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Is there any child safety lock mechanism, that prevents a child from opening the door from the inside? Besides the display that indicates a door is open, the S class does not have any way of preventing this from happening while the car is in motion.
I understand that in the event of an accident, the carmaker wants the passengers to be able to exit the car, and would not be able to if a lock was engaged (i.e Toyotas, Lexus' have this ).
I would think Mercedes would be able to go a step furthur and have a system that automatically disengages a child safety lock in any sort of collision.
My 2.5 yr old opened the rear door during a stopover, on a rural 2 lane rd. As my wife got back onto the road, the door swung open. Luckily my child was strapped to her carseat, but who knows one day she may quietly learn how to unbuckle that, without us knowing.
I had never bothered checking or even looking for one in any of my cars, until today.
Apparently, the Lexus LS430, and the BMW 7 series have this, because my brother in law owns both and checked to let me know.
I guess you could always get MB to pull out the controls and disable the lock switch from the rear seats (it should just be a plug). The doors would then only be able to be unlocked/locked from the front and they should still unlock during a collision. I know its kind of a pain, but might be worth it since you had a close call already.
Is there any child safety lock mechanism, that prevents a child from opening the door from the inside? Besides the display that indicates a door is open, the S class does not have any way of preventing this from happening while the car is in motion.
I understand that in the event of an accident, the carmaker wants the passengers to be able to exit the car, and would not be able to if a lock was engaged (i.e Toyotas, Lexus' have this ).
I would think Mercedes would be able to go a step furthur and have a system that automatically disengages a child safety lock in any sort of collision.
My 2.5 yr old opened the rear door during a stopover, on a rural 2 lane rd. As my wife got back onto the road, the door swung open. Luckily my child was strapped to her carseat, but who knows one day she may quietly learn how to unbuckle that, without us knowing.
I had never bothered checking or even looking for one in any of my cars, until today.
Apparently, the Lexus LS430, and the BMW 7 series have this, because my brother in law owns both and checked to let me know.
If you have auto lock set, then all doors will lock when the car gets to a certain speed. You can also lock all doors with the switch on the drivers door. Also, the car will sense in an accident and will open all the door locks.
However, there is no way that I can see where someone in the backseat (or front seats) cannot open any locked door from the inside while the car is in motion. If the car is in Global lock/unlock all door can be opened from the inside. If you are in Special lock/unlock only the door opened from the inside will unlock. But that does not eliminate a youngster from opening the door from the inside if not in his seatbelt.
Doesn't the car have child locks? They're usually located on the edge of the door. I'll be shocked if they don't!
You wont find any. I checked the manual, somehow,it has no mention of the ability of children being able to open the door while the car is in motion.
I really worry for this, because a few months ago, one of my employee's nephew died in this manner. He opened the door on the freeway and fell out and died. I didnt even think of it, until it happened to me yesterday.
You wont find any. I checked the manual, somehow,it has no mention of the ability of children being able to open the door while the car is in motion. I really worry for this, because a few months ago, one of my employee's nephew died in this manner. He opened the door on the freeway and fell out and died. I didnt even think of it, until it happened to me yesterday.
I do not have an S, yet. However, I’m assuming there should be a sliding latch when you open each rear door (midpoint rear metal frame) which activates/deactivates the child-proof locks.
I do not have an S, yet. However, I’m assuming there should be a sliding latch when you open each rear door (midpoint rear metal frame) which activates/deactivates the child-proof locks.
There is nothing on the frame of the read door except the latch.
There is a small square hole in the rear doors just below the latch but it just appears to be a hole. There doesn't appear to be anything to adjust or turn. It looks like it may be used for an option I do not have on the car????
There is nothing on the frame of the read door except the latch.
There is a small square hole in the rear doors just below the latch but it just appears to be a hole. There doesn't appear to be anything to adjust or turn. It looks like it may be used for an option I do not have on the car????
I observed the same. I even prodded the small square hole to see if there is some sort of button. Have no idea what its for.
Definately a worry for me now. I'll just put the child seat in the middle of the rear, I guess.
I don't believe any US-spec MBs have them at all. Our '02 ML320 doesn't have them.
But don't the doors only unlock if you open only the front doors? The rear door shouldn't unlock when you pull the handle unless it already is unlocked....
But don't the doors only unlock if you open only the front doors? The rear door shouldn't unlock when you pull the handle unless it already is unlocked....
I covered this above...
"However, there is no way that I can see where someone in the backseat (or front seats) cannot open any locked door from the inside while the car is in motion. If the car is in Global lock/unlock all door can be opened from the inside. If you are in Special lock/unlock only the door opened from the inside will unlock."
Is there any child safety lock mechanism, that prevents a child from opening the door from the inside?
Well this may be the reason why I haven’t received replies to my email inquiries sent to several responsible types at MBUSA.
A recent Consumer Reports article on the CLS500 (even though the CLS550s are on the floor ) specifically notes there are no rear childproof door locks as found on most cars. Therefore, one can safely assume this is the case with all MBUSA vehicles!
I have this button that blocks door opening from inside. Does you're w221 also have this ?
p.s. I'm sorry for the dirty car
Strange...that looks like a switch of some kind. I (and others in the US model) have the hole there but there is nothing to move or turn...just a hole with some metal inside???
Strange...that looks like a switch of some kind. I (and others in the US model) have the hole there but there is nothing to move or turn...just a hole with some metal inside???
here is a zoom pic that was cut from the original picture ( i don't know how to upload a pic that has more than 2mb )
in the hole there is a small plastic handle that you can chose it position from up to down. Hope you could understand more from the picture.
here is a zoom pic that was cut from the original picture ( i don't know how to upload a pic that has more than 2mb )
in the hole there is a small plastic handle that you can chose it position from up to down. Hope you could understand more from the picture.
Thanks for the detail image. It apparently is not in the US models...the entry is there to install it but it is not installed. I don't know the reason for that...but some lawyer probably told some bean counter that someone may sue if the door can't be opened...LOL Thanks again for the information.
Thanks for the detail image. It apparently is not in the US models...the entry is there to install it but it is not installed. I don't know the reason for that...but some lawyer probably told some bean counter that someone may sue if the door can't be opened...LOL Thanks again for the information.
that is really sad that it does not work for the US, but if you think a little bit in a criminal way you could use this for kidnap someone in the back.
By the way, nice car Jack, you can almost touch it from your pictures. I hope tomorrow I will finaly get to post some pic with my car in that interesting color
Thanks for the detail image. It apparently is not in the US models...the entry is there to install it but it is not installed. I don't know the reason for that...but some lawyer probably told some bean counter that someone may sue if the door can't be opened...LOL Thanks again for the information.
I wonder if the arguement works the other way. In the sense that if many cars have this child proof device, MB may be liable if someone's kid opens the door while in motion and falls out.
I guess since I'm not in the sue-lottery business, I just educated my 3 year old never to even try to open the door. She has to ask when the car has stopped. She now unbuckles her self from the carseat, but stays put. Its unfortunate that a car with such techno doesnt have the ability to disengage a child proof setting in the event of a collision.
As I had earlier mentioned in the beginning of my post, an employee of mine had a nephew fall out of a car on the interstate. The child died. It was determined that he had opened the car door.
Sorry to revive an old thread, but this became a huge problem for me a month ago when my son decided unlocking the door was a fun thing to do. And at 2 months shy of his 3 year birthday he wasn't understanding why he shouldn't do it. I then tried to open the rear door while driving on the highway... I reached for the rear door lock, pulled up the pin, and pulled the door handle. The door opened just fine at 40 mph. I was on an exit ramp so wasn't *that* dangerous.
Went on ebay and looked for door pins. Found a smooth silver model for $39.95 a set. Installed them and problem solved. I will admit the rears don't look quite as nice as the ones in the front door. But they are harder to grasp.
08-14-2006, 05:50 PM
) specifically notes there are no rear childproof door locks as found on most cars. Therefore, one can safely assume this is the case with all MBUSA vehicles!
)
