Before retiring I was a board-certified forensic engineer and looked at many accidents of many kinds. I have photos and videos that would astound people but I never share them since they are privileged information. There is a story about a corvette that I like to tell though. An attorney client and I were riding in his car going to an inspection in a town about an hour away from where we both lived. He got a call from his wife along the way and she was in distress so we turned around and headed back to his house where we found her in her corvette in the driveway cooking in the hot sun. The car was locked and she could not get out. It turned out that her battery was dead and the door locks are electrically operated so she could not unlock the doors to get out nor could we get in. Luckily the sunroof was open about an inch and I had her pass out the manual. In the manual I found that with the key we could open the rear hatch where there was a cable release for the driver’s door lock which was accessible from the hatch and we got her out. It is impossible to crawl from the front seat into the rear. I wonder what would happen in a crash if the electrical system failed and the car was on fire.
Despite there being conspicuously less than a full car here it does look the the passenger area is actually pretty good. At least to me. So down a car, but not dead?
That's strange, I've never seen a GM car that you couldn't manually unlock from the inside. Electric locks use a solenoid to move mechanical linkage to lock the door then shut off. They don't hold the lock as that would be a large constant drain on the battery plus overheat the solenoid. Also the key should open the door from the outside. My Chevy SSR only has a keyhole in the drivers door. xoxoxoBruce
https://twitter.com/WorldBollard
ReplyDeleteBefore retiring I was a board-certified forensic engineer and looked at many accidents of many kinds. I have photos and videos that would astound people but I never share them since they are privileged information.
ReplyDeleteThere is a story about a corvette that I like to tell though. An attorney client and I were riding in his car going to an inspection in a town about an hour away from where we both lived. He got a call from his wife along the way and she was in distress so we turned around and headed back to his house where we found her in her corvette in the driveway cooking in the hot sun. The car was locked and she could not get out. It turned out that her battery was dead and the door locks are electrically operated so she could not unlock the doors to get out nor could we get in. Luckily the sunroof was open about an inch and I had her pass out the manual. In the manual I found that with the key we could open the rear hatch where there was a cable release for the driver’s door lock which was accessible from the hatch and we got her out. It is impossible to crawl from the front seat into the rear. I wonder what would happen in a crash if the electrical system failed and the car was on fire.
" I wonder what would happen in a crash if the electrical system failed and the car was on fire." Break the window
ReplyDeleteDespite there being conspicuously less than a full car here it does look the the passenger area is actually pretty good. At least to me. So down a car, but not dead?
ReplyDeleteThat's strange, I've never seen a GM car that you couldn't manually unlock from the inside. Electric locks use a solenoid to move mechanical linkage to lock the door then shut off. They don't hold the lock as that would be a large constant drain on the battery plus overheat the solenoid. Also the key should open the door from the outside. My Chevy SSR only has a keyhole in the drivers door.
ReplyDeletexoxoxoBruce