As technology has advanced over the past number of years, keyless cars that switch off at the touch of a button have become popular around the world.
This week, however, a US mother has spoken out of the dangers these vehicles pose, after a frightening incident in which she and her toddler almost lost their lives.
Constance Petot and her 13-month-old son, Parker, are ‘lucky to be alive’, after being exposed to dangerous car fumes released into her home when she forgot to switch her car’s engine off.
According to NBC News, Constance was distracted with work when she pulled into her garage late one evening and forgot to push the ‘off’ button on the car.
Plugged into earphones for a conference call, she made her way upstairs to her apartment, which is situated directly over the garage. With no automatic switch-off mechanism in place for situations such as these, engine fumes proceeded to seep into Constance’s home over the course of the next five hours.
Constance only noticed that something was wrong when she stood up to retrieve a pair of shoes, and she was hit with a wave of nausea. After grabbing her son, she went downstairs to the garage and made the discovery.
The concerned mum went to her mother’s house and called emergency services, and the pair were rushed to hospital for treatment.
According to Constance, the hospital staff were nothing short of amazed to see that both she and her toddler were still alive, after checking out their blood toxicity levels.
“To see my son in my arms, passed out from the lack of oxygen, was a moment that I would never wish on anyone,” said Constance.
She is now urging the owners of keyless ignition cars to be vigilant when it comes to switching their cars off.
Constance has also added her voice to the campaign to have car manufacturers install a safety mechanism that will alert the driver if they fail to switch their engine off within a certain time period.
