Since the majority of the posts in this thread have confirmed that cars lack hermetic seals the answer to your question should be obvious.
Even if they were, you’re going to have a hard time sleeping in a chamber with elevated CO2; carbon dioxide is very different from carbon monoxide.
This paper by researchers at Harvard University says that they measured three different cars and found there were between 1.0 and 3.0 air changes per hour when the cars were stationary with the windows closed. Exterior wind speed didn’t affect this. So even in the worst case (1 change per hour), if you can make it through one hour in a closed car, you can survive there forever.
Welcome to the SDMB, ReviewFever.
Sounds like you were sleeping off a drunk. Glad you didn’t cause a collision.
I’ve done it many times.
I’ve been searching for this subject and came across your post. I believe that what happened to you and your friend is exactly what happened to this couple in Brazil yesterday:
It’s in Portuguese, but I can summarize the news: a couple had had sex in a car, apparently in some renault model, they probably slept after, what is not uncommon. Police found both lying naked on the backseat on the next day (today), there was some blood spilled, but no sign of fight whatsoever, this blood is related to vasodilation, police says. The car was with engine off, but totally sealed (all windows closed). Police is still investigating if there were some poisonous gas leak, but CO2 suffocation is the bigger hypothesis for now.
As someone who sleeps in the car very often due to logistics (work far from home), but always alone, with the car’s windows totally shut due to bugs and cold at night, I don’t have to say that I’m in shock! If I were with a companion, I don’t know if I would be here to write this.
Be glad that you and your friend haven’t engaged in any activity inside the car that would have deprived you of oxigen even more (no homo).
Is there any explanation for the blood? CO2 kills by depriving the body of oxygen - the same as suffocating. There is nothing to cause blood loss.
What happened to the previous poster is he woke up confused and had a panic attack. His symptoms are those of a person jumping up after sleeping in an uncomfortable position for several hours. His other observations do not indicate anything out of the ordinary.
Determining what happened to this couple should be left to people who have more information than that given in a very early and very sparse article.
Moderator Note
Balailo, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by this sentence but “homo” is considered derogatory and should not be used here. No warning issued.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
An intriguing typo/autocorrect explanation awaits us. I think.
Or perhaps we’ve seen Balailo’s first and last post.
When I moved from California to Ohio, yonks ago, I had one relative giving me candles to keep in the car in case I got stuck in the snow and several relatives arguing against using them because they could use up all the oxygen once snow had sealed up the car.
In Ohio, some of the neighbors said that if you’re stuck in the snow, running the engine for heat can turn deadly if the snow covers your tailpipe. I never got stuck in the snow, at least not stuck enough that I was testing any of these claims. I did take the candles and keep them in the car for a couple of years. I think they melted one summer.
I think the man, like his news cite, is Brazilian. His English is OK not great. Who besides him knows what he meant?
I can’t quite parse the entire sentence, but if we’re confused about “no homo,” that’s a phrase that’s been used for at least a decade meaning something like “but not in a gay way.”
@Bob — Don’t our veins dilatate when we have too much CO2 in our blood? To the point of leaking blood sometimes (from the nose, i.e.)?
@LSLGuy — That my English is ok, but not great kind of hurts me, because I did the CPE test a few years ago and they gave me the diploma, thus, theoretically, my English should be ‘great’, but I guess I’m getting rusty again…
Regarding the ‘no homo’ expression, I thought that expression was widely used in the Anglosphere, as I keep seeing it everywhere, sorry if it’s not used anymore.
see the definition:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=no%20homo
Your English is textbook clean and not artificial. Far better than my Brazilian Portuguese.
I was attempting to defend your unstylish use of idiom; that you’re not a native speaker and shouldn’t be judged by the strict standards usually applied to one.
Our standards here are pretty tight on offensive speech. We have an international membership and we pride ourselves on being understanding and open rather than rigid and mean-spirited. Sometimes that looks a little bit fussy to some, but the goal is to welcome everyone.
Welcome.