BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A mother has a warning for drivers with the keyless entry feature on their vehicles after her child got locked inside.
- Mom says keyless entry on car locked her son inside
- Says she found others on FB with similar issues
- Specialist says keyless entry issues are usually battery-related
Stephanie Inghram says she was wrapping up her day at the Brevard Zoo and after putting her 11-month-old son in his car seat, she closed the trunk -- that’s when she says a feature in her car glitched, locking her son inside the car.
Inghram says it shouldn’t have locked because she had her smart key inside the vehicle.
According to the car's manual, if the smart key is inside the vehicle, it shouldn’t lock. But she said it did with her child inside.
“I closed my car and walked around, and it was locked,” Inghram said.
She says after calling 911, she kept on trying to open the car, and seconds before first responders arrived, somehow the trunk of the car opened.
According to Inghram’s mechanic, they have only heard of a similar case twice in 10 years.
“It may be the battery of the fob going out in general, but it shouldn’t have done that,” explained Mike Goltz, a mechanic.
But Inghram took to Facebook and found out she’s not the only one that’s experience this issue -- it’s happened with different makes, models and years of quite a few vehicles.
An interstate battery specialist told Spectrum News that most keyless entries issues are battery related.
“It was her car battery. She had keyless entry, and it wouldn’t unlock because the battery is bad,” said Jamal Lewis.
Inghram says her dealership wasn’t able to find the problem, but she has a warning for parents and pet owners to prevent this from happening to them.
“Don’t trust technology -- it could have hurt my son,” Inghram remarked.
Spectrum News 13 ran Stephanie’s VIN number and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, her VIN came clear with no recalls.