Any driver will tell you that they have had that time where they accidentally locked their keys inside their car. The real question though is what did they do to solve the situation. If you end up locking your keys inside your car, take on these steps to get your keys out.
Checking locks
Once you think that you’ve locked your keys inside your car, you should be checking every lock. This means going around to every side door and pulling on it to see if you can get in from the side. You’ll always want to check if your trunk is unlocked somehow since some car models have a separate trunk lock that would allow you to get in from the back. If you’ve then realized that every part of your car is locked, then you should move on to the next step.
Emergency
After you’re done checking every lock, you should evaluate the situation. If you have kids or animals inside, you should think about calling emergency services first so that police can help you get your car open.
However, you need to make sure that your car isn’t getting hot too quickly. During the summertime, you might have to end up breaking your windows before police even show up. Just make sure that you always evaluate if it’s a real emergency with people being locked inside your car.
Spare keys
If you believe your car is going to be ok locked, you should now evaluate what steps you are going to take next. You’ll want to think about if you have spare keys laying around somewhere in your house or apartment.
For those that know they have a spare set of keys, call whoever you live with or find someone that can go to your place. Make sure they can get in so they aren’t sitting at your front door with your keys just laying inside. This should solve the issue of your keys being locked away, but you’ll have to think of something else if you don’t have a spare set of keys.
Locksmith
For those that don’t have spare keys and can wait, it could be a good idea for you to call a locksmith. A locksmith is someone who will come to your car to unlock it for you without damaging it in any matter.
To find a locksmith, search for them on your mobile phone. As long as you live in or are near a large city, you should be able to find someone that can come out to your car at any point of the day. Those calling a locksmith should be aware though that they are probably looking at spending at least $100 each to get their car open. Just think about if getting a locksmith is going to be the right way to get your car unlocked.
Damage
Whether you can’t find a locksmith or you feel unsafe where you’re currently at, you might be forced to damage your car to get your keys out. You’ll want to first think about forcing your door open with pressure.
To force your door open, you might want to get a pump wedge to do so. This is a wedge that you insert into the small opening between your car and the outside door that slowly pumps air inside so the door gets forced open. If you’re unable to get one of these, you might have to damage your windows.
To damage your window, make sure you first are wearing protective equipment like glasses and a jacket. This will make it so that glass doesn’t hurt you. From there, you’ll want to use some tool like a hammer to break your window open so you can unlock your car from the outside. Either way you go, you’ll want to make sure that damaging your car is the last solution on your list.
