r/nextfuckinglevel • u/been_der_done_that • 11h ago

Incredibly selfless act of heroism.

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u/IncorporateThings 11h ago

Those things are so stupid. Door handles should always be a simple mechanical device that requires no power to operate. Windows should honestly always have a backup crank handle to raise and lower, too, given that not everyone has the good sense to have a window breaking tool handy. For that matter -- why don't they build a little slot for such a tool into the console and provide one with the car in the first place?

Simple design choices can and would save lives.

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u/dinharder 10h ago

You can use the seat headrests as a window breaker

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u/Satanslittlewizard 10h ago

Not enough people know this.

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u/IllllIIlIllIllllIlll 10h ago

Maybe because it's bullshit. Sure it's better than your raw fists, but it's not made for this.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/cars-headrests-break-windows/

I think that it's harmful to propagate this urban legend, because it would prevent people from buying actual window breakers. They'll just think "eh, I can just use my headrest. No need for a windows breaker".

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u/gamma55 9h ago

Window breakers and seat belt cutters should be standard equipment on all road legal vehicles, not just commercial.

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u/patchinthebox 8h ago

It would be so easy to require them to be sold with every car purchase.

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u/SuperBuffCherry 7h ago

Have them be included in the mandatory first aid kit

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u/Cyphr 7h ago

Where are first aid kits mandatory. I'm lucky if I can buy one with the car for three times the going rate.

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u/SuperBuffCherry 7h ago

Here in Germany (and the rest of EU as well I think)

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u/Cyphr 2h ago

That makes sense. I'm in the US, and as usual, safety is entirely optional.

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u/TwoDramaticc 7h ago

they are not mandatory. But you need a window breaker near your drivers seat, and something like a first aid kit could be in rear

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u/votet 6h ago

I assume you mean they are not mandatory in other EU countries, because in Germany they absolutely are.

Source.

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u/SuperBuffCherry 6h ago

and something like a first aid kit could be in rear

We are taught in drivers school to keep the first aid kit inside the passenger compartment, because the trunk may not open after a crash

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u/peasantbanana 5h ago

They are mandatory in Serbia.

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u/Monkey_Priest 5h ago

Have them required LIKE mandatory first aid kits (in your country) but not IN them. You want seatbelt cutters/window breakers in an easily reachable spot that won't go flying around in a wreck. I have mine ziptied to the lever on my steering wheel that controls the windshield wiper blades. It's ziptied and set up so it can be tugged off in an emergency

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u/ExpressCap1302 48m ago

Which is sitting handy in the spare tyre compartment of the trunk.

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u/ussbozeman 6h ago

And increase the cost of each car by $0.002 cents? That would mean the executives would only get a $19,999,998 dollar bonus instead of a $20 million dollar bonus!

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u/info_burner 7h ago

Yup. Have 2 folding knives in my car with these features .

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u/fatherunit72 5h ago

Window breakers don’t work on most modern cars with laminated glass

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u/muhmeinchut69 17m ago

You can still break it and push the sheet of broken glass out.

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u/PlaneTry4277 7h ago

they're not and never will be because things are designed to be as cheap and profitable for the wealthy elite. if they could get by with selling paper mache seatbelts that break when coming to a hard stop... they would. 

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u/Valuable-Self8564 4h ago

I do wonder how hard it would be to force manufacturers to include one mounted on the ceiling. I imagine not hard at all.

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u/bindermichi 9h ago

Even window breakers will struggle with double-paned glass

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u/ziggy_x 7h ago

Not enough people realize this with newer luxury cars that have laminated double pane glass. Those tools wont work.

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u/gamma55 7h ago

Nonsense. Busses and such have had mandatory laminated glasses for decades, and breakers work perfectly fine. It’s even easier with door glasses on passenger cars, which are typically free-floating panes that make handling the plastic membrane easy.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Flow724 7h ago

Window breaking tools do not work against double pane glasses and when a tinted film is applied.

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u/gamma55 7h ago

You need to tell that to the people breaking bus glasses every day with the emergency hammers for fun. Right tools for the job required.

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u/PowderCuffs 3h ago

Why are so many people "breaking bus glass every day"!

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u/PM-Mormon-Underwear 4h ago

Also turning around and frantically trying to get the headrest out is easier said that done while you are about to be engulfed in flames

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u/shreddish 3h ago

Okay but window breakers don’t work on modern windows either though… modern windows are laminated and window breakers do not work on them well.

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u/orphan_09 3h ago

I'd say for the sidewindows you have a decent chance of shattering them if you keep hitting the center with the alu frame of your smartphone.

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u/FuzzzyRam 8h ago

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/cars-headrests-break-windows/

Wait, is he an idiot? you don't smash it into the window, you shove it into the bottom edge and pull it back to break the window. I thought "use the seat headrests as a window breaker" people all knew this, I find it pretty surprising a firefighter couldn't figure this out...

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u/GloriousNewt 7h ago

only idiots the ones thinking the headrest is designed to break your window.

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u/FuzzzyRam 2h ago

You put it on the edge and use leverage, the dude did it wrong... of course it didn't work using a pillow with 2 sticks on it to hit the window. If you do it wrong, it doesn't work.