Carrie Underwood reveals how her baby boy was accidentally locked in a car

We saw the news of Carrie Underwood‘s terrifying experience of locking her infant son and dogs in her car a while back, but at the time, no one knew how it happened.

Now she’s speaking out… and her story could save lives. The country singer told Radio US 99.5 the details of the airport family send-off that turned into a near disaster:

“We were at the airport, the car was running, the radio was on, the air-conditioning was on, our family kind of came to see us off. As you do, you get out of the front seat, and you shut the door so you can turn around, so you can get your luggage out. My husband and I both got out at the same time, and both shut the door at the same time, and immediately one of our dogs — I still don’t know what one it was — jumped up on the control panel on the door, and heard the thing click, and I was like, ‘The doors locked, the doors locked, the doors locked!’”

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This is so easy to imagine happening, as so many cars these days lock automatically after a certain amount of time or are very easy to lock down with the touch of a button. As parents, we always keep in mind what a little one is capable of, but instead of a small child doing it, it was her dog. Luckily Underwood’s brother-in-law thought fast to save the day, as Underwood shared on her Twitter account at the time:

“My bro-in-law was actually the window breaker in the ‘dogs-locked-the-car-door’ Incident today! But all is good now. Minus the broken window, of course!”

More:These simple habits can prevent kids dying in hot cars

It is easy for someone to judge a parent in this situation, but what some people don’t realize is how easily it can happen. Instead of judging Underwood, parents should be using her frank story as a reminder that none of us are immune to this sort of danger, and we need to be better prepared.

After all, the temperature inside a car can jump 20 degrees in just 10 minutes. On a hot day, a child locked in a car can get very sick, very fast.

Luckily there are steps parents can take to try to prevent this scary experience and to keep our children from being locked in a car. From KidsAndCars.org, some tips:

• Never leave children alone in or around cars, not even for a minute.
• “Look Before You Lock” — Get in the habit of always opening the back door to check the back seat before leaving your vehicle. Make sure no child has been left behind.
• Create a reminder to check the back seat.
• Keep vehicles locked at all times, even in driveways or garages. Ask home visitors, child care providers and neighbors to do the same.
• Keep car keys and remote openers out of reach of children.

Every parent thinks they are beyond this sort of occurrence, but it’s so important to keep in mind that no one, not even celebrities, can think of every scenario. By keeping in mind how easily tragedy could happen, all parents can take simple steps to help avoid becoming another sad statistic.

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