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AIBU?

To think the bloody car should unlock from the inside!!

75 replies

AliceAnneB · 02/05/2015 23:16

Alrighty so today I had one of those surreal this can't be happening moments. I stayed behind in the car with DS (3) because he wanted to pretend drive the car. DH locked the doors of the car as he walked in the house. The car starts getting warm so I try to open the door. It won't budge. It stays locked. I try the centre console button to unlock all the doors. Nothing. I try all 4 doors - none will open. It's getting hotter in the car. So I try to honk the horn. Nothing. Now I start to slightly panic. Dh took my purse in so I have no phone and I can't get out of the car. I feel like a fool. But it's getting hotter and hotter. I'm silently thanking God and the universe for the fact that it's a coldish day for May. I try to wave at people passing. No one notices. The sun comes out - of course. It's really warming up. I start looking for something to break the glass. There isn't anything. I'm now taking off DS's clothes because damn it's hot in here for a cloudy day. Finally, finally a guy sees me frantically waving and banging on the glass and I shout to him that we are trapped and our house number. It was nearly cold today London today and it was not fun in that car. It made me realise how fast cars can overheat and that BMWs are shit. Who makes a car that you can't unlock from the inside?! The article below explains exactly what happened to us only ours is a 2009 BMW - so problem not fixed! That and I will never moan about the UK weather ever again.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-escape-california-family-sues-bmw-after-teen-dies-locked-n100881

OP posts:
primarywannabe · 02/05/2015 23:23

Why did your dh lock you in the car? How long were you in there? When was he planning on coming back? Odd story.

SilverBirch2015 · 02/05/2015 23:23

Most car's alarms would go off with someone still inside, how odd and dangerous.

MarthaMonkeynuts · 02/05/2015 23:25

How frightening for you Flowers

Hope you are OK

The link you shared is heartbreaking too.

How long were you stuck for?

treaclesoda · 02/05/2015 23:28

My dh accidentally locked me in the car for five mins a while back whilst he went into a shop. He just clicked the button impulsively as he was walking away from the car. It was the longest five mins of my life. The alarm went off but he didn't hear it from inside the shop. The panic of being locked in was horrendous.

AliceAnneB · 02/05/2015 23:29

I have no idea why the alarm didn't go off. Maybe there isn't a motion sensor? Why is it odd that DH went into the house while I stayed in the car with DS who is 3 and wanted to sit in the drivers seat to "drive". DH had been driving and took the key with him and my keys because he carried the bags in. He locked it more of habit than anything, I think, as he walked away. Is this common that you can't unlock a car the inside?!

OP posts:
treaclesoda · 02/05/2015 23:32

Yes, it's common. I think the idea is that if you're trying to steal the car you get locked in, instead of getting out and running away.

In my car you're only locked in once the alarm goes off though. But having said that, leaning over to manually unlock the door would set the alarm off anyway, so in reality you're pretty much locked in from the start.

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/05/2015 23:45

We have a little hammer thing to smash the windows. It is meant for crashing into water but would work here. It also has a bit for cutting seatbelts. Should be standard equipment.

If you could get into the boot there might be a release under the floor. www.wikihow.com/Escape-From-the-Trunk-of-a-Car People should know how their vehicles work IMO.

Shouldof · 02/05/2015 23:46

With mine if you click the lock button once it is locked from the outside but not the inside and if you press it twice its locked from the inside too and the manual specifically stats using the single Ork when passengers are inside.

TrollshaveLittleWillies · 03/05/2015 00:13

did the car have a central locking/unlocking button?

Linnet · 03/05/2015 00:36

In my car if I click the central locking system, the car doors can still be unlocked from the inside if the person in the car pulls the lock. I thought all cars did this as a safety precaution.

porkpieandgin · 03/05/2015 00:42

why didn't DH wonder why you were taking so long and come back to the car and check on you?!

Skinheadmermaid · 03/05/2015 00:49

How awful for you!
A very similar thing happened to me the other day. Popped with DH to his office to pick up something, he got out and locked the doors without thinking, normally he leaves the key in.
After 10 minutes the car started to get really stuffy and i tried to open a window but it wouldn't. Thankfully the door did open after a couple of tries. I've never felt claustrophobic before. Confused It was horrible.
Why didn't your DH come and check on you.

AliceAnneB · 03/05/2015 11:28

Apparently on all VAG group cars (BMW, Audi, VV) if you lock from the outside and press twice to disable the alarm you cannot unlock from the inside. So DH had pressed twice to disable the alarm but hadn't realised that also means you can't get out! Never again with BMW. Even if someone tried to steal our car I wouldn't want to kill them! This will be our last BMW. I think that's an absurd feature. We have ordered an emergency hammer - thank you for the recommendation.

OP posts:
TruJay · 03/05/2015 11:44

Wow I know exactly how you feel. This happened to me when I was about 13. My mum had parked up on grandma's street, lack of parking close to her house so I was quite a distance from the house and down the street so not really in sight. Mum and dbro went to dg's house to drop off shopping and I waited in the car. It was a cloudy day but my God did I get hot quickly and I started struggling to breathe after about 10mins.
Out of habit my mum had pressed the lock button twice meaning the car was 'deadlocked' and I couldn't get out. I really started to panic, thankfully the horn still worked so I just pressed like a lunatic and my dbro came out to see what was happening. He still had to run back up to the house for the key though as mum still had it, poor lad crapped himself after I had told him what was happening but he saved me and we were all just so surprised that it happened on a seemingly cold, cloudy day.
It's shocking that cars can do this really.

SpiritOfTheRitz · 03/05/2015 11:47

What a stupid feature!

Feel quite glad now that we have only ever been able to afford cheap, used cars without electric windows or central locking!

May09Bump · 03/05/2015 11:54

Agree with MrsTerryPratcett everyone should have a hammer to smash windows and cut seat belts. Its in case you crash and can't open the doors / locks / seat belts. It would also work in this situation - agree that the doors should unlock from the inside too.

www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/tools-diy/breakdown-essentials/lifehammer-plus-safety-hammer

Keep it in the glove compartment - or somewhere that will not move from in a crash.

Cassie258 · 03/05/2015 12:09

I have a BMW but it's 1999.

I had a similar problem. The previous owner hadn't reprogrammed the key so I was using the key in the door lock until one day it snapped and I couldn't get in. The aa man opened the window and pressed the centre console button and pulled the door handles but nothing. It was only when I put the key in the ignition it reset. DD sets the alarm off when I go to pay for petrol and lock her in.

Why did he lock you in?

Cassie258 · 03/05/2015 12:13

I can only press once and pressing twice does nothing. In BMW you have to pay more for fold down seats in the back. I can't and it's extremely annoying.

DP has a golf and it locks itself if you close the doors and leave it for a very short amount of time. I get terrified I'll lock the keys in it.

patterkiller · 03/05/2015 12:18

I really feel your panic. This happened to me two years ago in our old Audi. I was with dd2, dh went in the house and just locked the car without thinking. We were only there for 6 or 7 minutes but it was horrendous. I'm quite claustrophobic anyway but this really tipped me over into the whole panic in lifts and planes now. And no the alarm didn't go off.

peggyundercrackers · 03/05/2015 12:21

BMW aren't part of the VAG group - vag group is Audi/vw/seat/skoda.

Sorry your story seems a bit fishy because The only way you can lock a BMW without the alarm is to open a door, double lock the car for the key fob then close the door. Even if you double click the key fob the alarm will set. This is what happens with ours...

patterkiller · 03/05/2015 12:23

Well I can tell you it can and did happen to me.

Lyinginwait888 · 03/05/2015 12:26

Oh god even reading that story made me panicky. How horrible.

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Methe · 03/05/2015 12:28

My Skoda has a button in the centre console to unlock the doors.

Cassie258 · 03/05/2015 12:30

Methe, my very old BMW does so I assume new ones do but that doesn't unlock once the car has been locked from the outside using the key. Only the key or key in the ignition unlocks it. Speaking from experience.

Methe · 03/05/2015 12:32

I'll get dh to lock me in later on and see.

I've accidentally locked the kids in the car when I've popped in to the shop/petrol station and the alarm always goes off.

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