do it yourself - save the money
obviously - don't break the window next to the kid
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A friend of my wife locked herself out of a double-locked car and key was not in ignition.Breaking the window was not the best way.The RAC man tried 1. to unlock with a piece of wire,got on the inside door handle with it but it did not operate(double locked).2.He got a booster battery and jumper leads and disappeared under the front of the car and suddenly,there was power on the electric windows and with his wire he opened the window-car still double locked,climbed in,folded the backseat down and retrieved another key from an old handbag in the boot.The AA and RAC have full-time connection to their control rooms and if they don't know how to fix something,someone else will.
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This may be old information, but it used to be possible to spring vehicle locks by whacking the front bumper hard enough to trip the accelerometer used to 'recognise' an accident.
The same principle must be catered for somehow...
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"weak defenceless woman"
Where's HF when you want her..? :-)
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accountant or a drain unblocker - SWMBO does this at weekends.
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Not that difficult Mookfish. The AA showed me how to do it when I locked myself out of my Escort once. However slight damage is a possibility.
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Not that difficult Mookfish. The AA showed me how to do it when I locked myself out of my Escort once. However slight damage is a possibility.
Lud, could you please explain how, by email obviously, mookfish27(at)yahoo.co.uk
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AN Escort?
Any ford key will allow entry!
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Alas, no it won't TVM... especially when all the lock barrels are shot as mine used to be.
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The only way to lock the keys in my (Ford) car is to disconnect the battery,leave the keys inside,reconnect battery,then the locks go on.Guess how I found that out...Otherwise it is not possible,so there must be some design fault with these modern motors.
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Well she got what she wanted in the end, her child out of the car quickly. Whether she went about this in the best way is debatable, but at the end of the day the Green Flag cover she possessed didn't cover her for them breaking into the car just because she had locked her keys inside it.
They are entitled to charge her for coming out to rescue her as she didn't have the appropriate cover, she should think herself lucky that they were prepared to attend to something that she wasn't automatically entitled to and to be there within an hour. What would she have said if they had point blank refused to help? The fact that she changed her mind ten minutes later isn't Green Flag's fault and I can understand them billing her, whether it is morally right in this instance for them to charge her is also debatable. But they will have to pay a contractor for turning out and so they need to cover there costs somehow.
And I would almost guarantee that the Green Flag contractor would have opened up her car without damaging it using a lock-out kit and a bit of technical knowledge. It is highly unlikely that they would have had to smash a window unlike the fire brigade. So how much does a 'small window' cost for an A-class Merc? Is it more than the original Green Flag quote of £75 to open up the car?
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AN Escort?
Any ford key will allow entry!
Didnt even need a key on my old escort ( 2 door).
All you had to do was lift the door up sharply while giving it a pull.
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Call me paranoid if you like but.....
As a security matter (insurance companies not paying out if 'keys are in the car') I ALWAYS put the car keys in my pocket when I am not in the car.
If little 'uns ( 8,9 & 14) are sat in the car while I pop to get something they tend to lock the doors anyway, it makes them 'feel safer'.
(Missus hate me filling the car with fuel as she can't lisyen to the radio!)
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How many Firemen does it take to break an "A" Class window? Five, apparently. Are Mercedes windows particularly tough? Hawkeye
Thay tend to come as a "set" with the engine...;)
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The solution is to have two sets of keys and when you are not actually in the house to always have the spare set in your pocket. I have to do this because I am paranoid about losing one set. I have both house and car keys in each set. To make it even more foolproof I had the back door lock altered so that both the front and back door locks use the same key.
--
L\'escargot.
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I remember pulling into a toysrus car park.
Car opposite was all a panic as woman had locked her child in the car, in the care seat. ToysRus management decided (after calling head office) that they could not help and would not call the AA with the company account. Police turned up and offered to break the glass. Woman refused as it would "damage" the car.
Police then offered to drive woman home to get replacement keys. She refused as hubby worked nights and she did not want to wake him up.
All this time, the child & mother were completely hysterical.....
I phoned up the RAC, explained the situation and within 7 minutes, chap on site, door wedge in and car opened.
No thanks from woman, gets into car and drives off, moaning about being late.
Great response from the RAC and did not add the call out to my account...
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Cliff, I think you're being a bit hard. Roadside breakdown companies include getting you into your locked car in the cover. I had to get the AA out once (and my car was parked down a dirt track by a Scottish salmon river).
So she did the right thing - but no doubt her fully comp insurance would replace any window for £50. Why it took the firemen four of them...
And why on earth she thought that the firemen would come for free - that, to me is the most outrageous part.
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I still don't get it - you phone the Fire Brigade - Now before they leave the station they know they're going to charge her
The telephone operator knows they're going to charge her
They know what they're going to do when they get there
They know before they leave that they are going to break her window and charge her £75
Why did they not tell her to break it herself?
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Does it say the Fireman charged? I know they do for some things, but it doesn't appear to say that they did anywhere I have looked.
I bet if there was a million pounds in the car and she was told she could keep it if she could get to it, she'd be in within a couple of minutes! But for her baby, oh no, can't be bothered!
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Spot on - don't know why I thought the firemen had charged - they should have
Kids eh - who'd have 'em
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Why did the person lock themselves out of the car in the first place?
Iknow, I know, but surely, it's the basic questions that require answering first?
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In the case of the one I saw, it apparently went like this...
Open car, put bag on passenger seat (with keys in), put baby in seat, open boot & close other doors. Put shopping in boot, close boot. Once boot closed, car locked as it had been standing for a while with the doors unlocked. Keys now on passenger seat with all door firmly closed & locked.
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I know that I could be mistaken for a pedantic, pernickety perfectionist - but many years ago I was trained that the keys should always be within reach.
Either - in the ignition while you are sitting in the drivers seat - or
In your pocket, in your hand, or about your person.
That way you can never lock yourself out of the car (or lock your child in the car).
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How about this one:
Mate of mines wife, child in car seat screaming it's head off, gives keys to child to calm child, child promptly locks all doors etc via remote locking fob on key !!!!!
Car was a Volvo 740,
So wife calls brother who is a mechanic, he decides to smash window to rescue child ............no problem job done................
But the window he decided to smash is the........................................................Windscreen ??????????????
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Unless the locks are faulty. In my case they both were (the front door locks) but you could still open the tailgate, climb into the load area (estate) and reach one of the rear side door handles which operat4ed the central locking. One day the tailgate lock went too. A set of barrels and keys from Ford was only 50 quid or so, and I fitted three of them to the doors (ignition lock OK so far). Now my Ford has two keys instead of one. Tut tut, chavissimo....
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Sorry, my last post above was response to drbe...
Last post: toot toot, toot toot-toooooot, etc....
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When my Sierra locks started playing up I fitted a remote locking kit (£70 from Maplins}.Still working after 4 yrs,can still operate locks by key,but O/S to open and N/S to lock.So now I have two fobs,other for alarm,but that is preferable to two keys.
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