With the onset of monsoon in the nation, there are several major cities that bear the brunt of waterlogging in several main areas. This spells doom for drivers and motorists as there is always the fear of your ride’s engine getting damaged by water. However, another special precaution that car owners must take is that of avoiding getting trapped inside their own car in case they are surrounded by water. There have been reports of a few instances when the passengers got trapped inside the car and it led to their death. Therefore, today we have complied a few tricks that will help one escape from their car in case they ever find themselves in an unfortunate situation as such.
Use Headrests to Crack Window
Cracking a window is one the better ways to escape from the car. However, modern day cars come with strong tempered glass windows which means that breaking them open will prove to be a tough task. That is why most of the modern cars today that feature detachable headrests come with the metal end of headrests designed in a manner that will help the occupants break the car’s window. The best area to target on the window are the edges as these are relatively weaker than the centre of the window. The most intuitive way is to use the semi-sharp edge of the headrest to make an indent on the edge of the windows and then expand that hole via force. Another method to crack open the window is to use the semi-sharp edge of the headrest end as a pry tool on the edges of the windows. This can cause the glass to break and then the same hole can be expanded via force.
Using the Seatbelt
So as you must have noticed, the above solution only holds true for cars where the headrests can be detached from the seat. However, you need not worry as the cars where the headrests do not come off, there too one can use the same tactic, albeit the tool will the metal hook of the seatbelt of the car. The same pry tactic will work here as well, and one has to pry at the edges of the window. Given, this may be a little bit more difficult than the headrest method, but this too has the potential to deliver similar results.
Windows are Blocked
There may come a situation where one’s car is blocked via some physical obstacle and in this case, either the windows won’t break or even breaking them will be of no avail as the space is restricted. In such situations, one should go for the front windshield of the car. Yes, the front windscreen is very strong and this means that it cannot be broken that easily as the glass here is laminated and will only crack, not shatter. In such a situation you can position yourself in a manner that your feet are rested on the edges of the front windscreen and your body is rested on seats. In this position, you can apply force from your feet on the edges of the glass where it has been stuck on the frame. With enough force, this strong adhesive often gives way, thereby detaching the windscreen from the frame.
Window Punch or a Glass Hammer
All the above tricks are for the case when you do not have a handy tool to break open the window of your car. However, the easiest solution is to get a window punch or a glass hammer. These relatively affordable instruments are very handy and cost a few hundred only. These specialised tools are easily available at all auto shops or online marketplaces and come in very handy when the need to break the glass of your car arises.