In today’s paper I read about a car-fire fatality. Apparently witnesses noticed that this car was on fire as it was driving down the road, and by the time they turned around to help, it was engulfed.
I spent some minutes wondering how on earth a person could be trapped inescapably in a burning car (thinking that survival instinct alone would force you to run through the flames if necessary), provided it wasn’t crashed or damaged, and assuming that the driver were actually conscious and not overcome by fumes. Finally, a rather sickening thought hit me: If the wiring system went kaput, and this driver had auto-lock doors (which lock when the car is in drive, for instance, and don’t have a way to manually unlock them), it’s entirely possible that s/he was conscious and just couldn’t get the door open. ::shudder::
In a similar incident a few years ago, an elderly woman accidently drove her van into a lake. When the electrical system shorted out, the doors were locked, and couldn’t be manually unlocked; nor would the automatic windows roll down. Luckily, bystanders were able to swim out, break the windows with rocks, and drag the driver and her two passengers to safety.
So what gives? Is it just a matter of theft-prevention?
Regards,
karol (who will never own a vehicle that doesn’t have manual locks)
I have never seen a vehicle with automatic locks that could not be unlocked manually. However, my guess is that people tend to forget this.
I’ve never heard of a car that requires power to unlock a door. Just reach over and pop the lock up. The autolock feature pops the locks down but doesn’t hold them down (my car does this and I am free to jump out of my car at 50 if I felt the need).
As to being underwater the issue probably wasn’t locked doors. The pressure differential of even a few feet of water is enough to prevent anyone from opening the door. The solution is to let water into the cabin by opening the windows. Of course, that can be a problem with power windows. You can buy a special little gizmo for a few bucks at an auto supply store that will break car glass for you. If you don’t have one of these or something else hard to break your glass in this situation you’re in trouble.
Although my car doesn’t have automatic locks, it does have the sort of panic-release mechanical linkage that automatically unlocks the driver side door when you pull the handle. I think it’s more of a convenience, so you can open the door when getting out by just pulling the release.
There are companies that make window-breaking devices to carry in your glove box. I don’t know the companies, but I have seen someone else’s. This is one reason I really hate electronically controlled windows, but it’s pretty difficult to buy a new car that doesn’t have them. Myself, I always cross bridges with the windows rolled down
As others have said, auto-lock doors don’t keep the doors locked – they just lock 'em, but then you can just manually unlock them without any hassle.
The incident probably happened because the lock mechanism got jammed/damaged in the accident.
I too have never heard of a vehicle whose locks could not be opened manually, with a button or lever from inside and with a key from outside. Do you have specific examples, or is this perhaps a misperception?
I’ll have to do a search in their archives to find it, but I’m sure Click & Clack mentioned a model once upon a time that had that problem. No way to manually unlock the door, power windows-they said the manufacturer used to recommend that owners keep a brick in the car at all times, just in case. 
there’s a car released here in India recently that unlocks all doors in case of excessive deceleration (impact)… something similar to how airbags are released on impact…
Well, that was easier than usual … It was an old Toyota Camry model that had that particular design flaw:
I have a Citroen Xsara Picasso which has electric central locking; there are no ‘lock buttons’ on the doors at all; you hear the doors lock, but nothing pops up or down.
When you pull on the door release lever, the door unlocks as it opens.
as others have pointed out-- automatic door locks don’t seem to be a problem.
but i have always wondered how you are supposed to roll an electric window down if the car has lost power–
can electric windows be opened without power?
what if you drove into the water, couldn’t open your door (because of the pressure) and opening the window was your only option? (i suppose you could wait until enough water came in to equalize the pressure and then open the door, but YIKES that’s seems scary!!)
I’d be interested to know whether the power dies immediately on entering water anyway; I saw a program a while back on (UK) TV called (I think) Screapheap Challenge; in this particular one they built a torpedo (or submarine or something); they propelled the thing with an electric radiator fan from a car and the thing worked fine even though the electrics were fully immersed (it was fresh water though).
If you find yourself in a submerged car and can’t open the windows, you could smash one of the half-light windows, which would hopefully let in the water at a reasonably controlled rate.
I’ve got a feeling that you could exert sufficient force by pushing the door with your legs in order to open it just enough for water to enter the vehicle, but maybe I’m wrong about that.
You’re not.
No.
You’d be in a pickle unless you had your brick handy.
Whew. Okay, maybe a misperception on my part. And here I thought I was just lucky, always getting cars that have manual locks. [sub]At least I give you guys the chance to fight ignorance on a regular basis.[/sub]
But I do remember at various times riding in cars with those slick little rounded lock-pulls that basically disappeared into their little holes when the doors were locked. I don’t remember how they unlocked, but I always wondered what would happen if I had to unlock my door in a hurry. (Heh. I’d probably just rip the door right off in my panic.)
And my van doors don’t unlock on order, but that’s because it’s a piece of crap.
With the ladies that ended up in the lake, I’m not sure what the deal was, but it sure seems that I recall the electrical system being blamed for their inability to escape. Perhaps I’m thinking of the power windows…it was too long ago to find a link, so I can’t verify it, unfortunately. It’s entirely likely that they were not strong enough to open the doors, or that the usual issue of water pressure was at work.
Eeek. Cars and water just do NOT mix. I’m gonna have nightmares.
k
[Fight Club]
Take the number of units in the field ‘A’ times the probable rate of failure ‘B’ times the cost of the average out of court settlement ‘C’…
[/Fight Club]
Yeah, I understand. My first Mercury Sable and my wife’s one Taurus had lock buttons like that. However, in those cars (and every other Ford and Chrysler product I’ve ever driven), simply pulling on the door handle would unlock and open the door even if the door was locked.
As for being unable to open the power windows if you end up in the drink, the electrical system in most modern cars will have enough juice to run the windows for 10-20 minutes under water before it shorts out. As long as the ignition switch is in the “start” or “run” position you’ll have juice unless the battery has been damaged.
If the battery has been damaged before you get dunked, you most likely have more pressing problems. Like an engine in the passenger seat.
Zap!
>> There are companies that make window-breaking devices
I think I have seen them. Are they called “hammers” and sold in hardware stores? Or are they called “rocks” and can be found in the fields? I believe the US military has a special “window-breaking device” for which they pay $2534.78
Anything automatic is a pain. I recently had to ride in freezing weather in the back seat of a car with the front window open when the driver rolled the window down to pay a toll and then the window would not roll up again. Then we could not leave the car to get some lunch as the window was open and all our stuff inside. Give me manual devices any time.
My chief concern is about child locks. What happens if I’m in an accident and I become disabled. Am I expected to trust my 6 year old to have the presence of mind to smash the window and open the door from the outside handle?
I remember reading an article a while back about people failing to escape from submerged cars; it claimed that in a significant number of cases, the driver had rolled the windows down a little, allowed the water to enter the car, then drowned because, in their panic, they had forgotten to undo their seat belt.