Do you lock your car door when you get out to fuel up?

No. Why would I lock it? I’m standing right there.

No one in Jersey pumps their own gas. ;)

I’m with @chels.

But, if I’m in a state where I have to pump my own, I do not lock my doors.

Are you referring to people stealing purses off the seat from going through the passenger door at gas stations? I have learned to lock my doors after a man tried to get into my car at a stoplight.It is a simple thing to do that can save one alot of trouble.

I don’t lock it when I’m standing right there and really thinking about it, I think it’s safer not to lock it. I also leave my driver’s side door open while I’m pumping. Which, if someone starts to come after me is the safest alternative, because I can quickly get in the car and lock the doors. If someone were to come at you while your door is shut and locked, you’d have a harder time getting in your vehicle.

When I remember, I don’t lock it. What’s the point when I’m only 5 feet from the door?

No. I carry my purse (with keys in it) with me now since once or twice I have locked myself out of the car, which is really annoying.

I dont lock my doors ever. I have a soft top convertible. If someone want into my car they will just slice the canvas roof. (thats how i lost my iPod) so id much rather them take whatever they want than destroy my roof again and then take what they want.

@uberbatman That sucks. I always worried about that when I thought about buying a soft top convertible

Yay for NJ and illegal self-serve gas.

I always do. It is a Good habit. I have “things” in my car that need to always be secure.

@ChazMaz -What kind of things??;)

Lets just say, I am an armed citizen.

I can’t remember the last time I found a service attendant to pump my gas. My mother, who was spoiled badly by my father, asked me once how I learned how to pump my own gas.

When I was 18, she asked me how I knew how to make my own airline reservations. “Let daddy do it,” she said.

If I’m out in the country, I don’t.
If I’m in my city, then I’ll lock them. Parts of my town are really sketchy.
I’ve had my windows broken out because I left the GPS in my car in my driveway while I was packing for a trip.

I also don’t like the idea of easy access to any of the kids I usually have tagging along with me, either.

@rangerr That easy access to your kids goes both ways though. If your doors are locked and one of them starts choking, you will have the delay of unlocking your door to get to them (and also the panic at the same time).

@ChazMaz -Good for you! :)))

I don’t lock, and I gas up in some “sketchy” areas. A lot of people who offer to clean your windows for you. Occasionally, I’ll give them money. It does make me feel a little less safe, but it never occurred to me to lock the door. Somehow that seems counter-productive.

@Seaofclouds Even though there is no eating in my car allowed by kids…. I have keyless entry. So it’s just a push of the button and I’m in.

@rangerr Which button(s)?

not in this part of the world…but, when i take a trip…. sometimes, yes…

@rangerr And can they get out just by pulling on the door handle from the inside when the doors are locked? Just curious in case they needed to get out of the car in a hurry (like a fire at a gas pump). (My husband always says I should be a disaster planner because I always thing about things like this in every situation.)

I always lock it. I guess it’s more of a force of habit than anything else, I just lock my car when I get out of it.

@jfos The button on the keychain remote.

@Seaofclouds Depending on which child it is, yes. But I have child-lock on for most of the kids. They are mentally disabled, so just telling them not to open the door while the car is on never works. I understand the “what if they need to get out” scenario, but thats just not going to work.

Turn the engine off and lock the doors. carjackers are slick and fast.

And, most insurance companies probably would not cover the loss of property or loss of the vehicle, if it were not secured.

Sorry to say this, but thats just the way it is in America, today.

@john65pennington: Not where I live.

all interesting points… see my gas is on the passenger side not the driver side, so i guess my paranoia comes from the fact that i am on the far side, so i don’t want to leave it unlocked because i might not be able to block someone trying to get in on the driver’s side…. but then i do think, ‘what if i needed to get in really fast for some reason and can’t cuz its locked?’

on a separate note, i wish they would get rid of self service, but only to create jobs.

I don’t lock my drivers side door, but the other doors are always locked.

Lock the door because I’m easily distracted if someone nearby would need help. Knowing how I am, I make it a habit to lock when I leave.

I never lock anything, car keys always in the car, never removed in years. lol

Don’t even know where my house keys are anymore, havn’t seen them in at least 4 years.

I live on property in the mountains/country, and even when in the city I rarely lock my car.

I just don’t think that way after years of safe and secluded country living.

If I have my laptop or other valuables I just put them in the trunk, but my car stays unlocked.

Coloma, you are an extremely fortunate person. but, everytime i make a statement like yours, the worst eventually happens. i do not wish this on you, at all. but, sooner or later, the fuse runs out and the dynamite explodes.

as a native Jersey-ean, I’m shaking my head at everyone here who doesn’t lock doors. That concept of being able to do that is so foreign to me. Especially you, @uberbatman! Forshame! (though your reason makes sense enough)

I turn off engine, lock all doors but the driver door (gas cap is on driver side) and have the key in my pocket. If I have to go in the store, I lock the driver door.

@john65pennington

I don’t necessarily tempt fate, but I also don’t live in fear.

Of course anything CAN happen, but so far so good…the worst I have to worry about is the home invasions by wildlife that sneaks in the cat door at night. haha

I am aware thay your law enforcement career has made you privy to some pretty unhappy encounters.

I’m with @rangerr on this one. It’s just a click of a button to lock it, so I really don’t see a reason not to lock it.

Removed the battery from my key sensor & I use my keys the regular way on the rare occasion I do lock my car…I have the worlds most sensitive sensors in my car, the trunk flew open in the middle of a car wash once, said ‘trunk ajar’ yep, it was ajar alright..F—k!

Must have barely brushed the keys with my knee. lol

Alarm goes off randomly..I hate the hassles of newer cars. haha

a true dumb story….live in a very low key community when it comes to crime, but a few years ago…was in a hurry and stopped at a local convenience store and left my keys in my jeep and when i came out..it was gone! long story….short! a week later it turned up, believe it or not, at the place i bought the jeep…yes, nothing hurt!

btw, my insurance company pays for stupidity John! if not, who would get coverage..loll..

@BoBo1946

Wow! That was a fortuitious event huh? lol

I have had a few scares thinking someone stole my car, but I just forgot where I left it. hahahaha Aaaah..mid-life minor dementia sets in.

@Coloma believe me, that taught me a lesson!

No matter how safe we think a neighborhood is, any crazy can come thru town.

I don’t live in fear either, but making a few simple safety precautions a habit just makes sense.

People ask me about certain neighborhoods & certain apartment complexes (because of vol. work with Rape Crisis.)

Where you live doesn’t matter. Where the thief/mugger/rapist etc is at is the question. And we’re whistling in the dark if we don’t think they’re all around.

In my case, short of being followed home by a creep I have zero fear of crime. There has never been any crime in my neighborhood that anyone can remember in years. Comprised of a community where everyone is on a minimum of 5–20 acre ranch properties.

I am the middle home of 3 on a dead end road, 3 homes spanning a total of 40+ acres.

The property across the road is 20+ acres of vacant raw land.

I have a ranch gate across my driveway that I close on occasion mostly when I let my animals out to wander.

I DO have several local county Sherriffs that reside in my immediate area and have been told that they, of course, have scanners tuned into to anything in this immediate area, sooo, I feel quite safe, in the rare event that something should happen.

I’ll tell you what..there is NOTHING like falling asleep with all the doors and windows open on a summers night and drifting off to the night sounds of the forest.

I am truly blessed to enjoy the living conditions I do.

I’d be like a deer in the headlights if I ever had to adjust to city living again.

I decorate some of the most high end and beutiful homes in the city, and for all their beauty, I’d never go to sleep without the delta lockdown. lol

The peace of mind I enjoy is priceless.

Not to mention getting to run around naked with no worries, well…might cause the horse and sheep to stampede. hahahaha

@poofandmook its honestly not that bad where I live. I can leave the front door of my house open and not really worry about anything.

When my car was broken into i was up by pennsauken so that kind of explains it.

i also really fucking hate the fact that we cant pump our own gas here. Most of the attendants by my way are retardedly slow so getting gas can turn into a 15 min affair.

@uberbatman: well, I live in Union county. ‘nuff said.

If I have to go inside, I lock my doors, but if I’m just paying at the pump, I don’t bother.

@poofandmook fair enough lol

Of course. I grew up in L.A. It is second nature.

Coloma, you are correct. after all these years of the worst in people, i really do try to see the light at the end of the tunnel. i guess the law enforcement years have made me this way and thats just part of the job that i will have to contend with. thanks for your comment and your concern. john