[aaggoswami]

Its very sad to read news about an individual getting trapped in a car which has caught fire.
The fire itself could be due to lot of reasons. Poor fitment of external accessories is the culprit in many cases.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but just putting up my experience :
My car did not have speakers and Head Unit. Got it installed from outside. After fitment when I tried to open the left front and rear window there was a spark in the cabin somewhere. A fuse had blown, new fuse put in. Same story. Eventually the door pads were opened again, problem was poor workmanship and speaker connections were fouling with metal door. Very poor workmanship. Thankfully the wiring in the front was provided by Hyundai and I did not get rear speakers installed. The electrical connections not sufficiently insulated meant two blown fuses in a car which was barely 3 months old.

This can happen anywhere and happens too.

Regarding headrest, many cars do not have adjustable headrests. This is a big negative. But lets preserve that for another thread.

In case of a fire in vehicle, try to break open the rear windshield. Thats not as tough as the front one ( front windshield is the toughest ). This could be the best chance of breaking open a glass to come out car. Always keep one window slightly open, enough to slide through a tool. Helps even others outside the car to help you break the glass.
A tool kit kept handy can also help.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by naikameya

I know this might not be common on all cars.

Actually, not only hatchbacks most cars will allow something similar. Just that the mechanism might be different and a little more involving.

Most SUVs will let you jump out from the rear tailgate end. In most cases the tailgate can be opened through a mechanical lever from inside. Moreover, the mechanism is cable actuatued in most cases and hence should work even in case of fire.

In the case of sedans, barring a few of them, I guess most give you a seat back fold option. If so then use the mechanical lever to release the boot and then to pass through the back seat area (will need some body contortion) into the boot and then out of the car.

In cars where the exit through a hatch or boot is not feasible it is better to be aware of that and ensure that you keep that safety kit which allows you to cut seat belts (scissor may not work) and break the safety glass in your glove box.

[Chetan_Rao]

Unfortunate and (possibly) avoidable loss of precious life.

This just highlights an oft-overlooked aspect of driver training. Most of us rant and rave about bad driving everyday, but how many of us give a thought about emergency training/preparedness? How many otherwise 'good' drivers on our roads are aware of what to do in an emergency like this, and keep the necessary tools in an easily reachable spot in the cabin?

Often dismissed as unimportant cynicism/paranoia, until one actually needs to act someday and has no idea what to do.

[srishiva]

Are short circuits mostly from the fore end of the car? Maybe they need to innovate on the electrical wiring (fireproof or backup power from some other place). Or make sure a mechanical lock is fireproof on all doors and have it tested.

[GTO]

Terribly unfortunate. RIP, buddy. Sincere condolences to his family.

Originally Posted by bblost

A fire can be caused form multiple reasons like a badly installed after market ICE as well.

Can also be a manufacturing defect, rats chewing & messing up the wires etc. At this stage, nothing is known, hence the probability of each of these 3 factors is identical.

Originally Posted by wilful

I always thought petrol cars are more vulnerable to such incidents, petrol being more flammable than diesel.

There's a lot of inflammable stuff in a car, besides the fuel.

Originally Posted by S2!!!

A similar incident happened with a friend who was locked inside a 320d because of an electrical failure. At that time, he also tried unlocking the car manually but wasn't of any help. Finally, a few hours (after being locked) later, he called his cousin who came with a duplicate key and unlocked the door manually (using the skeleton key).

I'm surprised as Bimmers have a cable to unlock - link. Pull the one on the driver's door twice and it will unlock (the other doors won't though).

Originally Posted by Vigkey

If I understand correctly, the adjustable head-rests are also a safety feature wherein it can be removed and used to break glass to escape in case of accidents, fire, etc. i.e. in cases where is the occupant is trapped inside and is not able to open the door.

Originally Posted by malgudi

As a safety Tip - If your car has removable headrest, remove that and use the steel rod of the headrest to break the window glass.

Autohead115 shared this video on the 2nd page; sharing it again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZTa8Nh0VlE

Originally Posted by p'arth

In India most budget cars come with non-removable fixed type head rest. In such cars this method will not be useful.

Not only budget cars. In the BMW 5-Series, the front headrests aren't removable. BMW did it as a safety feature (so no driver drives without it), but clearly, it can be a problem!

[Mcroadster]

A very sad and hair raising incident! Makes you wonder whether all these luxuries to reduce human effort like power windows, central locking etc. have really made us move forward or backwards! I have always kept a wooden bat in my car for exigencies like this. Manual over ride should always be provided for all things automatic in a vehicle for a machine can never account and plan for all the eventualities as capably as a human being can!

[vinit.merchant]

Very unfortunate incident.
In case of fire, the wires would burn out and the power to the central locking would be disconnected most of the times. It would be wrong to assume that the lock did not open.
My guess is this could be the infamous "seat belt stuck" issue.

[D4D]

Very unfortunate. May his soul RIP.

Here is a preliminary suspect: Short circuit.

Police believe short-circuit could have triggered the fire, which jammed the central locking system of the car and Driver Hardev trapped Inside

Read more at: http://gaadiwaadi.com/chevrolet-sail...n-burnt-alive/

Just asking:
Could there be a relation between the two?
Link-
http://www.team-bhp.com/news/chevrol...uestions-asked

Chevy sure has some answering to do. There's a long list starting from Tanera's emission scam, a fire in a captiva, an engine of the enjoy replaced, sail catching fire and many more.

I hope they get their quality control right, or will they do what Ford did with the Pinto?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pi...suing_lawsuits

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by GTO

Can also be a manufacturing defect, rats chewing & messing up the wires etc. At this stage, nothing is known, hence the probability of each of these 3 factors is identical.

Will we ever know? I doubt so, considering the quality of investigation we do in this country.

Originally Posted by GTO

shared this video on the 2nd page; sharing it again

This Video is bit scary. The victim will certainly be in panic situation in times of such accident and glass not breaking will only increase his/her anxiety. This is also bit ironical that a thief can break a glass in one shot but a dying driver is helpless.

How does a seat belt get stuck in event of an accident? Aren't they completely mechanical with no electronic interference?

[outofthebox]

Very sad. RIP. A locked door is one probable cause, maybe his seat belt got jammed?

The 'chalta hai' attitude for electrical repair & maintenance work also doesn't help.

For this reason, I've always carried these two accessories in all my car for years now and gifted several to my near and dear ones. I just wish more people would be aware of their existence and importance in our hot driving conditions:

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

Very sad. RIP. A locked door is one probable cause, maybe his seat belt got jammed?

The 'chalta hai' attitude for electrical repair & maintenance work also doesn't help.

For this reason, I've always carried these two accessories in all my car for years now and gifted several to my near and dear ones. I just wish more people would be aware of their existence and importance in our hot driving conditions:
Attachment 1370965
Attachment 1370966

Is there any link where one can buy this tool?

[outofthebox]

It's called Resqme and in India I have purchased it from Safetykart and also from a seller called ubergadgets on eBay. The first few I had bought from Amazon.com.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Is there any link where one can buy this tool?

I bought it from Amazon.com - this ResQMe product came with both:

• A large hammer + a built in seatbelt cutter (the orange one in the background).
• A smaller firing hammer + seatbelt cutter (the black one in the foreground left, the foreground right item is a holder to clip this to the sun visor).

I now keep one of each in my two cars.

[Gansan]

In my car the central locking is after market (MGA) installed at my MASS. The doors lock once the speed crosses 20 KMPH and unlock once the engine stops. We can also unlock manually using the lift up knob, even when the engine is running.

Scary to think whether this can get jammed due to a short circuit and not allow manual opening. Must check with MSM people about it's working. If it is possible to disengage central locking before starting out and re-engage while parking the car, it would be nice.

[Prash22]

Thank you autohead115. That's a useful video.

I got a message on social media a few weeks back saying "Due to increase of temperature in the next few days, please don't fill petrol to the max. It will cause an explosion in the fuel tank. Fill it half and leave space for air"
Is this true? I always thought air/oxygen is needed to cause fire and a full tank mostly shouldn't have enough oxygen to cause fire.