# Trapped in a burning car **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford, ranger\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292 "2010-05-24T06:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_Kovaciny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Roger\_Kovaciny](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roger_Kovaciny)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/1 "2010-05-24T06:33:00Z")
My friend’s wife shut off the car when she saw smoke. The mechanic found a short and said she was lucky not to have been trapped with closed windows and locked doors that wouldn’t open because of the short. Was he correct? ---
**Author:** ![nfs480](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@nfs480](https://community.cartalk.com/u/nfs480)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/2 "2010-05-24T06:35:16Z")
I would think she’d still be able to unlock the doors manually rather than relying on the electrical system to unlock them for her. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_Kovaciny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Roger\_Kovaciny](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roger_Kovaciny)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/3 "2010-05-24T06:38:22Z")
One would think that, but some anti-theft locks are flush with the doorsill. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/4 "2010-05-24T11:52:18Z")
That is true - I know that my front door locks are flush with the sill and rounded at top. There is no way to get those up by hand. The rears do have a peg left sticking up and could be unlocked by hand. Anyway, without being able to inspect the actual damage/condition/location etc. it would be impossible to say much for certain about the mechanic’s statement. ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/5 "2010-05-24T12:21:41Z")
Most vehicles with lock plungers that can’t be manipulated with your fingers will automatically unlock if you try to open the door from the inside. I don’t know if that is the case with the Ranger, but it’s been the case with every car I’ve ever owned with power locks and the flush-when-locked door lock plungers. ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/6 "2010-05-24T14:09:07Z")
With two people, this is easy enough to test. One person should get in the car and lock the doors. The other person should disconnect the battery. The first person should try the door handle and see if it opens the door purely mechanically. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/7 "2010-05-24T14:31:22Z")
Every Ford I have seen can be opened from the inside without unlocking them. It’s a safety feature. You don’t have to unlock them. You just pull the handle. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/8 "2010-05-24T15:33:19Z")
Not if it has “Child Safety Locks”… A few years ago it was recommended to carry a hammer under the seat in order to break a window in the event other attempts at egress failed… ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/9 "2010-05-24T15:39:24Z")
On sll of the cars that I have/had (this is of course no where near to all of the cars in existence), pulling the driver’s door handle on the inside mechanically unlocks and opens the door. There’s no need to get to the door lock for this. ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/10 "2010-05-24T15:39:33Z")
Child locks are almost exclusively on the back doors. The Ranger in question has two doors. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/11 "2010-05-24T15:39:57Z")
You’d think if this was a real problem we’d hear about it more often, from folks with dead batteries being trapped in their cars. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/12 "2010-05-24T15:40:42Z")
How many have you seen with a child safety lock on the driver’s door? ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/13 "2010-05-24T18:50:07Z")
[http://www.elmartillotejano.com/blog/images/kidindanger.jpg](http://www.elmartillotejano.com/blog/images/kidindanger.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![eraser1998](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@eraser1998](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eraser1998)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/14 "2010-05-24T18:58:35Z")
Not only do I not believe that she wouldn’t have been able to open the doors because of a short, but even if so, I don’t believe she would have been trapped. I carry an “escape hammer” in my cars - a nice sharp point to break glass (it takes very little force if you concentrate that force in a small area) with an integral blade to cut seat belts. Even if you didn’t have one, though, “Worst Case Scenario” with Bear Grylls on Discovery showed a foolproof way to get through the window - pull out your headrest, grab it by the padding and jab the metal rods into the window. That’s your own escape hammer, whether you knew you had it or not. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/15 "2010-05-24T19:21:05Z")
They just showed this yesterday on ‘Mythbusters’ re: being trapped in a car underwater. Both the ‘escape hammer’ and a spring-loaded punch did the trick. This is about $10 at amazon: [http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Zvt8bilEL](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Zvt8bilEL)._SS500_.jpg ---
**Author:** ![eraser1998](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@eraser1998](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eraser1998)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/16 "2010-05-24T20:07:52Z")
$3 at Harbor Freight. Still more expensive than your headrest, though - and more likely to get lost in some random cubbyhole. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/17 "2010-05-24T20:48:39Z")
I don’t believe that all cars have headrests that can be removed quickly and without tools. ---
**Author:** ![eraser1998](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@eraser1998](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eraser1998)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/18 "2010-05-24T21:12:19Z")
I suppose that’s possible, but all car’s I’ve owned have had headrests that come out easily. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/19 "2010-05-24T21:30:09Z")
Some headrests now have active crash response. I suspect that those are not removable, but I don’t know that for a fact. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/trapped-in-a-burning-car/49292/20 "2010-05-24T22:03:26Z")
People can’t even be expected to step on the correct pedal in an emergency situation, you want them to remove their headrest? too much TV going on here