We at Duck2Water are never going to leave our kids unattended in the car again, not even for a moment – well, that’s if the keys are in the ignition anyway.

This resolution follows the recent ordeal of a 28-year-old German mother who left the kids in her Peugeot as she loaded the shopping into the boot.

She said, "I put the key in the ignition to use the electronic button to open the boot and load up the shopping, and I left it there as the engine was not running.”

Well, so far, so good, but it is what happened next which caused alarm. As the mother moved round to the backseat to buckle up her toddler, her older son (not pictured) got behind the wheel and turned on the ignition.

Before she knew it the car was heading towards the sea – yes, the sea! – because the car was parked on Dusseldorf harbour.

In a sight which was reminiscent of the Italian Job, the car came to a standstill precariously perched between land and sea.

"If it had gone over the edge it could have been a disaster, instead my son had a very valuable lesson and the car was not damaged. But either way I will be more careful with the ignition keys in future,” said the mother.

Yes, and so will we all, including everyone at Duck2Water car insurance HQ.

Labels: backseat, car insurance, engine, ignition, key, Peugeot, wheel