I have been debating this with a friend. When you are driving in your car, should your doors be locked or unlocked? I recall a new Mercedes that automatically locked the doors when you drove off then apparently promised to unlock them in the event of an accident.
For those of us that drive regular cars, locked or unlocked? Which is better and why?
Q
Locked reduces the chance that some thug will open the door when you’re stopped and jerk you out of the car.
When my country cousin came from Oklahoma to visit me in the big city, he couldn’t believe that I always locked my doors when I was driving. I told him about a guy I knew who was stopped at a light in downtown L.A. with his passenger door unlocked and some mentally ill woman opened the door and got in his car and wouldn’t get out. I don’t know if my cousin was convinced.
Besides the fact that there are crazy people and criminals that will open your doors and fuck with you, I’ve also heard that unlocked doors can come open in an accident and let you be thrown out of the car. I think that’s the reason a lot of cars have doors that lock automatically when you put them in gear.
Not if you wear your seat belt.
Is this really a GQ?
I think people lock their cars because they’re afraid of ‘the crazies’ and criminals. I can’t see another reason, i.e. something to do with safety on the roads. And in case of an accident, I would not want the doors to be locked.
In Driver’s Ed, it was recommended. Their explanation was that it would be safer in a colision, because you’d be less likely to be pitched out. Sounds pretty sketchy to me…if there was a crash so intense as to bust the door open, somehow get you clear of the seat belt and fly out, a) the lock probably wouldn’t stop the door anyhow, and b) you’d die, so who cares whether it’s inside the car or out?
Personally, I lock the doors in three situations:
When I was a little kid and there were no seatbelt laws, my mom was driving around with me in the passenger’s seat. My door was not quite closed right (rattling), and I’d seen people open then slam the door shut before, but had never tried it. Being <6 years old and very naive, I decided I’d be like the grown ups and re-close my door right now… only problem was that we were turning left around a corner and I was too ignorant to know about centrifical force. I pulled the handle, and the door flew wide open, and I started to go with it. The only thing that saved me from being tossed out onto the road and possibly killed was the old-fashioned seatbelt - mom’s arm. She told me that if you had the door locked, even if it was loose it wouldn’t come open - like that - I’ve tried it, and most cars won’t let you open a loose door that’s locked (although there have been some models that automatically pop the lock up when you open the door from the inside, so this safety feature doesn’t work with them).
So there’s another reason to lock the doors; accidently flicking the handle of a loose door (or some silly little kid purposely doing it) and having the door pop open when you’re moving.
Thanks guys. It looks like the concensus is lock them to prevent humans from entering uninvited. I don’t really buy the “accidental opening” - If you go sit in your car and flail your arms about, you’ll see how hard it is to unlock a recent model car.
I agree with the seatbelt comments as well. If you’ve ever watched crash tests, the doors rarely open. If they do, the car is rated poorly. In terms of safety, I would side with leaving them unlocked so that in the event of an accident, emergency crews have quick access.
I guess it’s a judgement call - protect yourself from psychos or maintain open access for the emergency crew.
After reading this, I’m going to go with Ender-Wil’s idea. Lock as needed. But I sure appreciate the commentary!
Thanks gang!!
In many vehicles (like my 1997 pickup), pulling on the interior handle unlocks the door if it’s locked - there’s no noticeable difference in the amount of effort required to open the door (locked vs. unlocked).
I’m rather skeptical of the claim that a locked door is any less likely to open in an accident. Clearly, this would depend somewhat on the mechanism, but is there really anything to back this idea up?
A 10 year old answer from the Car Talk guys:
Most of the other links I found related to car jacking and personal safety.
My car’s remote unlocks only the driver’s door with one push of the button. It takes two button punches to unlock the other doors. And there’s a big, easy to reach, button in the middle of the console that locks all the doors instantly.
The manual is quite straightforward in explaining that the locking features are designed specifically to inhibit unwanted interactions with other people.
Some cars have child locks on them so the door won’t unlock & the windows won’t change. It would seem it’s a better idea that the kids don’t get out.
Mine are welded shut in case I have to jump the ravine to get away from Roscoe and Boss Hogg.
Re: the CarTalk link…That’s an interesting point about rescue personnel having to get you out of your car, but I wonder if you’re in a bad enough accident to require being forcibly removed from your car wouldn’t you most likely have to be cut out anyway?
Some vehicles are specifically designed so that once the door is locked it is then mechanically linked to the body’s midships pylon. A huge increase in structural integrity is the result.
Having your door fly open during a rollover or collision is a great way to get a limb (or limbs) amputated. I keep my windows rolled up on the freeway for the same reason.
I carry a pocket tool to break my window if the door gets jammed. I’ll hope that anyone who finds me unconscious in a wreck will have the foresight to do the same. Count me as one who always drives with the doors locked.
Having personally witnessed a friend being dragged out of their car by a drunken, crazed male one bright sunny day, with no warning whatsoever and for no reason whatsoever (mistaken identity case :rolleyes: ) in a “nice” neighborhood of half-million $ homes, I would say “Yes, lock the doors!”
The only reason they were not dragged completely out was their seatbelt. They still were beaten a couple a times before they could escape.
My Jetta locks all the doors when it hits 5 MPH. I pull the inside door handle to unlock my door. I always thought it was in case of an accident it was safer to have the doors locked.
What if a carjacker has a gun? A locked door won’t really help. Somthing like that happened in my area a few nights ago, the woman was shot 3 times but will live. The carjacker is still on the loose. 
I had always been in the habit of locking my doors–which came in handy when some crazy tried to get in many years ago. But in my '98 Dodge Stratus, the doors automatically lock as soon as the spedometer hits 15 mph–whether the seatbelts are used or not. And don’t worry, sometimes I start the car before locking my seatbelt, I never drive without it.
But an unlocked door might not have really helped her either. Was the woman refusing to get out, or did the guy just start shooting right away? I think in this case, there’s more to worry about than the safety of the car you’re in. If someone is that determined to harm you or steal your car, you need another way out than the door locks.
I usually have my car door unlocked, unless I’m resting my arm on it, in which case it’s more comfortable to lock it. If I’m waiting for someone in a parking lot, particularly at night, or if I have to pull over to find something in my bag or whatever, then I will usually lock my car doors, just for the added safety of making it that much harder to get to me.
In the event of an emergency, I assume rescue personel know how to unlock or otherwise open a door. I had a minor car accident a few years ago, and while the drivers door was unlocked, the damage was enough that it couldn’t be opened. I assume this type of damage is not uncommon. I was able to just crawl across the seat and exit by the passenger door, but if for some reason that wasn’t an option, I would have been willing to let them tear the door off, or break the window or whatever it took to get out. A couple of extra cuts from a busted window when it might mean saving my life is a price I’m willing to pay.
The fire department carries what they call a “universal key” AKA a 12 pound flat back axe. It does wonders for removing windows at which point its a simple matter to unlock and open a door.
Also generally speaking, an impact that damages a door in such a way that it will not open WILL break the window. In 2 years working as an EMT I had to break a car window exactly once to get to a patient.
I think it would be safer to lock your doors while driving.
Since this is not a matter of fact, but opinion, this belongs in IMHO. I’ll move it for you.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
On VWs (and presumably other makes) the door lock behavior is programmable by the dealer. You can have them set it to not lock the doors, or, if you’re ultra-cautious, you could have it set not to automatically unlock when you remove the ignition key. You can also change when it beeps, etc.
Personally, I rarely lock my doors, and I loathe having the car decide to do it for me.
I’ll often do things like start to drive away, realize I forgot something, drive around the block and pull in the driveway, leave the car running and jump out, run and get whatever, come back and throw it in the back seat. With the auto-lock “feature”, the rear door is locked, and cursing ensues.
You can also have the behavior changed to unlock all the doors with one click on the fob, if like me you’re lazy and don’t want to have to remember to click twice when you have passengers.