I received something like this tool for the glove compartment from my mom, we laughed about it, but it remains in the glove! (don't know if it works)
Posted on 11/04/2009 11:17:48 AM PST by DogBarkTree
Three college softball players found dead in their Jeep after it dove into a pond on a North Dakota farm during a stargazing expedition probably drove straight into the water because they couldn't see it in the dark, authorities said Wednesday.
Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said the women's SUV was found resting on its wheels Tuesday in about 10 feet of water hidden by tall grass, with the doors and windows closed.
"When you're not familiar with an area like that it would have been very easy to drive into," Tuhy said.
The sheriff said the Dickinson State University students were on private property. He stopped short of saying they were trespassing.
No foul play is suspected in the deaths of Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba.
The bodies of the women and Neufeld's dog were found inside the SUV after signals from their last desperate phone calls late Sunday helped lead authorities to the farm.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They had time to make two phone calls.
Shame.
Prayers for their families.. can’t imagine the pain.
Having grown up conscious of my own safety, I see these folks weren't familiar with the fact that one should 1.) not be driving off road in the dark and 2.) shouldn't be driving off road in the dark.
I can’t comprehend how panicked they must have been not roll down a window and swim out. Or if a window was down to open up a door. I’m thinking they must not have rolled down or broken the windows or else the dog would have found a way out.
There is something odd about this story. They didn’t say they were IN water or that they had driving into a pond, they said they were “near” water. And the thing I don’t really understand is that if they were conscious, why didn’t they get out of the car? Do electric windows stop working if the car is submerged?
Anyway, sad story, but it seems a little strange.
Sad. Makes me wonder if they were stoned...
If the car had electric windows they would not be able to lower them after submerging the car. It's entirely possible that they could not break the windows without a tool or leverage to do so. Lastly, ponds like these are dug out and can be narrow, blocking the doors. They also have feet of silt at their bottoms making the doors impossible to open even when the car is full of water.
Power was probably lost within seconds of hitting the water making sure that power windows wouldn’t work. The pressure of the water on the outside would have prevented the doors from opening until the cabin filled with water. But by that time, shock would have set in for all the girls due to the accident, the freak-out factor of being trapped under water, and then the very cold water rushing in.
Very, very sad.
Initial investigation says that they were all sober.
dog breath - your post reminded me of my wife. I keep telling her “Panic don’t get the job done.” She calls me heartless.
b4its2late - How people react in unusual situations can depend on if they ever faced that problem - or even thought about or descussed it.
A car going into water is one of those situations. It would be something like “Oh, God, Oh God, we’re in water...” and panic set in. Not a nice way to go.
I feel sorry for the families.
Car windows will still go down if the key is on.
Not if there is no power.
I was wondering the same thing. Also....I’ve never been a fan of electric windows because of this fear. I understand that once a car is submerged....the pressure makes it almost impossible to break through a window. I may be wrong. It’s utterly chilling. Must be devastating for the families. :(
Nice. Real nice. Some day when you suffer a tragedy please don’t be offended by anyone who makes light of your suffering.
This reminds me of the incident in rural New Mexico about 10 years ago when a carload of kids trespassing on a ranch found the private airstrip and used it as a high-speed straightaway, only to find it ended at a cliff.
Officials estimate they were going ~90 mph when they “launched.”
What a sad story. I have never been sure how you’d get out of a car underwater. I live in Florida, where this isn’t uncommon because there are swamps and retention ponds along the side of some of our major highways and when people go off the road as the result of a blow-out or accident, they plunge right into the water.
One lucky woman was found because a truck driver noticed something shiny in a retention pond and it turned out that it was her car. The back end of her car stayed floating and she had enough air to make it.
It’s horrifying that they lived long enough to make phone calls but weren’t able to get out. Prayers for them and their poor families.
Mythbusters proved otherwise. They had an entire episode on escaping a sinking car. Once the pressure was equalized, the electric window worked fine.
What matters is that they died and that their families have to go through this so I'll say a prayer for them.
lesson:
always drive with your windows cracked and a heavy piece of metal (big screw driver, wrench, crow bar, etc) under the seat
if the windows were opened even a crack, the pressure should have been equalized and the doors should be able to be opened. i’d imagine i’d try to open the door immediately, thereby insuring an escape route.
Nor would you be able to lower manual windows. The pressure on the glass is too great due to the pressure differential.
You must remain calm and wait until the vehicle mostly fills with water. At that point, the pressure is equalized, and you can open the doors or roll down the windows easily.
There was a dog? Maybe that’s who released the emergency brake.
I am not a big fan of dogs riding loose in vehicles.
Panic will kill you for sure. If you can avoid panic, you can wait until the cabin fills with water above the top portion of the seal for a door and then open the door. This is assuming, of course, that there is nothing blocking the door. Once out, you will likely be disoriented as the vehicle will likely shift when the door is opened and water in those conditions are always murky. Again, if you can keep from panicking, you can let yourself float for a second or so to orient "up" and hopefully break the surface with a good kick or two.
The electric windows & locked doors tend not to work once the vehicle is under water. The safety glass windshield is tough to break (you probably need a special tool or hammer, niether of which is supplied with the SUV)as are the closed roll up side windows. A year of so ago a young fellow in a pickup truck here in east central Illinois. called his mother on his cell phone with a similar situation. It made it easier to find the body.
I think you could probably push out the old style windshield with the rubber seal with your legs. That was the standard way to retrieve them from a recycle yard, although you needed to remove the seal from the outside first. I asked the guy who replaced my windshield if you can do that with the glued ones. He said no. You had to break it with something hard.
You might have better luck with non-roll up side windows or the rear window.
so sad. Prayers up
Why didn’t they dial 911? What did they think their friends could do to help them?
Very sad situation.
Why didn’t they dial 911? What did they think their friends could do to help them?
Very sad situation.
Same thing happened near Ocala, FL more recently. Kids in a new beemer gained access to a private airport runway, late at night, driving off the end of it at over 140 mph and off a 70' embankment. The car went airborne over 100 yards before landing in trees. No survivors.
This airport is where John Travolta has his Florida home.
You still may not be able to get out even once the car initially fills with water—both Mythbusters and Top Gear proved this. The problem is, the car’s still sinking, so even after the car fills up, if it’s several feet underwater by then, the outside pressure is *still* higher than the inside pressure and you still won’t be able to force the door. The car would have to pause—hit bottom, most likely—before the pressure would equalize enough to open the door.
The best chance for survival is not to wait. Open the door and/or window IMMEDIATELY when you hit the water and bail out. Don’t wait. Any hesitation will sink the car low enough that you may not be able to force the door open against the water.
}:-)4
All of the side windows in a vehicle are made from tempered glass. That means when struck with any sharp object the entire sheet of glass will crack into small pieces. Hitting that glass with a blunt object does not have the same effect. The more pointed the object, the better.
Typical tools used for that purpose look like small awls or ice picks. The fancy tools have the point incorporated into a hammer type head along with a seat belt cutter.
I’d try the most pointed key I had and use something to strike it. Even a shoe slammed against a key held against the glass might work. A spring loaded pocket tool like fire fighters use costs less than five bucks.
It’s a shame automakers don’t simply mount one in a dash like a cigarette lighter.
I saw an episode of mythbusters showing how easy it really is to break the window. The trick is to concentrate on a very small area and apply pressure as opposed to a spread out area of the glass.Basically any small, hard object pressed relatively hard against the glass will shatter it. In mythbusters they used a tiny hammer and a little device that was basically like a punch down tool. I'm guessing that something like a sturdy ring hit or pressed hard enough against the glass will break it...especially with water pressure pushing on it.
exactly!
Yes.
Electric windows will usually stop working (short circuit).
The water pressure won’t let the empty car doors open, so it’s suggested that you wait until the car fills up some to equalize/lessen the pressure so the doors will open.
of course, panic kills.
Very sad.
Bingo - key is to get the windows down BEFORE you sink. The "wait to fill" option is never good, especially in the dark, upside down, etc.
Hit the water, open the windows, unbuckle. Exit as soon as you can.
“It’s entirely possible that they could not break the windows without a tool or leverage to do so”.
That is somewhat correct. Everyone should have a basic tool in the front of any vehicle that can be used to break the driver’s side, or the passenger side window. In case you ever find yourself in such a situation and do not have a dedicated tool, you still have options.
Use any hard object, no matter how small to pound the window. Even a cell phone can be used. Look in the glove box for any item that might be useful.
Position yourself to kick out a window with both feet.
You can use your elbow wrapped in a shirt or jacket, or just bare. You will get cut, but you have a chance to live.
Again, everyone needs a tool of some sort to break a window if necessary. There are tools specifically designed for the job available.
The silt thing is a problem of course, but you have to try all options, not just opening the door.
I urge everyone to carry a tool in the car or truck.
Regards,
AR
as I mentioned poor doggy. Ya trespass on someone’s property and four wheel in the dark you are either 1.) drunk or 2.) not long for this world. It is sad, but we all make choices and live or do not live with the results. These sort of behaviors are high risk pure and simple. It is stupid to drive in the dark off road. I feel sadly for them, but for much worse for those hit following the rules that are hit by drunk drivers and didn’t do anything other than get on the road that night. These young adults made a poor choice and paid the consequence with their and the doggy’s life. The dog did not have a choice and they were assholes to subject this poor animal to such abuse.
The same is a favorite for thieves to gain quick and silent access into your car so they can nick your GPS, etc.
I agree with doing what you can before the vehicle submerges. But in the case of an accident or a plunge like these girls experienced, you may not have time or the awareness until the vehicle completely sinks.
Good advice.
They were drunk. It’s that simple. A buddy of mine died in 1979... in almost exactly similar circumstances.
Tox report said stone sober according to the news.
Since you know all the facts about what happened you will be heading to North Dakota right? The authorities would love to know exactly what happened. No chance these “asshole” girls, as you call them, made a mistake.
Obviously, YOU know what it is to be an asshole.
I urge everyone to carry a tool in the car or truck
Kel-tec 380 in my pocket at all times.Wife’s 38 special in her pocket book. No Problem.
As they demonstrated on a episode of Mythbusters, once the car is submerged, you’re not getting the doors open or the windows to roll down until the pressure equalized (i.e. the vehicle is full of water). Even if they had had a window open when they went in, or means to break a window, I can see how, in a car full of water, in the dark, it might still be quite difficult to get out.
The Dog? You read this and you focus on the dog?
So the Obama Department of Transportation will soon tell all automakers they need to equip cars with up to 4 newly designed mini rebreathers and provide penalties and fines for car owners who tamper with or fail to maintain them. Maintenance and use questions will be added to the written portion of driving tests via Federal mandate. Then after Pelosi Health Care is enacted and sets the precedent, the Government will require owners of all cars to purchase after-market rebreathers with a portion of the profits going to Algore.
The dog didn’t have a choice. The human did.
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