Auto Safety AFTER an Accident

Don't know but there ALWAYS after a selling point. I'll point this out. Children in Europe, at least, have to wear seatbelts like everyone else and nowadays have to sit on 'booster' seats. Makes the child lock nigh-on redundant ??

This is true, however I don't think we ever used the child locks when the kids where younger. They always had the correct seats and restraints, so we just never bothered. I seem to remember my reasoning went something like; when they are strapped in they can't reach the door handle, and when they where old enough to wear normal seat belts, they where old enough to understand the danger.

As a kid I always rode sitting on the front centre arm rest between both parents with the rear-view mirror to help impede my progress through the windscreen; so no danger of reaching either door handle. Must be purgatory spending all those years imprisoned in the back feeling car sick. Bench seats in those days and dash mounted diecast mirror stalks.

What? You mean, cars don't have bench seats any more?

I believe the BMW 740 IL I once owned had this, that in case of a collision or a roll over, the car doors would open, I don't remember now, but also think that the Audi Allroad I have now has this arrangement. I will have to look at the owner's manual and confirm though

The doors would open!!! or the doors unlocked? Big difference.

Anyways, if you are worried about the doors unlocking after a car accident, we in the automotive design community have specifically NOT put this feature in for one simple reason.

If an accident occurs and the adults in the accident are rendered unconscious and the child/children are still alert, you do not want a child being able to get out of the car and wander the street/highway and possibly get hit. Ask any racecar driver, the safest place to be AFTER an accident is IN the car.

If you are worried about getting access during a fire/rollover, then I always keep a spring-loaded center punch (used in the machining industry to mark center of a hole to be drilled) on my person or in the car. These nifty little devices when pressed firmly against a window will crack and break the window to allow access to rear of car.

First off your choice of web sites for information is geared towards creating hysteria in over-protective parents.

More children die from accidents in the home than the causes you are worried about.

Use the proper child seats and restraints and drive as safely as you can.

All the precautions in the world are not going to help if the bridge falls into the river or the overpass falls on you or you are blindsided by a speeding truck.

Just tell your wife that she can keep the kids locked in the house all the time and thus insure their total safety, unless the house catches of fire while everyone is asleep.

There are no guarantees in this life except for the fact that everyone will eventually die.

We do the best we can to protect our children but we cannot control the world around us.

Well said and very true.

It seems that Paranoia about everyhing is becoming the latest craze.