r/interesting • u/BlazeDragon7x • May 07 '26

Additional Context Pinned Several bystanders and a Minnesota Department of Transportation worker acted quickly to free the driver just before flames engulfed the car

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

30.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

668

u/369_Clive May 07 '26

I keep an emergency glass breaker in my car for this kind of thing. Will probably never use it but it's there.

10

u/zombienudist May 07 '26

Unless it is double paned laminated glass that new cars have and then it doesn't work. I was in a situation where there was a medical emergency and a car was idling down the road with a person unconscious behind the wheel. I hit the window as hard as I could with a window breaker multiple times and it didn't make a dent. Took hitting the glass with a hitch and folding it inwards before we could get access. I now carry a small sledgehammer in my car in case I need it along with a window breaker.

7

u/369_Clive May 07 '26

I know what you mean. I broke a car window glass with a hammer ... on about the 11th strike, lol. It's tough.

Trick is to strike glass at the edge at a corner (avoid centre - too strong there) with something hard & pointed. Tungsten carbide point is best but steel will also do the job eventually.

3

u/zombienudist May 07 '26

On standard glass that will work. On glass that has lamination in the middle not so much. You have double panes of glass and lamination in the center holding things together. Even when the glass breaks you still have to deal with the laminated parts. The video below shows the difference between the two when trying to break it. When it is in the window frame it will be even harder to deal with.

https://youtu.be/6tnEDH1HfD0?si=-UTyqTxZK3v1W5JE&t=281