Posted on 06/28/2010 9:20:54 AM PDT by GregB
With todays cars and not many manual window cranks what do we do if we go in the water?
LOL. That's the best advice yet.
The leading cause of death during inland flooding is people attempting to drive across moving water of an unknown depth. A lot of those people drive around signs saying "Road Closed." I guess they are in a hurry to their own funeral.
I know its silly, but what are the odds? Something I would plan for? Probably not...
In the show they took a car door and set it in a pool of water and then to simulate the pressure at whatever they thought was a likely depth they placed a sandbag on the window of what they concluded was a weight sufficient to duplicate the force on the window. Of course the window motor could not over come the load placed on it in the test.
As previously noted I continue to maintain that this was not a valid simulation of the pressure of water against the window. This test created forces in excess of what that window would encounter as par of a complete care with an air pocket inside and standing water pressure outside.
I also have first hand anecdotes from responding CHP and police officers in the Sacramento delta region that more than a few people who have gone off the roads into the channels out there have in fact escaped by successfully lowering an electric window while underwater.
I sent them an email once before, I may do it again and urge them to skip that simulation and do a full test of an electric window on a submerged vehicle to prove my point.
Make sure you tell them, that before the car hits the water that they should be on the roof yellin' YaHoo! ...and hold that note all the way.
Can’t I have an important vote in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Folks, 1968 & 1969 cars did NOT have airbags.
Every car Ted ever got into had an airbag the minute he got in.
Every car Ted ever got into had an airbag the minute he got in.
I think their test was valid — ASSUMING that the bag of sand was small enough that it didn’t come in contact with the window frame. In that were true, then the bag would have moved with the window and so would not have impeded its motion (for a short distance at least — long enough to see if the window could move at all).
That said, I didn’t see the show. But their engineer guy is pretty sharp. I’d be surprised if he overlooked something like that.
Most didn’t. But any car Ted Kennedy drove had an airbag in it.
(psst! It’s a joke.)
Fully inflated.
You just saved me the price of one of those little hammers.
But still, it looks like we all agree that you should be able to use the power switch to open the windows, and do so right away.
Plan B is to have that safety tool that cuts seat belts and breaks open windows (that WAS a valid test underwater).
I think collectively we have helped our FRiend out pretty well here...
Thank you all for your help...
But I would stay out of the water anyway, if I was you... ;) :)
Hold your breath.
center punch
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