# Danger from automatic car door locks?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 19, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199 "2017-02-19T01:22:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DtypeJag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DtypeJag)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199/1 "2017-02-19T01:22:03Z")
Video of a cop rescuing a woman from a car with an underhood fire was on TV in the last day or two. He had to break the window with his baton to drag her out of the car. The voiceover said the woman could not open the doors. Neither could the cop apparently so he had to pull her out through the window.
I know most newer cars have automatic electric door locking as soon as they start moving. If electric power is cut, as could have happened with the fire, would the doors remain locked?
---
### Author:  [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199/2 "2017-02-19T01:26:42Z")
There are far too many different type of locks to speak for every vehicle, but I’ve been in a large number of different vehicles and all of them had a manual way to unlock the door from the inside. Panic can make people stupid, and/or some people simply don’t pay attention to the details (like where the manual lock on the car is located). Lastly, a large number of vehicles I’ve been in will unlock just by pulling the inside door handle. While I can’t say for sure that it is not battery-assisted, most (if not all) of the ones I’ve noticed worked even when the engine and battery are off.
ETA: If the cause of the fire was an accident, it is possible the door was jammed and even unlocking it would not have allowed it to be opened.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199/3 "2017-02-19T01:28:46Z")
I think I may have heard of one or two models of cars that didn’t have an actual physical lock/unlock latch inside the car that would work even without power, but in general there’s a way to manually unlock the doors. However, even if you can’t, it’s not that much different than child proof back doors.
Keep in mind, most people don’t manually unlock their doors. That and panicking because their car is on first may have made it more difficult to find the latch (for the first time) and faster for the cop to break the window instead of just waiting to see what what would happen.
---
### Author:  [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199/4 "2017-02-19T03:33:10Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> panicking because their car is on first
No Lou, Who is on first, What is on second, Car is the manager
---
### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-automatic-car-door-locks/780199/5 "2017-02-19T04:10:09Z")
Previous thread:
> **[Are modern cars equiped to lock from inside and can't be unlocked without a key?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=728054)**
>
> I can’t imagine that this would be the case. I drive a van and haven’t owned a car in 20 years. Have they put some kind of lock so that people can be locked inside? Every car may parents ever owned could be easily opened from inside with the door...