Locked in the Car and Unable to get Out - Food for Thought

[Streetcar]

This happened to my wife's friend today. She is elderly and lives alone in a rural spot. She got in the car to go to their little weekly rug hooking session at the town library. Her habit is to lock the doors. She started cranking the car over and it wouldn't start. She cranked until the battery was totally flat. The the doors would not unlock w/o battery power. Panic... Finally she thought to call the dealer to ask how to get out. You can't !!! The dealer came over and jumped the battery before she could get out. Can you believe it.

It is going to be below zero tonight. Wonder if she was in a no cell service zone of which there are many around here or she had no phone with her. No good.

gg

With Ford Edge,wife left headlights on and drained battery. Car automatically turned off lights at 8 volts. Locks worked but it would not crank

 

[mikester]

I’ve never seen a vehicle without a manual lock lever. That sounds like a really poor design.

Sounds to me like the elephant in the room might be Dementia.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Didn't some elderly man die in a new Corvette a few years ago for the same reason? He was locked in the car and couldn't get out, and baked to death in the hot sun?

I seem to remember lawsuits flew over that one?

 

[Monster5601]

My wife's 2013 Equinox, if the doors are locked, the first pull of the inside door release does nothing, but the second pull will open the door. When her battery went out, she could get out of the car but neither of us could remove the ignition key until I put my jump box on the battery.

 

[Monster5601]

Didn't some elderly man die in a new Corvette a few years ago for the same reason? He was locked in the car and couldn't get out, and baked to death in the hot sun?

I seem to remember lawsuits flew over that one?

I remember that. It was unfortunate because his death (and his dog) didn't need to happen if he knew about the manual door release.

Texas man, dog, die inside Corvette when doors and windows won’t open

A 72-year-old Texas man perished inside his dream Corvette when its lock system malfunctioned and he was trapped inside with his dog, Leia.

www.nydailynews.com

 

[bmg88201]

I would love to take some of those auto engineers and put them one of those cars, take out the battery and tell them if you can’t get out of the car you are FIRED !!! In my Tacoma you can open locked driver’s door with the handle even if the battery is stone dead. I had no idea you could be locked inside a car under any circumstance. Don’t ya just love progress.

 

[bnold]

So, have we identified any cars that you can’t get out of with a dead battery?

Seems most listed have a manual release.

 

[MossRoad]

So, have we identified any cars that you can’t get out of with a dead battery?

Seems most listed have a manual release.

Someone sent me a link in a PM to this story. Battery wasn't dead, but the car was locked form the outside with the fob and the person inside could not get out and died.

Very tragic story. 1997 BMW.

No Escape: California Family Sues BMW After Teen Dies in Locked Car - The Detroit Bureau

The family of a 14-year-old Central California girl is suing BMW North America and a local school district over the teenager’s heat stroke death inside a locked vehicle from which there was allegedly no escape. TheDetroitBureau.com has the story.

www.thedetroitbureau.com

 

[KennyG]

Family had a 07 Saturn with a dead battery. The battery was in the trunk, with an electric latch on the trunk. No worky. Had to lower the back seat, crawl into the locked trunk from the inside, find the inside latch to get it open.

All the cars I have seen with batteries in the trunk have jumper terminals under the hood.

 

[MossRoad]

With Ford Edge,wife left headlights on and drained battery. Car automatically turned off lights at 8 volts. Locks worked but it would not crank

All of our Chevy's from 2000 on turn the headlights lights off after a few minutes if you leave them on with the engine not running.