Five Seconds

A girl in my office was telling me the other day about being attacked by two guys who attempted to drag her into their car, in broad daylight, in a shopping center parking lot.

As I got the details I realized she'd violated two rules of self protection. The first one was that she was task fixated. It turns out she was on the cell phone getting information for an appointment she had to make. The second big mistake was a violation of the five second rule.

When you get to your car have your keys already in your hand, get in, and, within five seconds, lock the doors. Preferably drive away and then stop somewhere safer than a parking lot and make the calls you need to make.

I constantly see (and forgive me but women are the worst offenders) women sitting in their cars balancing their check books, putting on their make up, admiring their new purchases, without the door yet locked or, in worst case scenarios with the door still open.

This is exactly what the girl in question did by the way...door open, foot on the sill, appointment book on the roof of the car, phone under one ear and pen in the other. Because they hit her from behind she wasn't even able to get a description to tell the police.

So, here's the five second rule. When you get to your vehicle you've got five seconds to lock your doors once you're inside. That's it. Do that and you'll make it very hard for people to do what these guys did to her.

Some cars come with programmable locks that will shut automatically once the car reaches a certain speed. Not a bad idea but it violates my five second rule by a long shot. Don't wait for the automatic feature to kick in. Get in, lock the doors. Done, simple and effective.

Remember, you are your own bodyguard.

Nick