Poll of the Day > Mistake to never repeat: I locked myself out of my running car

(+) Yeah! (+)

By all accounts, it shouldn't be possible to lock my car with a door open and the engine on. It just doesn't work. I have tried to do it many times. It won't lock without all of the doors shut.

Somehow today when I turned on the car and shut the door, the doors all locked themselves. My keys are on the same ring so that also locked me out of my apartment.

It was -13 outside and I was not dressed for that. I had to wait for 2 hours to get help, locked out with my phone and... a snow brush

What a way to start a day

On the plus side my car was really warm by the time I got to drive to work
---

Yeah, it was a cold day, at least you werent one of those people in the middle of no where in the ditch
---

Had the same thing happen to me with a rental. My own truck is entirely manual so any mistake is my fault. Incidentally, was locked-out at the gas station once. Had like an inch or so of open window and was able to loop a shoe string around the door handle.

I remember when my car window wouldn't close during a lightning storm. So I just put a garbage bag over it once I got home.
---

Ogurisama posted...

Yeah, it was a cold day, at least you werent one of those people in the middle of no where in the ditch

this is why I have AMA

first time I have ever had to use it, but thank goodness

and yeah I saw a few of those people to and from work. I have to travel on the QEII to get to work, black ice in huge sections, and vehicles in ditches. People were driving slow af today and that was fine
---

Doctor Foxx posted...

My keys are on the same ring so that also locked me out of my apartment.

Bleh! :S
---

Zangulus posted...

Brutal. This is part of the reason I keep my car and house keys on separate rings. The house keys never leave my pocket until I go to the house.

That seems smart, and I'm going to get a spare car key for my wallet if I can afford to get one.

Though I got lucky that I forgot my wallet in my jacket pocket (with my motor association card), it's normally in my bag. that was sitting on my passenger seat. I would have been hooped without it

I'm gonna get a new key solution though for sure
---

You should find someone close who you trust to keep a spare or something. Like a neighbor you trust. Or family you trust, if any are close...

Im always scared Ill lock myself out of my house or car...

I guess it would be ok if Inwas back home. I had a friend who did stuff like this. I went out to work with him once. He unlocked car doors, brought gas to people, and stuff like that...

Zangulus posted...

Brutal. This is part of the reason I keep my car and house keys on separate rings. The house keys never leave my pocket until I go to the house.

My mom use to tell me this. For the same reason. But also so if they were stolen, they would either have access to my car or house, but not both...

minervo posted...

I remember when my car window wouldn't close during a lightning storm. So I just put a garbage bag over it once I got home.

I had to do this. My window froze, then the motor broke and I couldnt close it. Its was the middle of winter. It sucked until I got it fixed...
---

I know there's cars that auto-lock when you you close the door, and have always been leery of it. For this exact reason. Seems to easy to accidentally lock yourself out of your car.

Mine auto-locks the doors when I shift gears out of Park, that's ok.

Zangulus posted...

Brutal. This is part of the reason I keep my car and house keys on separate rings. The house keys never leave my pocket until I go to the house.

---

I did that once before. Funny part was someone called the cops when I tried to break back in using a coat hanger.
---

LinkPizza posted...

You should find someone close who you trust to keep a spare or something. Like a neighbor you trust. Or family you trust, if any are close...

Im always scared Ill lock myself out of my house or car...

I guess it would be ok if Inwas back home. I had a friend who did stuff like this. I went out to work with him once. He unlocked car doors, brought gas to people, and stuff like that...

I live with someone, he has an apartment key. I don't have a spare to my car. I'm going to get one though just in case. I may get 2 even
---

My car doesn't have traditional keys so they never leave my pocket when I use the vehicle and thus there's no risk of this happening.
---

My car is know to lock itself for some unknown reason... running or not.

Fortunately I've always had my key.

Now when I warm it up I keep the driver side window down enough to reach in if I had too.
---

I'm sorry this happened to you :(
---

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

My car is know to lock itself for some unknown reason... running or not.

Fortunately I've always had my key.

Now when I warm it up I keep the driver side window down enough to reach in if I had too.

My whole driver's side was frozen shut. No windows were able to be opened

Enclave posted...

My car doesn't have traditional keys so they never leave my pocket when I use the vehicle and thus there's no risk of this happening.

That's cool. My car is kind of old and doesn't have anything fancy
---

Doctor Foxx posted...

That's cool. My car is kind of old and doesn't have anything fancy

It's pretty nice and becoming pretty standard, my old Civic didn't have it, we bought a 2015 CRV after kid was born and it had it, super nice. As long as you have your keys? You start the car with the press of a button.

The only issue is your keys battery can run out, though the car gives plenty of notice once the battery is getting low and needs replacing.
---

-13 lol where in the hell do you live?
---

FatalAccident posted...

-13 lol where in the hell do you live?

Hoth


---

Doctor Foxx posted...

FatalAccident posted...

-13 lol where in the hell do you live?

Hoth

What kind of Barbaric place is this ?
---

I used to habitually lock myself out of my car. I have this magnet case that attaches to a hidden spot on the car with a key in it.
---

Doctor Foxx posted...

FatalAccident posted...

-13 lol where in the hell do you live?

Hoth

Ouch
---

I have an older car with separate door and ignition keys, so I keep a spare door key in my wallet.

I also keep my car keys on their own ring. My grandfather always said you should do this because if you have all your keys on the same ring, it puts extra weight on the ignition switch which will make it wear out faster. I don't know if that's true, but it does make things a lot easier when I go to the mechanic.

captpackrat posted...

I have an older car with separate door and ignition keys, so I keep a spare door key in my wallet.

I also keep my car keys on their own ring. My grandfather always said you should do this because if you have all your keys on the same ring, it puts extra weight on the ignition switch which will make it wear out faster. I don't know if that's true, but it does make things a lot easier when I go to the mechanic.

Your grandfather is wise

I only have 2 small keys on my ring, don't think that's doing much with weight on the ignition switch

Separate keys is good
---

Doctor Foxx posted...

Somehow today when I turned on the car and shut the door, the doors all locked themselves.

don't some cars have that exact feature, that they auto-lock all doors? I feel like I've been in a car that did that. (I think triggered when you start driving forward or something like that.)

my rule, though I don't currently do it for my car, is to never close a door of any kind without both checking its lock state, and also squeezing the key for the door in my hand if it is locked.

when I locked myself out of my running car, I actually already had two sets of keys. (I left my car running and locked while making deliveries in apartment buildings.) the mistake I made both times was putting my spare key down for a split second while gathering everything I needed, and then forgetting it. using the "squeeze the key" rule would have worked back then.
---

Sahuagin posted...

don't some cars have that exact feature, that they auto-lock all doors? I feel like I've been in a car that did that. (I think triggered when you start driving forward or something like that.)

my car does not. You cannot lock the doors with a door open. I was parked and idling too, so the auto engage couldn't happen that way

Sahuagin posted...

my rule, though I don't currently do it for my car, is to never close a door of any kind without both checking its lock state, and also squeezing the key for the door in my hand if it is locked.

i'll be triple checking that shit from now on believe me
---

I am have three keys for my car for that kind of situation.
---

I am scared about that kind of stuff. Is it not feasible to leave your door cracked open? Also, I remember one time I unlocked my car, but didn't open the doors because I was messing around around with things in the trunk and I heard the doors lock again after about 3 min... Now that makes sense to me as a security feature, and I don't understand how else a car could lock itself.
---