Four people, aged between 26 and 32, tragically lost their lives in Toronto when their Tesla crashed into a pillar and burst into flames. Unfortunately, a malfunction prevented the car doors from opening.A woman in her twenties, the fifth passenger, narrowly escaped after a bystander broke a window to free her.
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    32·
    7 days ago

    Setting aside anything specific to the mechanism in that vehicle, I suppose that keeping one of those window-breaker tools in the dash might have been a good idea, for a car of any sort.

    That being said, I don’t keep one in my car.

        • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
          2·
          6 days ago

          I have a very, very tiny folding knife (less than an inch blade) on my keychain, and unless I’m flying somewhere, I always have that, and I suppose that that could cut a seatbelt, though I doubt that it’d be likely for the seatbelt to jam. No glass punch, though.

          • DdCno1@beehaw.org
            3·
            6 days ago

            It’s best to use specialized tools for this. A knife this small is basically useless.

    • Clasm@ttrpg.network
      13·
      7 days ago

      I’ve heard that done Tesla models have laminate glass on the doors, like they make the windshield, making most glass breakers ineffective.

      • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
        17·
        6 days ago

        investigates

        Hmm. Apparently, yeah, some Tesla vehicles do and some do not.

        reads further

        It sounds like autos in general are shifting away from tempered glass side windows to laminated glass, so those window breakers may not be effective on a number of newer cars. Hmm. Well, that’s interesting.

        https://info.glass.com/laminated-vs-tempered-car-side-windows/

        You may have seen it in the news recently—instances of someone getting stuck in their vehicle after an accident because the car was equipped with laminated side windows. Laminated windows are nearly impossible to break with traditional glass-break tools. These small devices are carried in many driver’s gloveboxes because they easily break car windows so that occupants can escape in emergency situations. Unfortunately, these traditional glass-break tools don’t work with laminated side windows. Even first responder professionals have difficulty breaking through laminated glass windows with specialized tools. It can take minutes to saw through and remove laminated glass. In comparison, tempered glass breaks away in mere seconds.