Back car door swar right open whilst driving... the scare!

[Branster]

Driving back yesterday with DD in the back seat, took a corner and the door on her side swang right open. What a shock.! I was sure I closed it properly, but thinking back I hear a rattling noise when I drove off from the car park and thought nothing of it. It was lucky that on Sunday late afternoon there's hardly any traffic. I'm not the best of drivers as it happens, I get worried a lot for what 'might' happen, and never thought this might ever occur. Where i had to stop there is this really high double border and I stopped just before getting near a post lamp with the visison of the door beeing smashed as I stop but luckly the car stopped right before the post lamp. And the door has some scratches at the bottom from where it scraped the border but that doesn't bother me. I was amased at myself at how calm I was during all this, yet when afterwards I was trembling all over. When i noticed what happened and started to break i said 'Oh, dear!' and DD started asking 'What happened mummy, what happened??'. So when the car stopped and I went over to her side to close the door I said as casually as I could manage that 'silly mummy didn't close the door properly' so all the way home DD was giggling and saying 'silly mummy, silly mummy'. has this ever happened to anyone else?
Thank God for these car seats!!! all I can say.
As a result, everytime we went in the car out today, Ichecked DD's door fifteen times to make sure is closed properly. I keep thinking if there was another car on the next lane i would have been scratched big time. How stupid of me!

put down to experience...I think this happens to lots of people ONCE the difference is with kids/babies in car reaction is worse cos your holding PRECIOUS cargo. Don't dwell on it sure it won't happen again.

I remember one day when I was about 8 and my brother was 4, we didn't use car seats then, wasn't the law, four of us wedged in the back of the car, on a car icey morning, when my dad went round the roundabout, door flew open, my brother fell out my mum went into shock and couldn't look as she was sure he would have been hit by another car, as it was my brother had got up, and walked to the edge of the roundabout and just stood there till dad came and got him, bless. He was fine though

same thing happened to my cousin on a roundabout, as they went round, my aunt somehow managed to grab him as he was hanging out of the door! Very scarey when you think of what might have happened.

It sounds as though you were really calm and responded brilliantly, well done for remaining so calm and even managing to make a little joke out of it fro your DD. It something you will learn from I'm sure. Hpe you are feeling ok about it now.

DD2 managed to open her door whilst going down the M6!! Luckily we were stuck in traffic at the time (surprise) so could get over to hard shoulder & shut it. She didn't open it fully, just 'unlatched' it IYKWIM. Thank god for those lights on the dashboard that tell you when the doors aren't shut.(Oh, and child locks of course - they're 7 & 9 now & we STILL leave the child locks on)

I'm OK about it now. Still checking the door a few times before I get in the car although I know perfectly well the door lock is fine and DD cannot open it herself.
Thank you all for your posts. I hope this won't happen to anyone ever and I am grateful to whoever invented child car seats!!!