Pennies In Door Handles

The width of a penny 0598 inches wouldn t open a car door handle enough to trigger the unlatching mechanism connected to the door handle.

Pennies in door handles.

This appears to be an unfounded rumor with no corroboration cited. All you have to do is check to be sure that no one has placed a penny or some other coin in your door handle. An internet warning claims that thieves are wedging pennies or nickels into car door handles as a way to prevent vehicles from being locked. The story has been repeated on numerous website without citing sources for the claim.

Coins in car door theft warning there has been no rash of car or property thefts due to nickels or pennies jammed in door handles and car experts say that warnings about them are implausible. To penny lock a door you simply jam pennies between the door and the hinge from the outside which prevents the door from opening from the inside. Slide several pennies into the crack between the door and the jamb molding about 18 above the handle. The point of this prank is to lock someone in a room usually causing significant confusion as to what is wrong with the door and or handle.

There s really no excuse not to double check your door handles. The first fatal flaw with the penny in the door theory is that door handles aren t designed to open when they re only opened slightly. Most modern door handles do now allow a coin to be.