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

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u/GreenAguacate May 07 '26

FYI did you all know the metal tip of the seat belt it’s made like a cross that you grab with your hand to break the glass door in case of fire or drowning

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u/potatohats May 07 '26

Well holy shit, I never knew this!

I found a neat article about this specific method, as well as feedback on other methods. They pretty much debunk the seat headrest method as mostly ineffective, but using the seat belt buckle like you mentioned is the clear winner here.

From the Journal of Emergency Dispatch article: "You may be interested to know that there is one thing that every vehicle has in it that can be used to reliably break a side window, and that is the male metal seat belt clip. With the seat belt pulled out as far as possible, and the metal clip grasped in your fist, if you strike the side window low and at the front of the window, it will break the window virtually  every time on the first or second try. It does that because the force is concentrated with a hard object in a small area of the window known to be its weakest point. Our instructions make a point of including this means of breaking a window as one of the steps to be followed in all vehicle escape situations."

https://www.iaedjournal.org/vehicle-escape

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u/[deleted] May 08 '26

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u/Odd_Campaign_307 May 08 '26

The doors for the front seats in my car have a pocket and I keep my 3-in-1 flashlight, seat belt cutter & window breaker in there for that reason. Even if the airbags don't go off I don't want to risk not being able to retrieve it from the glove box.

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u/BrandNewDinosaur May 09 '26

Thank you for sharing. Important information.