[HN Gopher] Testing shows automotive glassbreakers can't break m...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Testing shows automotive glassbreakers can't break modern
       automotive glass
        
       Author : surprisetalk
       Score  : 167 points
       Date   : 2025-11-29 15:43 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.core77.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.core77.com)
        
       | silexia wrote:
       | Useful tech post!
        
       | 3eb7988a1663 wrote:
       | Not sure about the "car falls into the lake" scenario, but I know
       | some women who carry these for fear of a crazed Uber driver who
       | might lock them in the car.
        
         | ronsor wrote:
         | The crazy Uber drivers would replace their windows with
         | plexiglass if that caught on.
        
           | chdjdbdbfjf wrote:
           | Your threat model is incoherent.
        
           | AngryData wrote:
           | You are assuming a crazed uber driver is smart and
           | knowledgeable enough to do that, but 90% of people driving
           | ubers to start with are doing so because they don't have
           | those kind of skills or knowledge.
        
             | DANmode wrote:
             | Well, this is a whole different kind of ignorant.
        
             | ronsor wrote:
             | I think the crazy kidnappers might have another reason for
             | doing it other than lacking skills.
        
         | Meekro wrote:
         | You can just unlock the door and exit the car in that case--
         | there's no way to "lock someone in" unless you've modified the
         | lock somehow. And if someone did that, they probably reinforced
         | the glass too.
        
           | avhon1 wrote:
           | Child safety locks do this. They prevent the rear doors from
           | being unlocked and opened from the inside.
        
       | nine_k wrote:
       | I wonder why is this not part of the standard safety tests. It
       | can be done before a crash test, for instance.
        
         | happyopossum wrote:
         | What exactly are you proposing gets tested? The windows are
         | _supposed_ to be hard to break so people don't fly out of
         | them...
        
           | _aavaa_ wrote:
           | Hard enough to not fly out accidentally but weak enough that
           | people can break them on purpose so they're not trapped
           | inside.
        
             | Johnny555 wrote:
             | I think there's an impossibly thin line between making
             | glass that's easy to break through on purpose, but hard for
             | a high speed head to break through in an accident.
        
               | stavros wrote:
               | I'm fairly sure that the two lines are way past each
               | other, on the wrong side. The force with which you'll be
               | flung against the glass is much higher than what you can
               | punch.
        
               | _aavaa_ wrote:
               | This isn't about punching, it's about using one of those
               | handheld devices with a pointed metal tip.
        
               | AngryData wrote:
               | Most tempered glass does it just fine and has for
               | decades.
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | It's worse than impossibly thin. It's a massive gray area
               | of acceptable solutions where no matter where in the area
               | you choose some bike shedding jerk will be able to
               | construe it as though you chose wrong.
        
             | esseph wrote:
             | We have airbags, what if there was a low cost manual way to
             | trigger a window break, potentially even without vehicle
             | power?
        
           | torstenvl wrote:
           | That's what seat belts are for. Making unbreakable glass is
           | morally repugnant.
        
             | dpark wrote:
             | This law is intended to protect belted occupants as well.
             | The target here is rollover crashes where belted occupants
             | may still be jostled partially free from the belt and be
             | partially ejected.
        
               | torstenvl wrote:
               | Not relevant. Safety designs that kill people are
               | indefensible.
        
               | dpark wrote:
               | This is literally the logic anti-seatbelt folks use. "I
               | don't wear a seatbelt because if I'm in a crash, the
               | seatbelt could end up trapping me in a fire."
               | 
               | Safety design very often involves trade offs. The chances
               | you get partially ejected and killed during a rollover
               | are meaningfully higher than the chances you die because
               | you can't break the glass to get out. Do you even keep a
               | glass breaker in your car or do you imagine after
               | surviving a wreck that's trapped you inside your car that
               | you will have the strength to just punch through a glass
               | window?
        
               | walletdrainer wrote:
               | > Safety designs that kill people are indefensible.
               | 
               | Then it logically follows that either the only defensible
               | approach is to not have any safety solutions, or that
               | there simply isn't a defensible approach.
               | 
               | The tradeoffs are unavoidable, a seatbelt or airbag might
               | very well kill someone despite saving countless lives.
               | Even tech like lane departure warnings will almost
               | inevitably distract and kill _someone_.
        
               | tekla wrote:
               | I'm going to guess that you don't work on safety
               | engineering. All safety designs have tradeoffs. Airbags
               | can kill you but we still use them because the probable
               | benefits outweigh the risks.
        
               | torstenvl wrote:
               | Airbags do not kill people. There were fewer than 300
               | airbag-related deaths of the course of two decades, and
               | the _vast_ majority of those deaths were caused by not
               | wearing a seatbelt.
        
               | dpark wrote:
               | And in that time how many deaths were attributed to
               | laminate glass?
        
               | vkou wrote:
               | > Airbags do not kill people.
               | 
               | > fewer than 300 airbag-related deaths
               | 
               | So, they _do_ kill people.
               | 
               | They kill people at a low enough rate that make them both
               | worth installing, and mandating, compared to the
               | alternatives.
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | Frontal airbags, generally speaking, make people who
               | would've died survive and make people who would've walked
               | away with nothing look like they went a few rounds with a
               | professional boxer. It's a flattening effect.
        
               | pixl97 wrote:
               | Wait till someone tells this guy about the trolley
               | problem.
        
         | Ekaros wrote:
         | Exiting through a window is probably not a common case. Or even
         | entering from outside to retrieve a person.
         | 
         | I think likely much better would be to mandate solution that
         | forces doors to fully unlock in case of a crash or large water
         | ingress.
        
           | stavros wrote:
           | The problem isn't that doors don't unlock, it's that you
           | can't open the door against the massive water pressure, or
           | against the door crumpling in itself and ruining the
           | mechanism.
        
       | thefourthchime wrote:
       | The article glides over the fact that FMVSS 226 is a performance
       | standard, not a materials mandate. Manufacturers can stick with
       | tempered glass if they beef up the side curtain airbags enough to
       | prevent ejection, which is exactly what happens on a lot of base
       | models and rear windows to keep BOM costs down. The list of
       | brands using laminated glass is accurate, but it applies mostly
       | to their premium trims or front rows only.
       | 
       | There is also the issue of fleet turnover. With the average age
       | of US vehicles pushing 13 years, the install base is still
       | overwhelmingly tempered glass. Writing off the tool entirely
       | because new luxury cars have moved on ignores the reality of what
       | people are actually driving. You are statistically much more
       | likely to be trapped in a 2012 Civic than a 2025 S-Class.
        
         | bayindirh wrote:
         | > The article glides over the fact that FMVSS 226 is a
         | performance standard, not a materials mandate.
         | 
         | Nope. The article states the following just after the table:
         | 
         | > It's true that not all automakers have switched over to
         | laminated glass for the side windows; the FMVSS 226 law
         | stipulates that you can get around it if you install elaborate
         | side airbags that also prevent ejection.
        
           | alwa wrote:
           | As the grandparent points out, although the article says
           | that, the actual regulation does not. The regulation says you
           | have to prevent side ejections, it doesn't say how. You can
           | read it yourself:
           | 
           | https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.226
           | 
           | > _Ejection mitigation countermeasure means a device or
           | devices, except seat belts, integrated into the vehicle that
           | reduce the likelihood of occupant ejection through a side
           | window opening, and that requires no action by the occupant
           | for activation._
           | 
           | Lamination and side airbags seem to be the way it's usually
           | done today, but nothing prevents a better way.
        
             | nrklvklfl wrote:
             | How?
        
               | alwa wrote:
               | One way (which the regulation mentions) is by not having
               | a window next to a given seat in the first place
               | 
               | Another might be the bars or steel mesh that they weld
               | over the windows in prisoner transport vehicles
        
         | sndean wrote:
         | The smartest thing to do would be to check your car's windows
         | for any indication (the AAA report, page 19, cited in the
         | article has examples) of whether they're laminated or tempered.
         | AFAICT, whether my new-ish Subaru Ascent's windows are
         | laminated depends on location (front or rear) and installation
         | differs between the Ascent trims. Best to check for your
         | specific car and where you're likeliest to be sitting.
        
         | alistairSH wrote:
         | It did cover that. And half the tools couldn't break the
         | tempered glass either.
        
         | walletdrainer wrote:
         | > You are statistically much more likely to be trapped in a
         | 2012 Civic than a 2025 S-Class.
         | 
         | This is probably also very much true on a per mile basis.
        
           | potato3732842 wrote:
           | If you can afford an 2025 S-class you can afford to fly for
           | medium distance travel, you probably aren't slogging out a
           | long commute because you live in one of those rich inner
           | suburbs. You leave the house at reasonable hours and get home
           | at reasonable hours, etc, etc.
           | 
           | There's all sorts of stuff that's just a proxy for
           | generalized correlation with wealth and wealthy lifestyles.
        
       | porphyra wrote:
       | oh just get Franz von Holzhausen to throw a ball bearing at it
        
         | superkuh wrote:
         | The problem isnot cracking the glass. The problem is breaking
         | it apart enough to get through. Your reference joke is not
         | quite appropriate to this context.
        
       | nine_k wrote:
       | Have a crowbar handy. It's known to be useful in a variety of
       | situations, including a literal space alien assault.
        
         | excalibur wrote:
         | We're gonna need a source on that one.
        
           | p1mrx wrote:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_(game_engine)
        
         | windowsrookie wrote:
         | But also don't leave it loose in your vehicle. A crowbar
         | hitting your head in a car accident does not sound like a good
         | time.
        
           | 3eb7988a1663 wrote:
           | Better than a gnome rattling around in the car.
        
             | drob518 wrote:
             | True. But I fail to see the relevance.
        
               | caphector wrote:
               | https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Garden_Gnome
               | 
               | It's another Half-Life reference
        
               | mikestew wrote:
               | I assume this is the relevance:
               | 
               | https://left4dead.fandom.com/wiki/Gnome_Chompski
        
               | 3eb7988a1663 wrote:
               | As others mentioned, it is an achievement from Half Life
               | episode 2. Player has to carry a garden gnome to the end
               | of the game. Which is not too bad, minus the extensive
               | driving sections (sometimes under fire) where the gnome
               | is bouncing around the vehicle.
               | 
               | It is a fun feather in your cap, but definitely not
               | suitable for a first run through of the game.
        
               | drob518 wrote:
               | Ah, thank you. I'll admit to never having played it.
        
         | Aloha wrote:
         | I carry a small hatchet in the trunk of my car with the spare
         | tire just for this reason.
        
         | drob518 wrote:
         | A small charge of C4 works wonders. Just be sure to lay your
         | head over in the passenger seat before detonation.
        
       | roflchoppa wrote:
       | Whats weird is that I know of at least 8 "modern cars" 2018+ that
       | all have had cracked windshields.
       | 
       | 3 of them are mine, my 2002 car has taken huge rocks like a
       | champ...
       | 
       | Its big glass im telling you, esp because the recalibration stuff
       | for Assistive Steering is like 7-800 bucks.
        
         | daemonologist wrote:
         | > the recalibration stuff for Assistive Steering is like 7-800
         | bucks
         | 
         | Yeesh at that point I'd just be buying a Comma.
        
           | rogerrogerr wrote:
           | Usually the glass companies force you to pay it. For
           | "safety". It's just a "you have a nice car so we're gonna
           | charge you more" fee.
           | 
           | I'll probably be doing my own windshield on my Tesla to avoid
           | this. Safelight has decent prices but whacks you with a huge
           | fee for pressing "calibrate" in the service menu, which is
           | user accessible.
        
         | tforcram wrote:
         | Similar experience with a 2010 Honda Odyssey, drove it for 10
         | years and never saw a crack even though I'm sure it took a
         | beating.
         | 
         | Then we got a 2022 Passport and I swear every single trip has a
         | new crack or chip. I was surprisingly fortunate to be talked
         | into the windshield warranty as the sales guy has been through
         | this exact thing and replacing these windshields with assistive
         | tech is expensive. That warranty has already paid for itself
         | and more including once full windshield replacement.
        
           | cobertos wrote:
           | Huh, odd. I have a car with assistive controls and they also
           | tried to talk me into this warranty but I declined. They
           | mentioned replacement would require extra money.
           | 
           | I did end up getting a windshield replacement shortly after
           | purchase (like 6 months into ownership a rock came out of a
           | truck and hit my windshield). I got it replaced for the
           | normal $100-$200 not from the dealership and the vision
           | system has had no issues.
        
         | t0mas88 wrote:
         | The table from the report shows that the tools do crack the
         | window but don't break it. Which is probably the main
         | difference between old glass and the newer layered glass? If
         | you crack an outer layer it is no longer usable, but you can't
         | escape through it.
        
         | inkyoto wrote:
         | Laminated glass does not prevent routine stone chip events - if
         | a tiny fragment of the stone becomes wedged in the outer ply or
         | at the laminate interface at a tension point and, coupled with
         | the temperature difference (inside the cabin vs ambient), cabin
         | pressure and body flex that often place higher tensile stress
         | lower on the windscreen, the crack can start propagating very
         | quickly.
         | 
         | That was my experience earlier in the year: I was driving
         | alongside a large fuel tanker on a city road when a tiny stone
         | chip, probably thrown up from under the tanker's tyres, struck
         | the front windscreen. It took about an 1 1/2 hour for the
         | initially invisible crack to spread into an irreparable 30 cm
         | one - effectively right in front of my eyes - and the
         | windscreen had to be replaced. Lesson learned: do not drive
         | anywhere near large trucks or fuel tankers or maintain a larger
         | distance.
         | 
         | But the laminated glass will prevent the structural collapse of
         | the windshield and will also prevent the occupants from being
         | showered with glass shards. It is also more likely that the
         | windshield will withstand an impact from a large stone, leaving
         | a localised and static crack that can be repaired with resin.
        
           | simoncion wrote:
           | > ...and will also prevent the occupants from being showered
           | with glass shards.
           | 
           | Hasn't it been the case for a long time now that glass in
           | automobiles is coated so that it breaks into small,
           | generally-square fragments, rather than shards?
           | 
           | I've never smashed a window myself, but every couple of
           | months, I see the remains of a window smashing on the
           | sidewalk... it's _always_ a pile of small, generally-square
           | fragments.
           | 
           | My memory tells me that this design was mandated long ago
           | _because_ folks would get shards embedded in them effectively
           | forever. One of my parents related a story that one of the
           | parents up the tree would irregularly have to extract
           | migrating glass shards breaking through the skin of his face
           | that had been embedded during an automobile accident many
           | years prior. But, perhaps that story is bullshit and
           | completely fabricated, IDK.
        
             | recursivecaveat wrote:
             | That's tempered glass which breaks into the safer
             | fragments. Still not completely safe obviously, especially
             | if stuff is getting thrown around violently in an accident.
             | The bigger safety case for laminated glass though is since
             | it sticks together your body or limbs can't fly out through
             | it in a rollover accident (even if belted can happen on the
             | sides). There's also some fringe benefits: noise isolation,
             | UV protection, and supposedly more annoying for thieves.
        
         | HWR_14 wrote:
         | Much like cell phone screens, altering the glass to make
         | catastrophic failures less likely makes cracking more likely.
        
         | walletdrainer wrote:
         | Hey, it could be worse. I had the windshield on my newish
         | S-class start smoking and quickly crack after.
        
       | sizzzzlerz wrote:
       | What are the police to do when some insane sovcit refuses to exit
       | the car over a speeding ticket? Those windows aren't going to
       | break themselves.
        
         | stavros wrote:
         | The fact that you're trying to optimize for "police serving
         | speeding tickets to insane sovcits" over "getting flung out of
         | the car in an accident and being crushed by the car" makes me
         | glad you don't design cars.
        
         | AngryData wrote:
         | Why should they exit a car over a speeding ticket? A speeding
         | ticket is not a jail sentence and does not warrant an arrest.
         | In fact unless a driver is actively trying to harm somebody or
         | has an active arrest warrant there is no reason whatsoever for
         | them to leave their car or allow cops to remove people from
         | cars.
        
           | nerdsniper wrote:
           | In some states, it is the law that officers can order you to
           | step out of the vehicle during any valid traffic stop,
           | regardless if it is criminal or civil.
           | 
           | In some states it is the law that if you are from out of
           | state and get a speeding ticket, you either have to pay the
           | officer in cash while you are stopped or they can take you to
           | jail until money is posted or it is your court date.
           | 
           | This happened to a friend of mine from Wisconsin, visiting me
           | in Michigan about ten years ago. I was shocked to learn this
           | was actual Mochigan law, and could hardly believe it even
           | after verifying it. He felt very "lucky" to have had several
           | hundred dollars in cash to simply hand over to the officer.
           | Michigan only just rescinded those laws in 2019:
           | https://landline.media/michigan-laws-end-roadside-cash-
           | payme...
        
             | Spivak wrote:
             | I can't wait for police badges to double as contactless
             | payment terminals.
        
               | PunchyHamster wrote:
               | Our (Poland) police does have payment terminals...
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | New Mexico has it.
               | 
               | It's actually great. Their tickets are (or were) cheap
               | and not reported to insurance if paid on the spot.
               | 
               | Far superior to the "pretend it's more than 1% about
               | safety and peddle it to the worst kind of people"
               | approach that most other states take with speeding
               | enforcement IMO.
        
           | ufmace wrote:
           | You don't necessarily have to if you're just getting a
           | speeding ticket. But in order to write a speeding ticket, you
           | have to hand over a valid Driver's License so they know who
           | to ticket. Exactly what should they do if the driver refuses
           | to provide their Driver's License?
        
           | Arrowmaster wrote:
           | In the sovereign citizen cases they are talking about, the
           | typical case is that the vehicle is not registered/doesn't
           | have plates and the driver refuses to identify themselves.
           | They only barely lower the window if at all. They usually go
           | back and forth a few times until the police tell them they
           | are under arrest for multiple reasons relating to driving
           | without a license and failure to identify.
           | 
           | The glass breaking happens after multiple offices have
           | arrived for backup as the person usually gets dragged from
           | the car screaming. The videos are extremely entertaining to
           | watch.
           | 
           | The combination of unregistered vehicle, failure to prove the
           | driver has a license, and the drivers insisting they should
           | be allowed to drive away is absolutely a combination where
           | arrest is legal.
        
       | monster_truck wrote:
       | None of these glass breakers are any good at what they're
       | supposed to do anyways, I'd wager all of their websites delinate
       | that they are for tempered glass only. What you want is porcelain
       | or ceramic.
       | 
       | Unfortunately, afaik, porclean/cermaic glass breakers are illegal
       | in most states. They are "Burglary Tools".
       | 
       | Nothing wrong with keeping a box of spark plugs in your center
       | console though
        
         | mikkupikku wrote:
         | That old spark plug thing was from when cars had tempered side
         | windows, wasn't it? I don't see how those would be particularly
         | effective at dealing with lamination.
        
         | rdtsc wrote:
         | Would a spark plug work on laminated glass?
        
         | Johnny555 wrote:
         | A ceramic glass breaker isn't going to be any better than the
         | metal tools on laminated glass, breaking the glass is only half
         | the battle, you've still got to get through the intact glass
         | pane held in place by the plastic laminate.
         | 
         | >Nothing wrong with keeping a box of spark plugs in your center
         | console though
         | 
         | But then you've got to keep a tool to break the spark plug to
         | give you a sharp ceramic shard to get through the glass.
        
           | drob518 wrote:
           | Exactly. It's the plastic middle layer that screws you.
        
             | sebazzz wrote:
             | Does a knife help there?
        
               | walletdrainer wrote:
               | Sure, it'll probably be pretty slow though. Ideally you'd
               | have a serrated blade
        
         | loeg wrote:
         | Broken spark plugs are also known as "ninja rocks," for what
         | it's worth. Also considered illegal burglary tools in some
         | states.
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | I fail to see how any of your suggestions are going to do any
         | better on laminated glass. Breaking the glass isn't the problem
         | here, it's the lamination.
        
         | The_President wrote:
         | Or when in something with windows like a Cybertruck maybe a 45
        
           | Meekro wrote:
           | Just imagining firing that in a car is making my ears ring.
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | > None of these glass breakers are any good
         | 
         | ...unless you're demonstrating unbreakable cybertruck glass to
         | the world.
        
         | adiabatichottub wrote:
         | Thieves in my city use the kind of automatic center punch that
         | you can buy at any hardware store.
        
       | croes wrote:
       | So no fast rescue of children and dogs in cars in the summer heat
       | anymore
        
       | bombcar wrote:
       | You can just carry the Ripper.
       | 
       | https://www.aoe.net/product/the-ripper-window-glass-cutter/
        
         | eurleif wrote:
         | Expensive, and pretty bulky to carry around along with an
         | impact driver. There are less expensive, more compact hand-
         | operated tools, e.g.:
         | 
         | https://www.lifelinerescuetools.com/products/lifeline-escape...
         | 
         | https://www.ajaxrescuetools.com/prod-20-1-127-28/extrication...
        
         | jonah wrote:
         | I've used one (in training). Works great, nice clean cuts, but
         | still a little slow. Quicker to just use an axe which, if
         | you're a firefighter, you have handy. (Carefully chop around
         | the perimeter of the windshield or side window. Use gentle
         | blows to minimize dispersion of broken glass within the cabin.)
        
           | inejge wrote:
           | Okay now I'm imagining a classical ballet recreation of the
           | "Heeere's Johnny" scene. With firemen.
        
       | drob518 wrote:
       | Simple. Just make sure you test your glass breaker on your car
       | side window before you drive off the road or bridge into a deep
       | lake.
        
       | mikkupikku wrote:
       | > _" The fantasy being peddled by the toolmakers is: You will
       | crash, remain conscious, find that your car has burst into flame
       | or is slowly sinking in water, find that you cannot undo your
       | seatbelt, yet are still able to reach for this specialty tool,
       | slice through your seatbelt, then smash the window open and climb
       | free to safety."_
       | 
       | Uh huh... Now consider this scenario; you lose control and crash
       | into a tree. You are _out_ and your car catches fire. Who gets to
       | the scene first? Firefighters, or probably just whichever randos
       | happened to be right there when it happened? Probably the later.
       | Probably for the best if one of them is able to break your window
       | and pull you out.
        
         | stavros wrote:
         | Yes, which is why the article reaches that exact conclusion.
        
       | tharwan wrote:
       | Victorinox tried to address this with this tool, not sure how
       | successful https://www.victorinox.com/en-DE/Products/Swiss-Army-
       | Knife%E...
        
         | rsyring wrote:
         | 404 from US IP address.
         | 
         | Rescue tool?
         | 
         | https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knife%E...
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | 404. This one, perhaps?
         | 
         | https://www.victorinox.com/en-DE/Products/Swiss-Army-Knife%E...
        
         | jerlam wrote:
         | There is a video of this tool being used to cut windshield
         | (laminated) glass. It is not remotely practical:
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/LEHl6_ye9as?si=68rwouxAHWcurZ5O&t=73
        
           | sho_hn wrote:
           | Because it's slow to use? The video does show it working
           | fine. For the "someone locked me in the car" use case it
           | seems OK?
        
             | Izkata wrote:
             | I think it's fine for the "sinking in a lake" case too? The
             | water pressure prevents the door from opening, and my
             | understanding was you want the car to fill with water fast
             | enough you can take a breath, let the pressure equalize,
             | then open the door. You're likely not going to get out
             | through a broken window while the water is pouring in
             | through it (I guess if you're fast enough to still be above
             | the water line), so by the time that stops it doesn't seem
             | like there'd be much difference between opening the door
             | and maneuvering through the much smaller window.
             | 
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC68mflUEwc
        
           | axiolite wrote:
           | Seems like they did it the by-the-book way for the
           | commercial, rather than the panicked-escape real-world way...
           | i.e. I'd do one vertical cut in the middle, then I'd be
           | frantically pulling the glass shards out by hand (or claw
           | hammer if available).
           | 
           | It's a shame AAA's testing wasn't more extensive. They should
           | have determined the best tool for a quick exit... Crowbar,
           | wood saw, large serrated knife, or can opener for example.
           | 
           | Multitools with glass breakers seem likely to be more durable
           | and not fall apart like the cheap plastic hammers. e.g.
           | Leatherman SIGNAL and $35 clones like B0BRRXVW9T. They also
           | have knife blades, saw blades, pliers, and can openers for a
           | good selection of alternative options to test out.
        
         | ThePowerOfFuet wrote:
         | Here's that YouTube link without the tracking parameter:
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/LEHl6_ye9as?t=73
        
       | csours wrote:
       | Disclosure: I work for a car company, not on this.
       | 
       | If you want to be prepared for automotive incidents:
       | 
       | 1. Check your mood and intoxication level before and while
       | driving. Mood is more important than everything besides drugs and
       | alcohol.
       | 
       | 2. Left turns (or across traffic as applicable) are dangerous.
       | Take extra care while turning left (or across traffic).
       | 
       | 3. Using screens at night is bad for everyone, but especially
       | above the age of 40, both focus and iris (light balance) response
       | take longer. Using a screen changes your focus and blows out your
       | night vision.
       | 
       | 4. If your car has pushbutton electronic door openers, PRACTICE
       | opening the door without battery power.
        
         | underlipton wrote:
         | >3. Using screens at night is bad for everyone, but especially
         | above the age of 40, both focus and iris (light balance)
         | response take longer. Using a screen changes your focus and
         | blows out your night vision.
         | 
         | On that note, if anyone with Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, et al. would
         | like to revisit the way their apps handle ride assignment -
         | specifically, the way platforms generally refuse to assign
         | orders when the car is stationary, but then inundate
         | contractors with notifications that must be responded to
         | immediately when the car is in motion - it'd be much
         | appreciated.
        
         | modzu wrote:
         | if you coudlld just remove the screens except for nav/media
         | thatd be great
        
           | conductr wrote:
           | I've had 3 different 2013 model cars by different
           | manufacturers, it was a great year for "just the right amount
           | of tech" in a vehicle
        
           | walletdrainer wrote:
           | Pretty sure almost any car shop can manage that for cheap. At
           | the most basic level you could just wrap the bits you don't
           | want visible
        
         | AlotOfReading wrote:
         | One of my pet peeves about screen UIs is that they're worse
         | than they need to be for night use. Modern dark themes are
         | blue-heavy, which negatively impacts both pupil response and
         | bleaching more than colors of the same luminance with more
         | green and red.
        
           | ansgri wrote:
           | There should be two dark modes: a simple dark mode, like most
           | dark themes today, to work in dimmed lighting, and an actual
           | night mode, designed to be legible but not mess with
           | adaptation in total darkness. I don't know the research on
           | this (and I'm sure military and aviation have lots of data
           | here), but intuitively it should use mostly thin red and
           | green lines.
        
             | trinix912 wrote:
             | Some cars (Honda Civic) had this feature where you could
             | change the theme of the UI and it had 3-4 presets (blue,
             | red, amber, green IIRC). That was before those screens were
             | just a built-in Android tablet and sadly it didn't carry
             | over.
             | 
             | But you're right and it's the reason most german cars had
             | red illuminated gauge clusters until a few years ago.
        
             | kotaKat wrote:
             | Give me back the Saab Night Panel. All I want is my speedo.
             | 
             | https://i0.wp.com/saabblog.net/wp-
             | content/uploads/2024/08/Ni...
        
             | fhars wrote:
             | Like nightmode in Stellarium: https://www.stellarium-
             | labs.com/blog/nightmode/
        
         | PunchyHamster wrote:
         | Funnily enough the first comment in the article is "oh yeah, if
         | you're in Tesla good fucking luck, their doors fail and the
         | releases are incredibly hard to find in emergency"
        
           | dunham wrote:
           | I didn't find them hard to find (in the front seat). When I
           | first got my car it kept complaining because I instinctively
           | reached for that lever instead of the button. The computer
           | claimed I could break the window if I kept using the manual
           | lever, and I had to figure out where the button was.
           | 
           | Not saying the car is great, just that I found the door lever
           | easily. I'd still rather have real controls (and a real
           | sensor) for the wipers and the reliance on software and
           | software updates makes me very nervous. You can't even open
           | the glove box without a voice command or touch screen (as far
           | as I can tell).
        
             | codazoda wrote:
             | Same. I've only ridden in one, but the owner wasn't super
             | happy when I instinctively pulled the manual lever to open
             | the door.
        
               | imtringued wrote:
               | There is no wrong way to open the door. Any suffering on
               | the owner's part is caused by the manufacturer building
               | the car that way. A car like that clearly isn't meant to
               | carry untrained passengers. If the car owner insists on
               | buying an unsuitable car, then that's on the owner. It's
               | no different from buying a two seat sports car as a
               | family of four.
        
             | michaelt wrote:
             | A better design would be for the 'button' to be a normal
             | lever in the normal location, and the emergency manual
             | release to be triggered by pulling that lever extra hard.
        
               | dpkirchner wrote:
               | We could simplify this further!
        
           | QuiEgo wrote:
           | The front ones seem easy enough, the rear ones are a lot
           | harder
           | 
           | https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/2020_2024_modely/en_us/GU.
           | ..
        
             | karlgkk wrote:
             | The front ones vary and certain models are atrociously
             | designed. If you get in an accident and have a concussion,
             | and adrenaline, add a 10x difficulty factor
             | 
             | This is almost certainly what killed those kids in piedmont
        
             | dan353hehe wrote:
             | whoa.
             | 
             | > Not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual
             | release for the rear doors.
             | 
             | How is that even allowed?
        
               | culi wrote:
               | I think that's exactly what they recently got sued for.
               | Car caught fire, electrical stopped working (and
               | therefore the doors stopped working) and a teen burned
               | inside
        
               | conductr wrote:
               | It's wild how my car won't let me change basic settings
               | while vehicle is in drive (too much menu nav as to be
               | distraction & I've had cars that would only let me edit
               | the navigation destination while in park) yet - this
               | exists as well
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | You're forgetting the "people who don't care, they just
               | want to be seen looking like they care so they make a
               | bunch of noise" factor.
               | 
               | Once you multiply the safety problem by the this factor
               | it all makes sense.
               | 
               | A small non-problem that every screeching jerk will be
               | exposed to is a bigger actual problem more likely to get
               | addressed than a potential real problem that will mostly
               | go unnoticed.
               | 
               | Also rear doors are kinda optional. They still make 2door
               | 2-row cars. Heck, they made 2-door 2-row SUVs pretty
               | recently. And child safety locks are a thing. So there is
               | an argument to be made there (not that I think it holds
               | up on modern stuff).
        
             | DougBTX wrote:
             | Spicy:
             | 
             | > Use caution when using the manual door release; the
             | window will not automatically lower when the door is opened
             | and damage to the window or vehicle trim may occur.
             | 
             | Manually opening the rear doors is a destructive operation!
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | Is it actually "destructive" or is it more of a "cramming
               | the door seal over the window and flexing the widow
               | assembly in a way that would result in more failure under
               | warranty than they want if done regularly" type thing.
        
         | themafia wrote:
         | > If your car has pushbutton electronic door openers, PRACTICE
         | opening the door without battery power.
         | 
         | Please stop building cars with this "feature." We honestly
         | should make them illegal.
        
           | qwertytyyuu wrote:
           | I think the removal of standard manual doors is the actual
           | crime
        
             | RedShift1 wrote:
             | And we as consumers should also take responsibility and
             | simply not buy these vehicles.
        
               | yurishimo wrote:
               | The good news is that at least as it pertains to getting
               | rid of physical controls, automakers have largely learned
               | their lesson and are trying to go back as fast as
               | reasonably possible (while also trying to balance
               | recouping the tooling costs from fewer buttons). VW was
               | heavily heavily criticized and is bringing it all back.
               | 
               | I'm confident that if consumer sentiment starts to skew
               | one way regarding electronic door handles, we will also
               | see a reversal. What is unfortunate now is that other
               | automakers are following the lead that Tesla set. Tesla
               | essentially proved one type of electronic door and it is
               | engineered in such a way to be cheap and reliable enough.
               | I'm confident that if engineers are given the space to
               | really innovate and explore ideas, they can find
               | something that is both better mechanically while
               | remaining highly aerodynamic.
        
               | walletdrainer wrote:
               | At least Tesla does have a very easily accessible button
               | to manually open the door
        
               | butvacuum wrote:
               | Didn't they only add those after losing a lawsuit?
               | 
               | And, I swear I heard about another one for cyber trucks,
               | but with the vitriol surrounding them I'm not even going
               | to try and find it.
        
               | walletdrainer wrote:
               | I have no idea, don't own a Tesla and haven't been in one
               | that often.
               | 
               | Looks like some models might have the manual door release
               | switch easily accessible in the front but not in the
               | back, about what you'd expect from Tesla.
               | 
               | At least the fact that they have a decent solution shows
               | that there's no reason this has to be a problem for
               | electric doors.
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | It's not a bad feature. My fancy car has them, and it can
           | watch for traffic and stop/slow you opening the door if
           | there's a car coming up that maybe you didn't see (or look
           | for).
           | 
           | And on mine, the same handle that you push to open with
           | electricity will also open manually if you pull it twice.
           | Which is handy, because the 12v battery failed in the first
           | year. Feels like 12v batteries are a lot less reliable
           | lately.
           | 
           | Getting in from the outside with the manual handle isn't so
           | obvious, it's kind of hidden at the back of the handle.
        
         | yonisto wrote:
         | What do you mean by mood?
        
           | literalAardvark wrote:
           | To quote Groundhog Day, "Don't drive angry".
           | 
           | Any mood intense enough is extremely distracting and
           | dangerous for driving, whether anger, infatuation, mourning,
           | etc.
           | 
           | Because of this some countries have psychological testing to
           | check your emotional stability when you get your license
           | renewed, but realistically your emotions will be compromised
           | for short durations much more often than that.
           | 
           | The test is a long term ( 15-30 minutes ) strict focus test.
           | You don't have time to fully check everything you do on it,
           | so you do your best and the psychologist verifies both that
           | you have a sufficient ability to focus as a % of tasks
           | reasonably responded to, and that you don't have large
           | "emotional gaps" in your responses where your mind wandered
           | to your bonnie for 45 seconds and you didn't interact with
           | the tasks much or at all.
        
         | Timon3 wrote:
         | Regarding screens: also make sure to configure the brightness
         | correctly! I was recently driving with a relative in their new
         | car at night, and the screen for navigation etc. was bright
         | enough that I could see noticeably less than I'm used to. Turns
         | out the screen does have separate brightness settings for day &
         | night, but the night setting was at 4/10 per default (compared
         | to 6/10 for the day setting). After lowering it to 1/10 the
         | screen is still easily readable, and suddenly it's easy to see
         | dark stuff again!
        
       | jjmarr wrote:
       | Can I still remove the headrest and use it to break glass?
        
         | Izkata wrote:
         | This is apparently a mix of myth and misleading information:
         | They can't be used to directly break the glass like these
         | devices were designed to, they were never designed for this
         | purpose as people claim, and even the "lever it between the
         | glass and door" method only works with tempered glass and not
         | the laminated glass that's used in newer cars.
         | 
         | Plus not all headrests can be removed anyway.
        
       | zoklet-enjoyer wrote:
       | Oh cool. I bought the same model as that image for my
       | girlfriend's kid yesterday
        
       | JSR_FDED wrote:
       | "It's easy to convince EDC people to buy EDC things. But how do
       | you convince non-EDC folks to buy your product?"
       | 
       | Am I the only one who doesn't know what EDC is?
        
         | esprehn wrote:
         | I didn't know either, Google of just "EDC" figured it out
         | though:
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_carry
        
         | Suppafly wrote:
         | Every Day Carry. Nerds on reddit pump each other up to carry a
         | bunch of nominally practical stuff around every day like pocket
         | knives and glass breaking tools and seat belt cutters and such.
        
           | JSR_FDED wrote:
           | Hilarious! Thank you!
        
         | fainpul wrote:
         | EDC is when you carry 3 different sized pocket knives, a
         | flashlight, a watch, a weird high tech pen, a card holder, a
         | gun - and everything is color matched and presented nicely in a
         | photograph you post on reddit.
        
       | atarian wrote:
       | I bought a fire extinguisher recently but I've never used one. I
       | have a faint idea of how it works and what kind of result I'd get
       | based on what I've seen on TV. But if a serious fire ever breaks
       | out I don't even know if I'd even remember to grab and use it.
        
         | 3eb7988a1663 wrote:
         | If you are looking to practice, the MythBusters said a fire
         | extinguisher was an excellent way to quickly cool a case of
         | beer. So, you can make it a $30 party trick and a teaching
         | moment.
        
           | avhon1 wrote:
           | They were using carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, which are
           | expensive (a couple hundred dollars, see [1] ) and not common
           | in homes.
           | 
           | [1] https://fireextinguisherdepot.com/carbon-dioxide-fire-
           | exting...
        
         | Telaneo wrote:
         | If you have an old one that you want to get rid of, it's a good
         | idea to set up a controlled fire and try out your extinguisher
         | on it. That way you can get some experience.
         | 
         | Really though, it mostly is just pull pin -> aim low (at the
         | base and source of the fire) -> squeeze until extinguished.
         | Sweep the nozzle from side to side to get proper coverage.
         | 
         | They're intended to be used by anyone with no training, so
         | there's not much to go wrong (assuming you haven't bought the
         | wrong type and use it on an oil fire, although most of the ones
         | I see for sale for consumers are the powder kind, which work on
         | anything. The water ones are the worst, and I've never seen
         | one).
        
           | NooneAtAll3 wrote:
           | and it needs to be remembered not to hold the nozzle - aim
           | with the whole extinguisher
           | 
           | nozzle gets veeery cold as gas expands, so you can get frost
           | burns
        
           | hermitcrab wrote:
           | I've seen a video of someone pointing an extinguisher the
           | wrong way and blasting themself in the face! In their
           | defense, they were under some stress.
        
         | -warren wrote:
         | In fire school we learned PASS -- pin, aim, squeeze, sweep.
         | Even well-trained professionals need simple mnemonic devices.
         | 
         | Also, we never used a seatbelt ripper -- they don't work. All
         | first responders carrier trauma shears. Those _do_ work and
         | have multiple purposes.
        
         | whartung wrote:
         | As someone who has found themselves in a situation out in the
         | wild with a fire and a fire extinguisher (neither of which were
         | mine), with no direct extinguisher experience, you can take
         | some solace in that they work very easily. They're not some
         | wild hose that going to send you around the room. There's very
         | little force. And you can simply fire it in bursts. It takes no
         | time to get a feel for it and use it with precision.
         | 
         | If you find yourself with a fire and an extinguisher, do not
         | hesitate to pull the pin, and go to it. You'll figure it out.
         | In the end, you can't really make the situation worse.
        
         | phantasmish wrote:
         | My son picked up and used one effectively having about the same
         | level of experience you do (none, but he knew the basic idea
         | and had read the label). Can't remember if he was 7 or 8 at the
         | time, but either way I'm pretty sure you'll be ok.
         | 
         | I mean, still doesn't hurt to get more familiar, but...
        
         | dreamcompiler wrote:
         | In a "serious" fire you should ignore the fire extinguisher get
         | everyone out of the building.
         | 
         | Fire extinguishers are for small fires! If a little oil in your
         | frying pan catches on fire and you don't have a lid readily
         | available to smother it, use a fire extinguisher. But if your
         | smoke alarm wakes you up and you discover your whole kitchen on
         | fire, get out. The fire extinguisher will not help in that
         | situation, and it may cause you to waste time. (Tip: If and
         | only if the fire extinguisher is _easily available_ , carry it
         | with you as you exit. You might need it to use it clear a path
         | to get out.)
        
           | trinix912 wrote:
           | > If a little oil in your frying pan catches on fire and you
           | don't have a lid readily available to smother it, use a fire
           | extinguisher.
           | 
           | We were told to just toss a large cloth on the fire in such
           | cases.
        
             | az09mugen wrote:
             | That's right, the best is to have a watered dishcloth that
             | will suffocate the fire, hence stopping it. The fire
             | extinguisher may be a bad idea because the pressure will
             | spread burning oil around across the kitchen and the water
             | is definitively the worse idea because it will
             | counterintuitively make a bigger flame and also spread
             | burning oil.
        
               | ThePowerOfFuet wrote:
               | Watered dishcloth? Water is the absolute last thing you
               | want near very hot oil, never mind burning oil.
        
               | az09mugen wrote:
               | You're right, the best is a metal lid.
        
             | dogman1050 wrote:
             | When it happened here, I instinctively threw the flaming
             | pan out the adjacent open door into the yard. We ate
             | something else that day.
        
             | owenversteeg wrote:
             | That works, but be sure to use a wool or cotton cloth.
             | 
             | -----
             | 
             | The proper method to deal with an oil fire: turn off the
             | heat and smother the fire with a metal lid, metal baking
             | sheet, or wool/cotton cloth. Do not use a fire blanket made
             | of polyester or nylon; it will melt and burn producing
             | toxic smoke. Do not use flour or any other
             | flammable/explosive powder. Do not use water, as the liquid
             | water will get into the oil and expand 1600 times its
             | original size as it turns to steam; this rapid expansion
             | will fling burning oil everywhere. If you do use an
             | extinguisher, be careful not to spread the burning oil.
             | 
             | For small NON-OIL, non-electrical fires, smothering with a
             | wet non-synthetic cloth is the best way to stop the fire.
        
           | RichardLake wrote:
           | Check the class of the fire extinguisher and if it is suited
           | for liquid fires before using it on a oil fire.
        
           | bluGill wrote:
           | A fire extinguisher is to clear a safe path to the exit if
           | the fire blocks it. never put them by the exit door as I see
           | so many people do (in their garrage)
           | 
           | they can also be used on small fires but only if there is a
           | safe escape route. (This is probably the most common use but
           | not the primary use)
        
             | bell-cot wrote:
             | 99% of the benefit of putting the extinguisher by the exit
             | door is that it helps draw panicking people to the exit
             | door. Which gives them another saving throw against Heroic
             | Idiocy, at +4 - "Should I grab this totally unfamiliar
             | little fire extinguisher and carry it back toward the big
             | scary fire, to do something I've never even tried doing? Or
             | should I just run out the handy exit door that I'm right
             | next to?"
        
         | dpifke wrote:
         | If you're in the U.S., you might check if your local fire
         | department has a CERT[0] training course. (I did it many years
         | ago in San Francisco; they call it NERT for some reason.)
         | 
         | It'll give you a chance to practice putting out an actual fire,
         | refresh first aid skills, learn the incident command system,
         | learn basic search and rescue, and other preparedness skills to
         | help yourself, your family, and neighbors in an emergency (in
         | that order).
         | 
         | [0]: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/individuals-
         | communit...
        
         | adiabatichottub wrote:
         | A couple years ago somebody parked a stolen car in front of our
         | building, stuffed a rag in the fuel filler, and lit it. I must
         | have pulled up just a couple minutes after they had left.
         | Grabbed the fire extinguisher I kept under the seat and put it
         | out. I had that extinguisher around for about 5 years. You
         | never know when you'll need it.
        
         | pants2 wrote:
         | When I was young we'd find expired fire extinguishers and go
         | blast each other with em. Very easy to use. Good times. Hope
         | they're not toxic...
        
         | hermitcrab wrote:
         | Water extinguishers are almost completely useless.
         | 
         | I once had a go at putting out a fire in a waste paper bin with
         | a water extinguisher, as part of a fire safety course. The
         | burning paper just floated on the water as the bin filled up.
         | 
         | CO2 extinguishers are more effective. But I believe you have to
         | be careful where you hold it or your skin may freeze onto it.
         | 
         | Get a fire blanket for your kitchen.
        
           | michaelt wrote:
           | The time you want water is when something that water can soak
           | into is on fire. Sofas, curtains, bedding, bookshelves,
           | carpets, filing cabinets full of paper, etc.
           | 
           | The water soaks in and prevents the fire re-igniting. 30
           | years ago, workplaces contained a lot more filing cabinets
           | and bookshelves, and smoking was more common.
           | 
           | CO2 is non-conductive, and less messy. It's also great at
           | flowing around things, making it good for spraying through
           | vents into electrical cabinets and car engines. Downside is
           | the CO2 dissipates within a few seconds, so if the material
           | is prone to re-igniting it's not such a good choice.
           | 
           | Dry powder is in between - the powder stays around, but
           | doesn't soak in. It's a good choice if you're only going to
           | get one extinguisher.
        
           | potato3732842 wrote:
           | Water extinguishers are incredibly useful for putting out
           | small incidental fires that can result from hot work without
           | making a big mess. The kind of stuff you'd just move outside
           | or let burn out rather than discharge a powder extinguisher
           | over.
           | 
           | Nobody is whipping out a dry-chem extinguisher because the
           | leaves under the workbench caught on fire from welding
           | sparks.
        
           | avhon1 wrote:
           | Water mist fire extinguishers are nice. They are much more
           | able to cool lightweight, flammable objects, and pose less
           | risk of causing electrical arcs.
        
       | maxglute wrote:
       | Man there needs to be some sort of amusement park where you try
       | out common emergency safety mechanisms.
       | 
       | I've never broke / pulled a fire alarm, I'm sure I can, but let
       | me.
       | 
       | ALSO EVERY AIRPORT SHOULD HAVE MOCK EMERGENCY AIRPLANE DOORS FOR
       | PEOPLE TO TRY OUT.
        
         | RedShift1 wrote:
         | That is a great idea. Would be fun to play on for the kids too.
        
           | fastasucan wrote:
           | Lets not teach kids to open plane doors for fun.
        
             | throw_a_grenade wrote:
             | No, this is backwards. Fun is trying new things (I think
             | it's evolutionary mechanism that ensure kids are learning
             | by default), and once the thing has been tried, it's not
             | new anymore, so won't be tried again. Best thing we can
             | actually do is to channel that, as OP proposed.
             | 
             | If only we had cheap, multi-use inflatable exit ramps that
             | deflate, fold and stow themselves after use. Which is not a
             | thing, apparently.
        
               | fastasucan wrote:
               | >and once the thing has been tried, it's not new anymore,
               | so won't be tried again
               | 
               | There must be something in the water here, because kids
               | here do it over and over again, usually ending up they
               | getting hurt/nearly hurt or told to stop.
        
               | whatevaa wrote:
               | Yeah, no, that's not how it works. Need to do it many
               | times before something is not fun. Just look at computer
               | games.
        
               | throw_a_grenade wrote:
               | Well, the way my parents discouraged me from smoking was,
               | they brought a pack of cigarettes home and let me have
               | one. Was awful, never wanted to try it again. That was an
               | important life lesson for me.
        
             | fainpul wrote:
             | You can't open the emergency doors while the cabin pressure
             | is higher than outside pressure, if that's what you're
             | worried about. And I think they don't let kids sit at the
             | emergency exit either, because the person sitting there
             | needs to be physically capable to remove the door, which
             | has some weight to it.
        
               | fastasucan wrote:
               | I just dont want my kids to think its ok to play with the
               | doors on a plane.
        
               | thih9 wrote:
               | I don't think anyone wants to send that message.
               | 
               | I guess the point is to teach how to use these mechanisms
               | - so that there is no confusion in case an actual
               | emergency happens.
        
               | eptcyka wrote:
               | Then don't let them. Take responsibility for your
               | children :)
        
             | thih9 wrote:
             | But what if it improves everyone's safety?
        
             | acomjean wrote:
             | Opening doors isn't fun. School busses would be un workable
             | with that back door if it was.
        
         | Stevvo wrote:
         | Safety mechanisms are often inherently unsafe, because they are
         | safer than the alternative, so you don't want people playing
         | with them. e.g. You cat cut yourself on the glass of a fire
         | alarm, or break an ankle on an emergency exit slide.
        
           | dejj wrote:
           | Valid. Maybe something can be learned from using them more
           | frequently, either by the maker or by the user.
        
           | 1970-01-01 wrote:
           | Safety mechanisms are not inherently unsafe. A very small
           | minority that leverage fast-deploying mechanics are, however
           | the majority of safety is neutral. Life vests, eye
           | protection, fall harness, emergency brake, electrical gloves,
           | etc don't actively harm the person.
        
         | hermitcrab wrote:
         | That is a great idea. Lots of people learn CPR. Perhaps there
         | is a market for a school that teaches basic, hands-on safety
         | skills.
         | 
         | -How to put out a cooker fire with a fire blanket.
         | 
         | -How to use a fire extinguisher.
         | 
         | -How to cut a seat belt.
         | 
         | -How to break a window.
         | 
         | etc
         | 
         | Could be quite a fun day out. I would definitely pay for
         | something like that for me and my family.
        
           | potato3732842 wrote:
           | Your local boy scouts almost certainly have a working
           | relationship with their local fire department that results in
           | the FD taking them to wherever they train once every couple
           | years and going through all those motions and more.
           | 
           | A 5lb dry extinguisher in the right hands can put out one of
           | those oval stock tanks full of burning diesel, twice.
        
           | mcpherrinm wrote:
           | We had (optional) safety training when I worked at Square,
           | which included CPR training, going over office evacuation
           | procedures, etc. One of the most fun parts was they had a
           | virtual fire extinguisher training, which involved basically
           | a video game fire extinguisher controller to put out a fire
           | on a tv. It's definitely not as exciting as using a real fire
           | extinguisher training, but can also be done in an office
           | meeting room.
        
             | stouset wrote:
             | I'm still upset they didn't let us start fires in the
             | meeting rooms to practice using real extinguishers.
             | 
             | Miss working with you!
        
             | hermitcrab wrote:
             | Virtual training is better than nothing. But I don't think
             | it really compares doing IRL.
        
         | nohuck13 wrote:
         | "ALSO EVERY AIRPORT SHOULD HAVE MOCK EMERGENCY AIRPLANE DOORS
         | FOR PEOPLE TO TRY OUT."
         | 
         | I would pay money for this in the safety amusement park, but in
         | real life way more people would get hurt operating the fake one
         | at the airport than we'd help in real emergencies. Plane
         | crashes where the emergency exit gets operated are so rare they
         | effectively don't happen.
        
           | walletdrainer wrote:
           | I had the opportunity to deploy (and use!) a slide at a
           | Lufthansa event, super cool experience but given that just
           | the slide deployment probably cost them over $30k I can't
           | really see it being a common thing.
           | 
           | Of course just opening an exit door replica you could do for
           | ~free
        
             | reisse wrote:
             | I think mock slide deployment could be made much cheaper
             | than 30k - e. g. high-volume compressors can be used
             | instead of gas canisters, the materials can be cheaper
             | because there is no weight or temperature requirements,
             | etc.
        
               | butvacuum wrote:
               | And no bills from the coast guard. (All these devices
               | have distress beacons that activate automatically)
        
               | walletdrainer wrote:
               | Fair, since it doesn't actually need to work well enough
               | for emergencies you're presumably looking at bouncy
               | castle levels of spending.
        
           | fhdkweig wrote:
           | Paying to break things is a valid business plan. In Tokyo,
           | stressed business men can pay to break dishes by throwing
           | them against a wall.
           | 
           | https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/dishing-out-
           | anti-s...
        
         | tclancy wrote:
         | Ah, you have intrusive thoughts as well. I mention it only to
         | say that someone at my local grocery does not, based on the
         | fact they thought to type up, print and post a sign saying
         | PLEASE DO NOT POKE THE WATERMELONS thinking that would lead to
         | a decrease in watermelon finger strikes.
        
           | butvacuum wrote:
           | Sounds like they're having issues with people thinking you
           | can poke, prod, or drum on watermelons to check "ripeness"
           | but it got lost in translation to "non-confromtstional."
        
             | tclancy wrote:
             | Maybe? I am well aware/ don't care about watermelon
             | ripeness because I find watermelon to be a complete waste
             | of time 90% of the time. But now I want to poke them.
        
         | KineticLensman wrote:
         | Yes! I did a fire training course back in the old days when it
         | involved a real fire extinguisher rather than just PowerPoint
         | and it was interesting how many of us failed to put out a small
         | fire in a cardboard box. You really do have to get close enough
         | to aim at the base of the fire if you hope to achieve anything.
         | 
         | Also, if you fail to extinguish a fire with the first fire
         | extinguisher, it's usually game over. It'll be much worse by
         | the time you get back with another one.
        
           | londons_explore wrote:
           | Also a lot of people dramatically overestimate the abilities
           | of a fire extinguisher.
           | 
           | A regular extinguisher will put out a bit of burning paper or
           | your cats tail on fire, but when a set of curtains is on fire
           | you should probably just evacuate.
        
           | harimau777 wrote:
           | The local fire department did training at a previous place I
           | worked where we each put out a fire with a refillable fire
           | extengishable that squirted water instead of chemicals. I'm
           | sure it wasn't a perfect simulation, but that strikes me as a
           | reasonable middle ground for training non-firefighters.
        
         | xnyan wrote:
         | I think the mock exit door would only be interesting with the
         | corresponding emergency slide. The only problem is that in
         | almost all cases where the emergency slide has been deployed
         | and used, at least some passengers have been injured beyond a
         | minor scrape - think severe sprains and tears, a broken bone,
         | etc.
         | 
         | The purpose of the slide is to 1) empty the plane _very_
         | quickly 2) without causing a life threatening injury. Most
         | people are not going to be injured using it, but some will and
         | it's not really worth the small chance your leg gets fucked up
         | forever from being ejected the wrong way.
        
         | 1970-01-01 wrote:
         | This is an obvious and simple idea and definitely should be
         | driven by the FAA. Also, make sure the door goes somewhere cold
         | like a freezer. Too many passengers dress for their destination
         | airport and not their destination climate.
        
       | patrulek wrote:
       | If you cant break something, steal it.
        
       | ziofill wrote:
       | So the spark plug ceramic trick only works on older cars?
        
       | dcanelhas wrote:
       | In 15 years: Testing shows that automotive shaped charge
       | glassbreakers can't penetrate the armor on most modern automotive
       | glass.
       | 
       | Was drone-proofing civilian cars a mistake?
        
       | TomMasz wrote:
       | Firefighters and other emergency service personnel _can_ get
       | through laminated glass, but it takes much more time and effort,
       | as well as tools you 're not likely to have in your car.
        
       | starwatch wrote:
       | For anyone looking for an in-vehicle EDC to solve this problem
       | I'd recommend a Keetch tool. I used them in the fire service with
       | great success on the laminated glass of a windscreen. I assume
       | it'd work equally well on a laminated side window glass - though
       | I've not tried. Nice thing is that the sharp spike on it would
       | work quite well on tempered glass too (though we had proper glass
       | breakers for that).
        
       | ginkgotree wrote:
       | I just keep a tomahawk axe in my car. That works.
        
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