Bring This Essential Item On Your Road Trip To Avoid Getting Locked Out Of Your Car

You're leaving the family-owned diner on the side of Route 66 that just helped nourish your belly for your road trip ahead. Your fingers fumbling through your pocket, you pull out your trusty key fob and press the symbol to unlock your car. This time, however, you don't hear the familiar click of your car door signaling it's successfully unlocked. You press the button again. Nothing. You wait until you're right up to the car door, and press the button once more — still nothing.

Frustrated, you start to look over your key fob from front to back wondering what on earth has caused it to stop working, cursing the day you traded in your clunky, 1987 Toyota Corolla for a 21st-century hybrid version. Pulling your key fob casing apart, you notice a thin, circular, 3-volt battery in its housing, and that lightbulb moment goes off in your head. Your key fob is no longer working because its battery is as dead as a doornail, and now you're locked out of your car.

Gone are the days of good, old-fashioned car keys, as reported by CNBC. From key fobs to smartphones being used to unlock, start and drive your car, using the familiar one-key method to do all of the above is no longer an option with modern vehicles. Much like humans have evolved throughout the centuries, cars and their keys have also gone through a similar transition, according to Car and Driver.

Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in how we access our vehicles. However, there is one die-hard element that has not suffered the futuristic axe. And, that's the good, old-fashioned battery. In order for your car key fob to work, and not cause you to be stranded on the side of a desert highway because you're locked out of your vehicle, having a battery replacement at the ready is critical. But, what's even more crucial, is that you don't leave the replacement battery inside the glovebox of your now inaccessible car.

Knowing that your car key fob requires a battery to keep it going, ensuring that you have a replacement battery available on your person is as important as tuning up your car before you head out on your road trip. By placing a replacement battery in your wallet or purse ahead of time you will not only be saving yourself a world of time, but also unnecessary stress and frustration. Just make sure to pick up the correct car key fob battery for the make and model of your car before you go. Energizer offers a handy guide.

And, since key fobs have so many varying, important uses in addition to unlocking your car, as reported by Reader's Digest, planning ahead to have this very small, yet crucial element available when your original key fob battery dies, is a no-brainer. And, having an actual spare key with you helps as well.