Locked car doors whilst driving?

Question

somebody told me that i should lock my car doors when i get into my car because somebody could try to rob/hijack me when i stop at a junction or traffic lights....

however i live in quite a safe area and i worry that if i was to have an accident, if the doors were locked people wouldn't be able to open to door to get me out.

what do you think is best to do?

Answer 1

Look in your car before you get in. Make sure everything looks okay.

Make sure you have enough gas to get to your destination, especially when driving at night.

Keep your car doors locked at all times and your windows rolled up if you think you are in an unsafe area.



Never leave your house keys or automatic garage door opener in your car when it is being serviced or if you valet your car.

Never put your name or address on your key ring.

Answer 2

ok its a good thing locking your self in the car because it is well kown for car highjackers to rob your car this way . it happened not long ago near me a lady came to a set of lights and the robber ran to the passenger side and opened the door so the lady who was driveing the car got out ran to the passenger side to shut the door and the robber got in and took off and left the women standing there shocked . why they do this now is because the way the cars are made to day are anti theft its harder for them to start the car and most cars have trackers in them now . so the theif needs the keys so dont leave your keys near the window or by the front door because they will brake in to your home for them best thing to do is take your keys to bed with you put them on the table in your room lol . The other thing is that if you are worried that the emergancey services cant get to you if you are trapped they will get to you through the windows by brakeing them or they will use a machine called a hurst  its mainly used to cut people free out of road traffic accidents the reason i know this is because i work along side the emergancey services on the motorways . and a other tip hide the hand bag aswell because the theifs will rob that at junctions

Answer 3

You should definitely lock your doors. The other night a man came up at my mums car trying to get in. Luckily she always locks her doors when in the car. A few hours earlier in the same area a person had been assaulted and had his/her car stolen.

Answer 4

Funny you should ask,

Locked car doors are more impact resistant then unlocked ones.

As for getting in, the windows can always be broken out to get in.

The bottom line is that locked car  doors provide safety for more then one reason.

Answer 5

If your car has central locking, the locks almost certainly will come off in the event of an accident.  In any case, any rescuer will, if need be, break a window with whatever is to hand or a size 10 boot. If you're nervous, by all means lock your doors and keep anything attractive out of sight (i.e. don't keep your handbag, mobile, keys etc on the seat beside you).

Answer 6

Lock those doors,  please,  for safety's sake.     First,  it does assist in keeping unauthorized persons from entering the vehicle,  even if just enough to allow you to drive out of danger.    But most importantly,  for the same reason you wear a seat belt,   to keep you in position in case of accident.   It is one more safeguard to keep you in the vehicle where you have the best chance of survival or lesser injury,

Often in a collision,  the doors can become unusable anyway.   You get hit on that side,  in a front end collision,  the sides of the fenders get pushed back,   however.    Still,  it is less probable that both doors are rendered useless,  and you can still roll down or knock out  a window.

Answer 7

lock yourself into your car.

Your car is fitted with a pendulum switch usually on the OSF wheel arch by the drivers feet, if an EU car it is on theNSF.

This switch is connected to the fuel pump and the ignition system and the central locking.

In the event of an accident or bump, the pendulum activates and the door locks pop and the fuel is cut, So you won't be locked in.

Aslo when you pull the interior door handle even if the door is locked it relases the exterior handle..

Cars are safe like that.

Never open your window to strangers, always get them to come to the passenger door not the drivers door. And your life is worth more than your car you can always get a new car you don't get a second life

Answer 8

If we all worried about what might happen all the time while being outside, then we would just simply not go out at all.....

Answer 9

First, all newer (2005+?) vehicles in North America have automatic locks when the driver reaches a certain speed to protect from (1) people and children inadvertently grabbing the door handle while in motion; and (2) to prevent carjacking while temporarily stopped.

Simply put, if there was something you could do to prevent a traumatic event, why wouldn't you?  It's just a very good idea.

Besides, if you were a burglar or carjacker, wouldn't you look to trusting people or neighborhoods as a means of making your job easier?

Answer 10

Would be better have your car doors locked, to prevent the possibility of being carjacked or worse.  in case of being in a car accident, if you were injured bad enough that you were not able to get out yourself, the fire dept. has the necessary equipment to get you out.  anyway, a window away form ou can always be broken to unlock a door.  keep your doors locked

Answer 11

you said you lived in a safe area so i wouldnt lock my doors unless your driving at night and cant see if someone is approaching your car a fire or anything or water or an accident could happen and  i wouldnt like to be locked in use your instinct and only lock them when you feel your open to danger or if your driving in a town your not sure of also keep valubles out of sight

Answer 12

If you had an accident and your doors were locked they will smash the window glass to release the door locks.

Answer 13

Up until now, i have always agreed with what you said, leave them unlocked in case you have to get out quick or be rescued, but then reading the others answers it does seem to make more sense locking them doesn't it, so thank you for asking this question as the various answers have now made me change my mind, i shall in future lock the doors.  

Thanks everyone!

Answer 14

I understand where the other answers are coming from. However, from an emergency services and rescue viewpoint, it can make things much easier if the door was unlocked. I know of one case recently where a motorist stopped and pulled a guy from a car that was starting to burn. The guy was semi-conscious and had a broken arm. Unlocked doors unquestionably saved him from becoming a crispy critter.

However I am not going to knock the opposite answers as I can see the merit in door locking too.

Answer 15

There seems to be an awful lot of paranoia being expressed in the answers here. Car jacking/hijacking in the UK is a very rare event and only tends to happen with the expensive and desirable cars, and if someone is intent on robbing you then they are just as likely to smash the window rather than fumble with a door handle. If it makes you feel better to lock the doors then do so - but it's really not as bad out there as may imagine. The media hypes it up more than it deserves.

Answer 16

it is a trade off, but it is true the this can happen, l have heard of two handbag snatches in this way. l am not sure if there is any police advise on this though crime statistics for an area are shown online..usually in relationship to house purchases though. l think if you were in a smash so bad you were unable to move then you would get cut out by the  boys of the firebrigade..who seem not to need doors lol...so err on the side of caution if town driving....l have also heard of cars being made up to look like unmarked police cars...always be on your guard..what a life...

Answer 17

I would lock my doors, b/c neighborhoods that seem safe, might usually be, but it's also the best place for a predator to hide and act out his fantasy.  Slim jims are still used by most police and the jaws of life are also used to get people out of cars with doors that won't open. Jaws of Life are useless on a car without a metal frame, but slim jims open nearly every car, unless you have a chipkey or coded lock with numbers to punch.   However, your window, or windshield could be broken to get you out too. Depending on your car, a crowbar could be used to get you out too... I would put safety first and try to avoid an accident. Statistically speaking, most accidents occur within1 mile of your house.  I would get to know my neighbors, so I could depend on them and they could depend on me and this would make predators more identifiable.

Answer 18

Hi,

There seems to be a bit of a contradition about this.

I personally live in a fairly rural area, so do not lock the doors when driving, on the safety side of things.

However, I get to travel to New York a bit, and always lock the doors as automatically as winding the windows up.

Not just for the "smash & grab merchants", but also for the pesky windscreen washer folks that occupy nearly every set of traffic lights & beg for $2 for something that you don't need or want.

So I guess it all depends on where you are.

Cheers,

Bob

Answer 19

You are safer driving with your doors locked. Don't worry, they will be able to get to you in the event of an accident. Don't fool yourself into thinking "this won't happen to me". It can.

Answer 20

I believe that most cars with central locking have a mechanism,whereby, in the event of an impact,any locked doors open automatically.

Answer 21

I automatically lock myself in my car every time i go out...just because you live somewhere safe doesn't mean that there isn't a nutter close by...

I know what you mean about being trapped inside if you have an accident-i think about this too, but weighing it up i go with the locked doors for safety...

Answer 22

Hi there.

It depends on your car. If it is modern, with central locking and remote operation, you are fine to lock yourself in if worried, these cars mostly unlock in the event of a crash.

If you have the old-fashioned locks that require the key to open and a heavy button inside to close, you should leave them unlocked when driving, as these doors are vary hard to open after impact.

Play the odds though - carjackers will try to get you at lights, when parked or sometimes do a snatch robbery in jams, so lock yourself in if you feel at threat.

Good luck, Steve.

Answer 23

You may live in a safe area but you must at some time drive through unsafe areas. Often you won;t know it until someone pinches your hub caps.

Getting hijacked is an extremely remote possiblity. It's not in the UK crime culture (ok it happens, but only rarely) and also, if you're wearing your seat belt, they couldn't pull you from the car. The biggest risk is someone reaching in and grabbing your handbag or any parcels. This used to happen a lot in Slough about 5 years ago, where the illegal immigrants imported the practice and the local yobs copied them.

It is Not a good idea to decide to lock when stopped and release when moving. I can guarantee that you'll forget to do this sometime.

You should be aware that at traffic lights bad people will open a door and get into the car, or reach in and nick your handbag etc., in the space of a couple of breaths. It's amzingingly fast and you wouldn't react in time to stop them.



Also, it may considered to be driving without Due Care if Mr Plodd spotted you doing it at the traffic lights. (and playing with the central locking button!).

If you "lock" the doors, but not "deadlock" them, every time that you use the car then you'll be safe enough.

A door which is "locked" but not "deadlocked" cannot be opened from outside but can be opened from inside.

See your car manual for more information on this.

Normally "locking" means pressing the key fob button (or internal central locking button) just once, but "deadlocking" involves two pressings on the key fob or internal central locking button.

That way you and your passengers will still be able to open the doors from the inside if they have to escape in an emergency. Also, if you're incapacitated or unconcious then the fire brigade will just cut open your door to get you out anyway.

This time of year your biggest danger will be from drunks and selfish brain-dead, inconsiderate driving . I've seen more on Boxing Day this year than in the last six months combined.

Be safe and have a Happy New Year.

Answer 24

I always lock my doors when I'm in the car....I just think I'm more likely to have someone open my door and steal my handbag from under the seat or rob me or whatever than have a crash, and if I do crash the fire brigade can cut me out, if the locks don't work....I just feel better having my doors locked, particularly if I'm at traffic lights or crawling along slowly at rush hour

Answer 25

I live in a supposedly safe area too but I still don't go anywhere in my car with the doors unlocked. This is a lesson learned long before I had a license.

My mom was on her way to work and had to mash the gas through a red light because someone was trying to climb inside her minivan through the sliding door while she was stopped. This happened years ago back in the 80s before power sliding doors.