[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bayuin2004

the co relesed by the engine is sucked inside by the blowers, this might be the reason for the death

This "sucking-in" is only possible when we set the mode to "Fresh air", right ? In recirculatory mode, air from outside is not taken and thus this problem should not arise.
But on a similar thread, the culprit is said to be "keeping ac in recirculatory mode".

I am not really sure as to what exactly the problem is here. I see two possible reasons :
1) Mode is fresh air. The car is running and stationary in water, and the exaust fumes float around the car. The a/c sucks in the exhaust fumes and CO along with it and circulates inside. The guys inside get poisoned slowly.

2) Mode is recirculatory. The car is running, but since inside air is recirculated, no exhaust fumes are drawn in. However, the air inside gets heavily contaminated with CO2 exhaled by the passengers. This will be worse with more people inside and as time passes. After some time, I guess the air inside will not be having enough O2 for the people inside.

So, either mode looks dangerous to me. Maybe opening the windows once in a while and not falling asleep could be a solution. But if power windows screw up, you could be in real trouble.

[esteem_lover]

Reasoning as given by The Hindu in one of its articles

The AC is on, the water slowly gets into the exhaust, which in turn returns some of the smoke back or there is a leak in the exhaust somewhere which makes the smoke to enter into the cabin through umpteen number of holes in the under chassis (For wiring, clutch, brake, steering etc). CO is colourless, odourless & tasteless. Hence nobody is aware that they are inhaling it & without knowing it they slip into unconsciousness. before you know it, the CO has done its job. deadly silent killer CO.

[nitrous]

Well, Apparently, my friend's sister who lives around the corner where the incident happened was one of the first to see the car and the occupants.
She said there was no sign of struggle and that they must have definitely died in their sleep.

[2fast4u]

it seems absurd that people can die this way. i mean with some common sense anyone would have either opened the door or got the window down. seems more of a setup or real ignorance.
very strange though.
peace to their souls

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Reasoning as given by The Hindu in one of its articles

The AC is on, the water slowly gets into the exhaust, which in turn returns some of the smoke back or there is a leak in the exhaust somewhere which makes the smoke to enter into the cabin through umpteen number of holes in the under chassis (For wiring, clutch, brake, steering etc). CO is colourless, odourless & tasteless. Hence nobody is aware that they are inhaling it & without knowing it they slip into unconsciousness. before you know it, the CO has done its job. deadly silent killer CO.

id agree to this theory if it was all passengers but what about the driver. hes the person to sense such things first unless he has done some kind of graveyard shift to be real tired.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

id agree to this theory if it was all passengers but what about the driver. hes the person to sense such things first unless he has done some kind of graveyard shift to be real tired.

i dont think you got the idea. CO is odourless, colourless & tasteless, meaning even if you are inhaling it, you would not be aware of any symptoms until the moment it has really struck you, but that would be too late.

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

i dont think you got the idea. CO is odourless, colourless & tasteless, meaning even if you are inhaling it, you would not be aware of any symptoms until the moment it has really struck you, but that would be too late.

do u mean u would not have the feel of suffocation or loss of oxygen / breathlessness.
let me know.
thanks

[mb_jg]

I am just curios about to know how many santro owners in team-bhp have tried sleeping in the car while AC is switched on ?

Me & my friend have, this was when the elecricity died one night & we cudn't sleep cause of the mosquitoes. So we slept in his santro for almost 3hrs until we were about to run out of petrol, we ended up taking a room at blue d

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

do u mean u would not have the feel of suffocation or loss of oxygen / breathlessness.
let me know.thanks

I agree, there would be some warning signs. Headache is the first sign. Try this (at your risk!), put AC in recirculating mode, and drive with full passengers. Within an hour someone will complain having headache.
But, what perplexes me is, whether it is CO or CO2, the effect on people differs based on individual health. So it is higly unlikely that all fainted at the same time. Also, can't a Santro door be opened even when the central lock fails?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

do u mean u would not have the feel of suffocation or loss of oxygen / breathlessness.
let me know.
thanks

you really cannot differentiate between tiredness, sleepiness & this. at least thats what i can make of this because there has been no struggle whatsoever & all occupants have been found in a comfortable sleeping position. we yawn when there is a shortage of oxygen (some wise man told me), so the symptoms could have been the same for this also. i really wish we knew exactly how, but this is all we can think of now. the chennai police have sent the bodies for a Post Mortem & they are seriously trying to find out how they died. so hopefully, something will come out of this. till then, it is always better to be safe by rolling down the windows a crack & also keeping the ac vent in fresh air mode.

[rankoz350]

my dad's boss son died a couple of years back in the US. it seems he was on a road trip, and stopped over for some shut eye. a/c on, windows closed, was found dead the next day in his car.

Dad says always keep ur windows a lil open, before thinking of sleepin in your vehicle with the a/c running...

[DRC]

Human body is designed with self diagnostic features.
Everyone will feel suffocated when he/she get short of oxygen (not just air). which means, if the gas you are inhaling is odorless, tasteless, colorless and oxygenless, you will feel suffocated.


All said and done, cars are not air tight like air crafts, even when all the doors and windows closed. there are numerous holes on the body connecting out side world. Had it been so, when you park your car in sun, it might bang the door on you like when you are trying to open a pressurised container or a gas cylinder or might explode due to pressure.
But the chances reduce when the water level around the car rises and starts closing the holes. and there are very few of them at the higher part of the car.

Door locks are mechanical, but central locks arre electrical. In case of a failure central locking might fail. but still every one will still be able to get out opening thier own doors.

Commonsense is the biggest safety feature in the world, and works on any kind of automobile. It is best to have trust in that and get out of the situation at a good time when you still have things in your control.

[DCEite]

I am lucky. Cant sleep anywhere except in a bed. Dont know how people manage to sleep in cars and even chairs?!!

[navingulia]

I have done pretty amount of research on this. Navin Gulia - Discover the infinity in you……

Carbon monoxide(CO) is formed by combustion in limited supply of oxygen/air. CO is tasteless and odourless. Haeting coils in car engines can generate CO once they get rusty and old. Carbon monoxide when inhaled and absorbed into the blood forms carboxy haemoglobin with the haemoglobin thus disabling th ability of hameoglobin in blood to carry oxygen. Blood circulates but doesnt carry oxygen to tissues. The tissues suffocate and die.
in sleep one dies silently but if one is awake one will feel exhaustion and nausea and would get restless and would open the door/window but in sleep one would die silent.

prevention
1. never sleep with car heater/ac on.
2. keep the fan vent open. dont recirculate the air.
3. carbon monoxide is lighter than air. if at all due to extreme weather you have to keep AC/heater on while sleeping in car, do roll down all windows by one inch so that the lighter CO can escape out of the car.
4. when on expeditions to mountains, high altitude areas or otherwise. The whole group shouldnt sleep same time in the car. keep an alarm and sleep in shifts. one person should be awake at all times and his duty should be to shake other occupants every half hour to check back on them.
It is always better to be safe.
Point number one stated above is best.

[vnabhi]

@navingulia---you've raked up a 4-year old thread!!

Nevertheless, thanks for posting ---it will serve to educate new members.