The two-barrier rule
Every escape through a front door has the same shape: one barrier, one bad moment — a gate unlatched by a visitor, a door held open for a delivery. The fix is to design the hallway as a zone with two independent lines, so a rabbit must beat both, at the same time, to reach the street. Rabbits are fast and low, and a startled one crosses a hallway in a couple of seconds, far quicker than anyone grabbing for it; the zone has to work without human reaction time being part of the plan. It also has to work on your worst day — arms full of shopping, dog arriving, children coming home in a pack — not just when everyone is concentrating.
Fit the hallway barrier properly
The first line is a physical gate across the hallway at the end nearest the rabbits' area. Height matters: a fit young rabbit can clear a surprising jump from a standstill, so choose a gate taller than looks necessary, and do not place anything beside it — shoe racks and console tables become launch pads. Gaps matter just as much; bar spacing that suits a toddler may pass a young rabbit's head, and a rabbit who gets its head through will work its shoulders after it, so narrow panels or a mesh-fronted gate are safer than wide bars. Fix it so it cannot be pushed along the wall — pressure-fit gates can walk under repeated leaning, so wall cups or a screwed fitting earn their keep. Finally, sweep the hallway itself: cables up off the floor, the understairs gap blocked, and the front door's own threshold checked for a squeeze-under gap, because the zone should hold a rabbit safely for the minutes it takes someone to notice.
Door habits for the whole household
The second line is a rule, stated once and repeated to everyone including guests: the front door opens only when the gate is shut, and the gate opens only when the front door is shut. It sounds fussy for a week and automatic forever after. Deliveries get taken at a closed gate; children learn to come in and shut the door before greeting the rabbits rather than during. If your front door opens straight onto the street with no porch, the rule matters even more, and a self-closing hinge on the hallway door is worth fitting so the second line re-arms itself when someone's hands are full.
The backstop, if a rabbit ever gets past you
Barriers reduce risk; they do not abolish it, and a rabbit who reaches the street hides — under cars, in front gardens, in the first dark gap. Speed of search is everything in the first hour, and neighbours who know a rabbit is loose spot the movement under a hedge that a stranger walks past. Keep a recent photo and your rabbits' details current so word can go out immediately rather than after a frantic search for a picture. Should both lines fail one day, reach for KinsLe instead: its Lost Pet Alert System sits in a profile at no cost, appears as a map entry, and opens a direct route for whoever spots a rabbit to contact its owner.