WINNIPEG — The mother who accidentally locked her 13 month old girl in the car downtown Thursday says Ford has opened a file to investigate why the vehicle locked with her keys in it, something she says it isn’t supposed to do.
Paula Walterson used the command start function on her Ford Focus to “cool it down” at St. Mary Avenue and Kennedy Street yesterday, but after she unlocked it and strapped her daughter in her car seat, she says the vehicle locked again after she closed the doors.
“That’s not supposed to happen,” Walterson said. She had placed the fob or “smart key” in the side door pocket and says the car is supposed to ‘sense’ that the key or person is now in it.
The panicked mom immediately called 911; first responders arrived minutes later and broke the back door window to free baby Ava.
Walterson says the car was cool inside because it was still running, but she’s now fuming because it has happened to her twice. The other time, no one was in the car.
Her husband has called Ford and she says they told him they have opened a file.
Jennifer Tennent, who owns Crane Towing with her husband, says they’ve had a similar incident with their Honda Pilot.
Last winter they used the command start to warm the vehicle, but after her husband went out and put the keys in the ignition, loaded the car, and shut the doors, it immediately locked. There was no one in it.
She believes it has something to do with the fact the command start was installed after the vehicle was purchased but says if she uses that feature now, she doesn’t put her kids in the car without touching the brakes first.
Tennant says that cancels the lock function and allows her to open and close the doors without worry.
CAA says it does more than 10,000 lock out calls per year in Manitoba. At least two to three times per week, that call includes a kid or pet who is also inside the locked car.
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