Coordinated latching mechanism for car top carrier

A carrier for transporting cargo on top of a vehicle comprising

• a box having a bottom and a lid hinged to the bottom, the box having first and second opposing lateral sides,
• plural catch assemblies spaced along the first side of the box, each catch having a female piece and a male piece, one of the pieces being fixed to the bottom and the other piece being fixed to the lid, each female piece having a pawl spring biased toward a closed position for retaining the male piece inside the female piece, each female piece including a spring biased plunger that causes a respective male piece to pop out of the female piece when the pawl moves to an open position,
• a handle located along the first side for controlling operation of the catch assemblies,
• a bar device connected to the handle for coordinating catch assembly operation, wherein the bar device has a notch for each catch assembly, each plunger having a protrusion that engages the respective notch in the bar device when the pawl is rotated to the open position, engagement of any one of the plunger protrusions with the respective notch preventing horizontal movement of the bar device.