Look Before You Lock – Avoid Fatal Distraction

look before you lock
What you’re looking for

I was driving home from the shops today and heard a message on the radio from the “Look Before You Lock” campaign. “Look Before You Lock” is a campaign to raise awareness and promote strategies to prevent accidentally leaving your baby or child in the car. There’s are several great video that explains how “fatal distraction” can happen to anyone.

However hearing it on the radio made me think about how just yesterday afternoon I drove to my kid’s school instead of to the supermarket.

Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

I left the house to go to the supermarket to get a few extra things I needed to cook dinner last night. I got in the car and I drove out of the driveway. Then somewhere along the road I shifted into autopilot and turned right when I should have gone straight. I navigated through the side streets approaching my children’s school, blissfully unaware that I was headed to the wrong destination.

When I got within a block of the school I finally noticed something wasn’t right.

There were no cars around. No parents or children on the footpaths. It was nearly 6pm! Of course I’m not on the way to pick the kids up from school!!!

I rolled my eyes at myself. Had a little laugh. Drove to the supermarket. Stopped to make a humorous Facebook post about how tired and frazzled I am. And then went on with the rest of my evening.

But what if that wasn’t the story. What if instead of the supermarket I was on my way to drop my baby off at daycare. And what if the destination I drove to on autopilot was work.

And what if everything seemed perfectly normal when I arrived at work. What if it was the right time for me to be getting to work and nothing triggered my memory to realise that it wasn’t where I was supposed to be.

What if instead of realising I’d made a mistake I got out of the car and went to work for several hours. With baby asleep in the back.

It just seems so terrifyingly easy to me.

How Can You Forget Your baby?

And I know people often howl in online discussions “How can you forget your own baby?!?!” “How can you forget where you child is?!?!”

Well, technically that’s exactly what I did last night.

I forgot, on some subconscious level, where my children were. Somewhere in my mind I must have thought they were at school, when they were safely at home with their dad.

Clearly it’s not because I don’t love them enough to remember them. I just forgot where they were. I just forgot where I was supposed to be. We all go into autopilot from time to time. Surely it’s something we can all understand?

I’ve seen people online outraged at even the suggestion of having a strategy to never forget to get your baby out of the car. I personally still habitually leave my handbag on the back seat, even now that my kids are old enough to get themselves out of the car!

It’s About Habits And Short Term Memory – Not Love

But I see the comments like – HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR HANDBAG AND NOT YOUR BABY! (And worse comments. As you can imagine online people don’t hold back.)

Well, because, I ALWAYS have to get my handbag out of the car. But I don’t always have my children with me. So if I have the habit of every single time I park my car to get out I have to reach over and get my handbag out, I don’t have to think about it, I just do it.

Like putting the handbrake on every time I park. I don’t think “I’m going to put the handbrake on”. I just do it, because I do it each and every time I stop my car.

My routine is:  Park the car. Apply the handbrake. Turn off the engine. Pull out the keys. Reach over the back and grab my handbag. Put the keys in my bag.

If I don’t get my handbag I still have my keys in my hand. Which would remind me I’d forgotten it.

And then if I’m always reaching over the back to grab my bag and there’s a kid still in their seat I’m going to see them!

Problem solved.

Look Before You Lock – Or Whatever Works For You

There are also several other great strategies outlined at Look Before You Lock including having a mental check list before getting out the car, a mirror for rear facing children, or opening the back door each and every time you get out of the car regardless of whether there’s a child there. Do whatever works for you!

The most important thing is that having a ritual, routine or habit, that works for you to ensure you don’t ever leave your baby in the car doesn’t mean you don’t love them enough to remember them. It means you love them so much you want to make sure they’re safe no matter what.

Rachel Stewart

Rachel is the founder of Parenting Central. She is raising two children, boy and girl, with her partner. Rachel is obsessed prams, car seats, carriers and all things baby. She has worked in the baby industry for several years, for both suppliers and also in a retail setting and has developed a passion for connecting parents with the right products to make their lives easier. When Rachel isn't playing with prams she's enjoys crocheting, drinking coffee (sometimes wine) and spending a little too much time on Facebook.

12 Comments

  1. I’ve seen a bunch of advertising in my area about this. Many people don’t understand how easy it can be to do (I never did but I understand with fatigue how easy it could be).

    The handbag trick is brilliant. I did similar, always put my stuff in the back.

  2. Now that is a clever strategy and one I’ve not heard of (it’s probably super common these days, but it’s been a while since my kids were little!) My only strategy back then was having 3 kids under 4 – someone was always yelling, so I knew they were there.

  3. Oh that’s a great idea. Sometimes I get in the car to go pick my daughter up and even then I have a brief moment of panic thinking “I did take her out and drop her at school didn’t it??” It’s a real fear.

  4. This is a great idea!! I’ve never forgotten my child but can see how in a sleep deprived state you maybe could. Any idea like this to help parents is a good one.

  5. This is a great idea!! I’ve never forgotten my child but can see how in a sleep deprived state you maybe could. Any idea like this to help parents is a good one.

  6. I once forgot to drop my daughter off at her daycare – I drove straight past, on autopilot, on my way to work. Thank goodness I remembered not long after and turned around to take her back. But it jolted me into action too – I made sure it never happened again!

  7. That’s such a good idea! Our strategy is to text each other “How was drop off?” Right after we would arrive at work. As we each take different kids different days it’s constantly a consideration.

  8. Clever idea – I was taught to leave one shoe in the back seat with the same principles in mind. Everyone says they would never leave a child in the car but you’re definitely not yourself as a new (sleep deprived) parent. Great share x

Related Articles