Constance Petot never thought twice about the push button starter on her car, until it almost killed her and her toddler last Valentine's Day.
"He just went completely limp in my arms. It was the most terrifying moment in my entire life," said Petot.
The busy mom was ending her work day with a conference call as she was pulling into the garage of her parents' Florida home, where she was staying.
"As I came in I wanted the garage door to be closed when the conference call started, so I went ahead and pushed the button to close the door," said Petot.
But, she didn't push the button to turn off the car. The mistake sent carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas, flooding through the home as she was getting 13-month old Parker ready for bed.
"My son woke up around 12:30 a.m. and was screaming," Petot recalls.
She thinks Parker had a headache because she now knows the level of carbon monoxide was high enough to have killed them both within about 20 more minutes.
"Once I got dizzy, I knew I needed to get out of there, and I walked down the stairs, opened the garage door and saw that the taillight was on," said Petot.
Our investigation has tracked more than two dozen injuries and deaths around the country. Cars with keyless ignitions are designed to make it easier to start your car with the push of a button, but it is also easier to forget to turn off the engine. Bill and Eugenia Thomason likely never realized their mistake. The couple's Toyota Avalon ran inside their closed garage for at least 32 hours, as they slept.
"We know that they went to bed that night and didn't wake up the next morning," said their son, Will Thomason. "By the time they were found they were essentially brain dead. You can't prepare for something like this."
The active retirees had just renewed their wedding vows after 50 years, and adored their five grandchildren.
Oh, it's been just absolutely terrible," said Dave Thomason, "We all know that people can get killed in car accidents due to different things, but a car sitting alone, basically doing nothing but running?"
The brothers say their pain is worsened by the number of times they've now heard the same story, with reported deaths and injuries around the country.
- Queens, New York, February 2009: Ernest Cordelia, 79 died and Mary Rivera, 69 injured
- Boca Raton, Florida, August 2010: Chassity Glisson, 29 died and Tim Maddock, 40 injured
- Boynton Beach, Florida, December 2010: Michael Yaffe, 81 died
- Rockville, Maryland,December 2011: Harry Pitt, 81 died
- Boca Raton, Florida, March 2012: Mort Victor, 79 died and Adele Ridless, 69 died
- Davidson, North Carolina, March 2012:Ray Harrington,62 died
- Greenville, South Carolina, June 2013: Bill Thomason, 76 died and Eugenia Woo Thomason, 71 died
- Highland Park, Illinois, June 2015: Rina Fontanini, 76 died,Pasquale Fontanini, 79 died
- Destin, Florida, February 2014: Constance Petot, 34 survived,Parker Petot, 1 survived
- Weymouth, Massachusetts, 2014: B.D. Nayak, 70, Leela Nayak, 70 +2 grandchildren - all survived.
- Mooresville, North Carolina, March 2015: Luz Lasso, 53, Luz Bedoya 34, and Jesus Bedoya Salazar, 59 survived.
The Thomason family has filed a lawsuit against Toyota, which has already settled with several of the other families.
"Nobody is in the car, it's been running for however long. The car should have an automatic cut-off. I mean to me that's a very easy fix," said Dave Thomason.
Records show, since 2011, the federal government has been studying the need for an external alert to be placed on cars, but has yet to require car companies to do anything. Our sister station, WSB-TV in Atlanta tested more than a dozen of the most popular cars to see what happens when you leave it running and walk away with the key fob. Most of the cars had a dashboard display which notes that the key fob has been left the vehicle. Some even emit a low interior sound, similar to the one which reminds you to fasten your seat belt. However, if you've left the vehicle you wouldn't see that display or hear that warning. Very few of the cars made an exterior noise. The loudest warning came from the Chevy Impala, which utilizes the car's horn.
Constance Petot never heard the three low beeps her car made.
"I absolutely take responsibility for what happened," she said, "And I think that it could happen to anybody.
But, she says the price for being distracted or forgetful should not be death.
"We were incredibly lucky. We absolutely wouldn't be here," said Petot. She has now moved and purchased carbon monoxide detectives for each room of her new home.
