Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law Angela Chao made panicked last call before dying in ‘completely submerged’ Tesla on Texas ranch: report
Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law Angela Chao made panicked last call before dying in ‘completely submerged’ Tesla on Texas ranch: report
Chao, the billionaire former CEO of dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group, tragically died at the age of 50 on Feb. 10 after accidentally backing her car into the pond making a three-point turn.
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If your car ever gets submerged, unbuckle your seatbelt, roll the windows down and once the water gets high enough in the car, you can open the door or climb through the window. This is pure panic from someone who should know better.
In an old car with crank windows, that'll work. In a new car, the electrics have to still be working, and in a Tesla the OS has to still be running.
If you can't get the windows down before the water pressure seals them shut, it's still survivable without a glass breaker if you keep your wits about you and the car doesn't flip. You'd need to take a deep breath right before the interior completely fills with water and then just sit there until the pressure mostly equalizes. There was at least one reported case of someone in a submerged car specifically crediting their survival to Mythbusters successfully showing just that, but a variation of the scenario involving the car flipping while sinking into deeper water later proved to be much less survivable.
Someone else in this comment thread pointed out that Tesla's windows are laminated and not tempered so a glass break doesn't actually work on them.
I just did a quick "fact check" as I was writing this and apparently there are multiple cars that are going to laminated glass windows. I'll have to add that to the list of things I don't want and have to check next time I'm shopping for a car.
I’ve just learned that laminated glass is now mandatory across all models since 2020.
Huh, me too. I appreciate your leaving this comment!
Yea if it ends up on it's side, gonna have a bad time.
Bottom door is stuck in the mud and the top door will be extra heavy to open. Ouch.
Not even that, really. Mythbusters just had the car flip upside down after entering the water and just the process of tumbling over was enough to get Adam to burn through his air and tap out (I don't remember if the car reached the bottom or not, but their setup left the car doors still facing sideways).
Yea, any orientation not rubber down need to open the windows asap
That’s why you need to have an emergency hammer with a belt cutter inside the car. Preferably one near every seat.
I’ve just learned that laminated glass is now mandatory across all models since 2020. You won't be able to break the glass.
makes me wonder what you can do in the same situation in a cybertruck. I guess it would not be easy to break bulletproof glass
There is a mechanical emergency release on the doors. All my friends tend to find that if I don't preemptively tell them to press the button with the minus sign.
hidden behind the speakers.
Why are you in emergency situations in your car so often that all your friends have to know about the button?
If it's a Tesla I believe the emergency release will break the glass if it's fully rolled up.
It does not. I used the emergency release on my brother's Model 3 a few times. It may do a little bit of damage to the rubber window gasket each time. This will agitate the car owner.
Its more of a "can" thing rather than a "will" thing. I've had plenty of passengers use the emergency release instead of the real button and no broken windows yet. But I'm on my 4th windshield. Yeah rocks and ice chunks falling off an overpass.
I never said I was in an emergency situation. I said my friends tend to find the emergency release button rather than the one that actually opens the door.
I think in a car with electric motors if it were to back into a pond could still get maybe get the windows down before the 12 volt system shut down.
I’m wondering if the windows worked at that point.