A California mother of two decided to take her parents’ 2024 Cadillac Lyriq to church on Sunday, January 4, when her one-year-old got trapped alone inside the car for nearly 30 minutes due to a fault with the 12-volt battery. Since the Lyriq is fitted with retractable door handles that activate with an electric actuator, the doors would not open even when the mother, Lacey Gunn, pulled on the popped-out handles — and this is all despite the doors opening just fine mere moments before, when the baby was first put in the car. The Lyriq’s phone app wasn’t able to unlock the car either, so the family tried calling OnStar to see if they could get some help, but OnStar allegedly couldn’t help at all due to the nature of the battery issue. In the end, a family member turned to ChatGPT for help, which told them to use the physical key to access an emergency hatch at the rear of the car, allowing them to rescue the baby.
We have covered an array of safety concerns related to vehicles with retractable and electronically operated door latch mechanisms over the years, but these issues still persist. In this particular case, the OnStar representative should have told the panicked family about the Lyriq’s emergency access port, but instead, ABC 7 News reported that, “According to GM, OnStar offered assistance contacting authorities and roadside assistance. A remote unlock was attempted but was not possible due to the vehicle’s battery condition.” Fortunately, everyone made it out of the situation safely, but if it was a hot day, things could have been a lot more dire.
In their panic, the family damaged the Lyriq’s key fob trying to remove the physical key
After ChatGPT told the family to use the physical key inside the key fob to use the emergency trunk access point, the family allegedly broke open the key fob to access the key rather than using the button on the side that releases the key. (Maybe that’s why it’s a better idea to use sources other than ChatGPT, like an owner’s manual; the MyCadillac phone app even has it.) Following the incident, the family had the Lyriq towed to a Cadillac service center, where the service report shows the car’s 12-volt battery was faulty, and thus replaced. Unfortunately though, that service center told the owners that they would be responsible for replacing the nearly $1,000 key fob they broke trying to remove the key from the fob.
The children’s grandparents, the Tinocos, are leasing the Lyriq that briefly trapped their grandchild, but following the incident they tried to get out of their lease citing safety concerns. Cadillac denied the Tinocos request to buy back the lease, since it doesn’t qualify under Lemon Law, but Erika Tinoco doesn’t trust the car anymore. She told ABC 7, “It’s done. I am no longer going to be a Cadillac consumer.” After contacting ABC 7 to share their scary story, a reporter reached out to the Cadillac dealership regarding the nearly $1,000 key fob replacement charge, which the dealership then waived.
It’s important for owners to know how to use their cars’ safety features, especially for models with retractable door handles or electronically operated latch mechanisms in case of an emergency.
