stan@clyde.UUCP (Stan King) (01/31/84)
Can anyone tell me how locking your car doors can make an accident any safer? A recent contributor mentioned (and is probably not alone in the feeling) that it is more difficult to be thrown from a car with locked doors. When a door is locked, doesn't that just prevent the door handles from unlatching the door? How many collisions jiggle the handles in the right way so as to open the door? I will summarize responses if there is demand for that. Stan King phone: 201-386-7433 Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ Cornet: 8+232-7433 room 2A-111 uucp: clyde!stan
ark@rabbit.UUCP (01/31/84)
The owner's manual for the 1979 Volvo explicitly advises against locking the door while driving. They point out that locking the door may make it much harder for rescue people to get you out should you be knocked unconscious in an accident.
stanwyck@ihuxr.UUCP (01/31/84)
I don't know how much safer locking doors makes an accident, although my driver's ed instructor of some years ago assured us all that it helped. I can assure you, howevr, that locking doors makes driving in some parts of the South Side of Chicago safer. Also, the Cabrini Green area, and some othr sections of the city. ( :-) ) -- ________ ( ) Don Stanwyck @( o o )@ 312-979-3062 ( || ) Cornet-367-3062 ( \__/ ) ihnp4!ihuxr!stanwyck (______) Bell Labs @ Naperville, IL
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (01/31/84)
I don't know if this answers your questions, but I had a 1962 Avanti that had Mercedes "dead bolt" door locks. The locks connected directly to the roll bar over the center of the roof. The windshield was set to pop out if you came to a stop of some (I don't remember) certain amount of G forces. It could be kicked out easily also. Other features included the engine being mounted on a track system that shoved the engine under the car in case of a head-on and the steering column collapsed into the dash so it wouldn't stick you in the chest. I have always thought it was perhaps the safest car on the road. Oh yeah, they also introduced disk brakes for the first time on an American built car. My first try at using them almost threw me through the windshield. It was quite a change from mechanical stomp ons. The locks on the Avanti were designed to hold the door shut in an accident. It seems that in those days, quite a few people were being terminated by being thrown from the car in accidents. Studebaker went to Mercedes to get help on their designs. Bet you didn't know that Studebaker dealers also sold Mercedes in those days. T. C. Wheeler
martin@auvax.UUCP (Don Martin) (02/02/84)
I've just got to get in on this one! Having been an ambulance attendant in a small town that is close to a major highway, I've seen my share of MVA's. We always carried a small tool shaped somewhat like a mountain climbers ice pick. One good `tap' at a corner of any window other than the front and the whole window collapses. Also, in most accidents of a serious nature on the highway, the frame etc. is bent so badly that doors won't open anyway. That said, the argument that locking the doors will ensure that the occupants stay in the car because the doors won't open doesn't make a lot of sense. If a person cares enough to lock their door then they obviously care enough to do up their seatbelts. Therefore the the reason to lock the doors is to ensure that they stay closed and do not allow anything to enter the car if you roll. It would be rather uncomfortable if while you were strapped into your rolling car, your door opened and a tree came through. Don Martin (auvax!martin)
sanjay@utah-cs.UUCP ( Sanjay) (02/04/84)
I have the most effective reminder for wearing seatbelts -- the old ignition lock that has been mentioned earlier. Its utility far outweighs the slight inconvenience (e.g. buckling up grocery bags, though I never had to do that, I just kept them on the floor). It is far easier to force even slightly reluctant passengers to buckle up if you tell them that the car won't start unless they buckle up. Only once did I have anyone idiotic enough to actually pull the seatbelt out of its harness and clip it on BEHIND his back !! Some people will never learn, I guess. - Sanjay