Gun Used to Rescue Children Submerged in Icy River

[French G.]

Obviously the window was not shot out. The Glock just got real close to the window and whispered the secret of how to spontaneously blow up.

[makattak]

If you roll down the window, you should have an exit without having to wait for the car to fill up. Just sayin.

If you can get yourself out through the torrent of water coming in through the window...

[erictank]

Electric window up/down thingy motor + water = maybe not so much.

Mythbusters tested that (opening a car door/window during submersion) not too long ago, and IIRC, the electric windows operated even after the car came to rest on the bottom, completely filled with water. Motor couldn't open against the delta-p before the passenger compartment was full, though, so either you got it a good ways open before you were underwater or you waited until filling was complete.

[erictank]

Guns - is there anything they can't do?  

Fire themselves.

[Ben]

Mythbusters tested that (opening a car door/window during submersion) not too long ago, and IIRC, the electric windows operated even after the car came to rest on the bottom, completely filled with water. Motor couldn't open against the delta-p before the passenger compartment was full, though, so either you got it a good ways open before you were underwater or you waited until filling was complete.

Interesting. I would have figured that once the battery and electronics were submerged, that would be it. But I guess maybe at <33 feet, weatherproofing must be sufficient to prevent water intrusion to the point of failure (I'm assuming Mythbusters tested in shallow water)?

[erictank]

Interesting. I would have figured that once the battery and electronics were submerged, that would be it. But I guess maybe at <33 feet, weatherproofing must be sufficient to prevent water intrusion to the point of failure (I'm assuming Mythbusters tested in shallow water)?

It was a pool, looked <15 feet deep at most.  Car underwent multiple submersions during the test (they tested different ways to get out, so they mounted it on a frame and used a crane to drop it into the pool), and rolled on water entry at least once - part of the test was that it was harder to get out when you're upside down.  Adam "died" at least once during testing - he said that he basically panicked as the passenger compartment filled, had trouble getting the seat belt off, and had some other problem I can't remember, all of which conspired to keep him in the car long enough he needed the safety guy's buddy-breather. Panic's a killer.

I suspect that if the car was immersed long enough, the electronics and electrical system would fail - but you've likely got time to use them to get out immediately after entering the water. Minutes, maybe even hours, not seconds.

[vaskidmark]

All depends on the vehicle and how the electronics are manufactured.  When Hurricane Gaston flooded Richmond I lost my Mercedes 640 coupe.  I started opening the electronic roof as soon as I saw the water rising around me - lost all power within about 2 seconds as the water went from hubcap deep to over the windowsill in that time.  Roof was only 3/4 open - but it was enough to crawl out (thank goodness for Germans who make really large holes in the roof!).

stay safe.

[Tallpine]

harder to get out when you're upside down

Seems like it would be easier if you got a window open before you went under.

The water would come in the open window while you still had air near the floor of the car.  Would be sorta like a diving bell.

[Matthew Carberry]

He also had to cut a seatbelt with his pocketknife.

So in England, Scotland and parts of the American Northeast the kids would be doubly dead.

[Perd Hapley]

He also had to cut a seatbelt with his pocketknife.

So in England, Scotland and parts of the American Northeast the kids would be doubly dead.

You're talking about the police officer? Cops in those parts of the world are not allowed to carry knives, or even purpose-built seatbelt-cutters?

[MechAg94]

Don't they have those safety hammers that are supposed to be good for cracking side windows and have that handy razor blade section to cut seat belts?

[Matthew Carberry]

You're talking about the police officer? Cops in those parts of the world are not allowed to carry knives, or even purpose-built seatbelt-cutters?

Maybe I misread, but I understood that the guy who shot the window and cut the belt was a "former" LEO.  No guns or knives for them in Britain.  The New England thing was a gratuitous slam, though Boston has at least fringe types talking about knife control.

[Matthew Carberry]

Don't they have those safety hammers that are supposed to be good for cracking side windows and have that handy razor blade section to cut seat belts?

There are worse things to have mounted in your car where you can get at it for your own escape or to aid others.

[Perd Hapley]

Maybe I misread, but I understood that the guy who shot the window and cut the belt was a "former" LEO.  No guns or knives for them in Britain.  The New England thing was a gratuitous slam, though Boston has at least fringe types talking about knife control.

Oh. You're right about him being a former LEO.

[CNYCacher]

The electric window thing depends on how it is all wired.  If you have a simple 12-volt battery wired to an electric motor with a simple switch, and throw the whole thing in the water, it will work fine.  Sure, water is conductive (actually, the ions dissolved in water makes it conductive, pure water is not) but it's not very conductive.  Certainly not enough to immediately discharge the battery, or even to compete with the copper wiring as a current path.  Eventually the battery would discharge itself, but not for a while.  In the meantime, there would be plenty of available current to operate the motor if you closed the circuit.

Contrast that to some sort or fancier semiconductor-controlled circuit that takes low-voltage, low-current signals from window switches and then uses logic to decide to activate relays to run the motors.  The actual current to the motor isn't actually travelling through the heavy-duty switch in the door that you are pressing with your finger, just a digital signal.  That kind of system is going to get all sorts of confused and probably not work as soon as you toss it in the river.

[280plus]

....if the trooper had an XD, it would have broken the window, swam the kids to safety, and given them CPR and hot cocoa, too....

Sweet, now I want one.