To think electric car windows should have a manual over ride?

[RJnomore1]

I've been thinking about this after the poor Irish family this past week.

I know electric windows are the thing but is there a reason that a traditional manual winder cannot be put in place in at least the front windows as well!

This was the article in case anyone is interested m.wikihow.com/Escape-from-a-Sinking-Car

*Why do you say that book?^

I rolled my car a long time ago, and ended up upside down and had to crawl out the dash window. Very unpleasant, and I certainly would not have like to do it under water, but both my passenger and I managed with necks intact

Giddy and Book

You are both right. It is possible to break your neck with a drop from an upturned car, but it is not a definite.

It's a bit like saying 'If you don't look both ways before you cross the road you will be hit by a car' - you might not, in fact many people will get away with it, but just in case take the advice.

But they did manage to break a window. If the people on the shore had used the life belts available a few more lives may have been saved.

Not with the water temperature and the current and the inevitable panic, plus they were wearing heavy winter outerwear and footwear.

So sad.

Oh god I've had nightmares about this since the incident last week

I don't think it's reasonable, or indeed in good taste, to look at an actual situation and critique how the poor people involved, including the witnesses, handled it. It was a terrifying situation and it claimed 5 lives.

However it is possible to look at that situation and think 'if something like that happened, how would I handle it' and that's where the hammers come in. It seems to me to be a useful tool to have in the car - like a window scraper.

The man in the car was shouting to onlookers and the baby was apparently got out through a window. It doesn't seem that not being able to open the windows had anything to do with it in this case. It was the dark, the current, the temperature, heavy clothing and probably the panic and confusion.

I have escape hammers in both cars. In fact mine is a hammer, seatbelt cutter and emergency beacon in one.
www.amazon.co.uk/AA-Emergency-Beacon-Stopper-Hammer/dp/B002Y190P4

It was an accident in Donegal recently where a car was turning on the jetty/ramp of a pier and slipped on some algae and slid in. A baby was saved but the husband, two young boys, mother in law and sister in law of the husband all drowned. The wife/ mother was in England at a hennparty, lost her husband, two of her three kids and her mum and sister.

Those who have hammers/seatbelt cutters in your car think about having two. We have one in each front door pocket. If you are the passenger, and the hammer is in the driver's side, and the driver is unconscious and your seatbelt is lockimng you in, you wouldn't be able to reach the hammer.

You need to make sure the hammer/cutter is somewhere you can reach it if your seatbelt has locked you to your seat.

I've always thought they were dangerous, even for just getting fingers trapped.

When a car hits water the electric Windows open, if the electric windows have an 'all up' function they will bounce down and stop on contact with something.
These were safety features bought in, in the early 90's.

What should you do then, if you can see the car is going into water? Undo seat belts and open windows. Like I say, I have no idea but this has played on my mind terribly

To break car windows you just need a centre punch tool, spring loaded ones are best for in water. Anything with a sharp point would work really as it will shatter the window with one hit.

There was a mythbusters episode that showed how to break car windows under water. A tiny hole punch tool smashed the glass first time yet a sledge hammer did nothing. Obviously there's going to be other factors, not least panic especially if your children are in the car, but having something to break the windows and a rough plan for 'what if' will help stem the panic slightly.

BitOut search for mythbusters underwater car episode. It shows the best thing to do if your car goes into water. If you're alone the best thing to do is just open the door straight away then remove your seat belt, as long as the door is only slightly under water it will open easily.

It also shows that a manual window crank is useless once the window is more than slightly submerged because the pressure of the water on the window presses it into the frame and won't budge.