I had a rough morning today. "Why?" you may ask. Well, I locked my keys in a running car at my parents house. Dumb, eh? But here's my tirade and how it relates...
Locking the keys in one's car is not an uncommon occurrence. However, since buying a Honda Civic, I have not had to worry about this problem. This is because Japanese designers think about the smallest of details when designing new cars and they consider that people might accidentally do something that could result in a "bad event" such as locking keys in the car. Here are some distinguishing features between my Civic and the Jeep Liberty that I have as a rental car:
1) My Honda remote has recessed buttons, which make it difficult to bump them. The Jeep has slightly protruding buttons that are easy to bump. This is especially true for the Lock button, which has 4 raised bumps on it to make it even easier to snag and depress.
2) My Honda remote is deactivated when the keys are inserted into the ignition. I bumped the Lock button on the Jeep remote when I was stick the key into the ignition. My belief is that there's not a legitimate reason to use the remote when the keys are in the ignition.
3) My Honda does not lock the doors when the doors are open. When I accidentally locked the Jeep, I was leaning in to put the keys into the ignition, with the door open, before stepping back to close the door so that I could put a bag in the back. Some Japanese cars will lock the doors, but then pop the drivers' side door unlocked as the door closes unless you pull up on the handle. My Honda simply won't lock the doors unless all doors are closed. This makes sense. It seems that #2 and #3 are probably the most common case of accidental lock-out.
I could go on, but I'll call it quits. Suffice it to say, I was not happy. $50 dollars and 30 minutes later, a locksmith popped the lock and got me on my way. But, good grief. Not a great way to start the day.
