WEBVTT - How Can You Escape a Sinking Car?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:07.200
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.440
<v Speaker 1>Lauren Volga Bomb Here. Have you ever considered what would

0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.799
<v Speaker 1>happen if you were trapped in your car? What if

0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:14.560
<v Speaker 1>you ran off the road into a body of water

0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:16.880
<v Speaker 1>and started to sink? Would you know what to do?

0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.600
<v Speaker 1>Would you be able to break a window to escape?

0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.400
<v Speaker 1>Those questions are the heart of a study released in

0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:26.040
<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen by the American Automobile Association or Triple A.

0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.280
<v Speaker 1>The report actually looks at the different types of glass

0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.640
<v Speaker 1>in a car and how that glass can affect your

0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.800
<v Speaker 1>chances of escape. If you had to break a window

0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.239
<v Speaker 1>to get out, you might not know it, but the

0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.720
<v Speaker 1>glass for your car's windshield might be different from the

0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.960
<v Speaker 1>glass and the windows. Some might be tempered glass and

0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:46.159
<v Speaker 1>some might be laminated glass. Eliminated glasses designed not to

0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.879
<v Speaker 1>break even in a crash to decrease the odds that

0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.000
<v Speaker 1>someone in the car will be ejected. And that matters

0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.520
<v Speaker 1>because if you need to get out in an emergency,

0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.120
<v Speaker 1>you might not be able to even using car escape

0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.400
<v Speaker 1>tools designed to help you. The Triple A study showed

0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.520
<v Speaker 1>that most car escape tools were effective at breaking tempered glass,

0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.119
<v Speaker 1>but not laminated glass. In fact, none of the tools

0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.440
<v Speaker 1>tested in the study were able to completely break through

0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.800
<v Speaker 1>laminated glass. A few were effective at spider webbing the

0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:17.039
<v Speaker 1>glass only. An increasing number of new vehicles have switched

0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.800
<v Speaker 1>from using tempered side glass windows to laminated side glass windows,

0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.440
<v Speaker 1>as many as one in three vehicles. That's in response

0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.800
<v Speaker 1>to federal safety standards. However, most cars that have primarily

0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.760
<v Speaker 1>laminated glass also have at least one window made of

0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:35.039
<v Speaker 1>tempered glass. According to Triple A, each of a car's

0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.440
<v Speaker 1>windows should have a sticker in the bottom corner that

0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.200
<v Speaker 1>indicates the glass type. If you can't find it, you

0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:45.600
<v Speaker 1>can contact your vehicles manufacturer and ask. Furthermore, just because

0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.520
<v Speaker 1>the study shows that car escape tools aren't always effective

0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.840
<v Speaker 1>doesn't mean you shouldn't have one in your car. On

0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.760
<v Speaker 1>the contrary, we spoke by email with Greg Brannan, triple As,

0:01:55.800 --> 0:02:00.800
<v Speaker 1>director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relation. He said Triple

0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.240
<v Speaker 1>A recommends a spring loaded style tool, as we found

0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.600
<v Speaker 1>that some of the hammer tools we tested broke when

0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.440
<v Speaker 1>impact in the glass. Keep in mind that any tool

0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.680
<v Speaker 1>you select will only be effective for breaking tempered glass.

0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.120
<v Speaker 1>These tools are also especially useful in case your seatbelt

0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.920
<v Speaker 1>release doesn't work. Some car escape tools incorporate blades that

0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.840
<v Speaker 1>let you quickly and safely slice your seatbelt rather than

0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.639
<v Speaker 1>fumbling with a buckle that might not open. Spring loaded

0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.760
<v Speaker 1>style tools contain an inner mechanism that consists of a

0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.240
<v Speaker 1>sharp spike that can be deployed with enough force to

0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.400
<v Speaker 1>break a tempered glass window thanks to a coiled spring.

0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.200
<v Speaker 1>After you buy such a tool, you should test it

0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.760
<v Speaker 1>on the surface of a notepad or piece of soft wood.

0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.200
<v Speaker 1>You'll hear a click, and when you remove the device

0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.000
<v Speaker 1>from the surface, you'll see an indented hole, meaning that

0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.760
<v Speaker 1>the device works. Online demonstrations can also help you familiarize

0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:52.880
<v Speaker 1>yourself with how to use the tool just in case.

0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.160
<v Speaker 1>Now for the scary part. If you get into an

0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.840
<v Speaker 1>accident where you must escape your car, especially if it's

0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.560
<v Speaker 1>in in water, what do you do. Make sure you

0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.600
<v Speaker 1>know what type of glass your car's driver side window has.

0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.320
<v Speaker 1>If it's laminated, know that you will need to escape

0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.200
<v Speaker 1>through a different window if it won't roll down. If

0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.919
<v Speaker 1>your car has all laminated glass, it's critical to get

0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:19.240
<v Speaker 1>a window rolled down as quickly as possible. The experts

0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:22.240
<v Speaker 1>we talked to all recommended the sure method as an

0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:24.240
<v Speaker 1>easy way to remember what to do in the event

0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.760
<v Speaker 1>of such an emergency. That's sure s stay calm, you

0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:33.239
<v Speaker 1>unbuckle your seatbelt or cut if it's jammed, are roll

0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.680
<v Speaker 1>down or break the windows and e exit the vehicle

0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:41.360
<v Speaker 1>quickly and help children out first. Don't call nine one

0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.720
<v Speaker 1>one until after you've escaped. You can have a matter

0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:45.920
<v Speaker 1>of seconds until water rises to the bottom of the

0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.840
<v Speaker 1>passenger windows, so time is of the essence. It's scary

0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:51.560
<v Speaker 1>to think that you might need to prepare for an

0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.360
<v Speaker 1>incident that traps you in your car, but experts agree

0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.120
<v Speaker 1>that it's better to acknowledge the possibility. If you have

0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.000
<v Speaker 1>a tool with an easy reach, and you have some

0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.520
<v Speaker 1>idea of what to do, you'll save crucial seconds that

0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.240
<v Speaker 1>could make the difference between escaping from your car or not.

0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.040
<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Saris three Wit and produced

0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.600
<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clain. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart

0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:16.800
<v Speaker 1>Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots

0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.680
<v Speaker 1>of other emergency preparedness topics, visit our home planet, how

0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.280
<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works dot com and for more podcasts. For my

0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.360
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.000
<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.