The National Roads and Motorists’ Association is warning against giving car keys to a toddler with new research showing it's one of the reasons children are locked in cars.
The NRMA has rescued more children and pets from locked cars than ever before, with more than 104,000 calls to the NRMA last year about locking keys in cars.
Of those lock ins, child rescues increased 16 percent over four years and instances where pets were locked in increased 88 percent.
NRMA Member Service Manager Robert Younes said that in many cases the keys were locked in the boot or given to a young child in their car seat as a ‘distraction toy’.
“In addition, more than 40 percent of survey respondents that have driven with a young child in the last year said they had felt anxious or pressured by another driver waiting for them to put their child in the car or load shopping," Younes said.
"This additional pressure can often lead to accidental lock-ins with the majority of calls for help coming from car parks. Residential driveways are also notorious locations for lock-ins.”