Vehicle Electronics and Water[1]

[Nick Odell]

Is it my imagination or do there seem to be many more drownings in motor vehicles than there used to be? People caught in flash floods or trying to navigate inundated roads who end up trapped in their cars: that sort of thing?

I just wondered whether modern vehicle electronics had anything to do with it? Will automatically-locking doors automatically unlock in the event of the vehicle computer becoming flooded with water? Will electric windows still work? Is this sort of resilience part of the design spec?

Fifty years ago I reversed a car into a lake until the rear end was completely submerged but all the electrics continued to work as normal. Would this still have happened today?

Nick []1Prompted by the Baltimore Bridge Disaster but probably not relevant to it. [2]No, not drunk and out of control. Carefully reversed a car and trailer down a boat slipway but a combination of the slipway slope, depth of the water and height of the trailer meant that the rear of the vehicle had to be well underwater before the boat could be floated free of the trailer.

[Rod Speed]

Nick Odell [e-mail] wrote

Never seen any stats on that.

Even if they do, its not trivial to get the door open in deep enough water

Should do except maybe in sea water.

Not aware of that.

Its certainly possible to have an automatic center pop to break the door windows.

Yes, river water isnt very conductive.

It would be if you were in one of the cars that came off the bridge.

Corse you would say that...

Yeah, not uncommon at all.

[Tim+]

I suspect it’s just down to more people trying to get vehicles “written off” for financial gain. It’s hard to believe that all the eejits trying to drive through Rufford ford that you can see on YouTube are ignorant of the possible consequences.

Tim

[wasbit]

Dunno, but how does this work? Start at 6 minutes in. (Used to know how to do that but can't find the specific note).

[Nick Odell]

Came for the guy on the moto, stayed for... all of it, actually.

Hilarious!

Nick

[Tim+]

The guy has fitted a snorkel to the engine air intake. You can see him holding up a rubber tube as he rides through.

Tim

[Rod Speed]

Pause at that time, right mouse click, select copy url at this time

[wasbit]

Thanks. Didn't know that method.

[wasbit]

Yes, I saw that but I wondered why there was no electrical problems.

[Tim+]

Diesel? ;-)

I guess the electrics are well enough sealed to get through. Japanese rather than British Leyland standard electrics. ;-)

Tim

[nib]

Can't ask him now, but part of the preparation my father's unit was engaged in in 1944-1945 was waterproofing their vehicles so they could drive off the landing craft through the water, driving standing up if necessary. As I understand it, long pipes for the gases and waterproofing everything.

A very old-fashioned diesel, mechanical fuel pump and simple stop lever, might work with just a long air intake tube?

nib

[wasbit]

Edit: There were - not there was.

[The Natural Philosopher]

sadly the modern idiom is to ape the USA and use the singular throughout

[Paul]

There are two things you can carry in a car:

1) A glass-break device (a pointed hammer thingy, that breaks safety glass). This helps with situations like pressure-differential. Your door may be open, but it opens outwards against the pressure. When you're ready to leave, you break the driver window with hammer tap, and head for the surface.

2) A belt cutter. In case the release jams and you need to cut yourself loose. May be helpful in a rollover, and you're inverted.

You can't have this just "anywhere" in the car. These items must be within reach, and secured in such a way, they'll be where you expect them to be. If you leave the devices in the back of the car, they could be useless to you.

*******

The departure conditions on that bridge are not good.

185 feet above water (G-force on impact).

Water is damn cold.

Water is dirty, and zero visibility.

That's hell. Hell on earth.

Paul

[Davey]

The Austin Champ came well water-proofed, and had tiny little rubber plugs attached to the wiper motors to prevent water ingress through the ventilation holes

[Colin Bignell]

Alternatively, a Swiss Army knife. Several cutty things on that and the device for removing Boy Scouts from horses' hooves, makes a handy punch if you hold the body with it sticking out between a couple of fingers.

Also, hit the glass near a bottom corner. I've watched a policeman's truncheon bounce off a car window when he hit it really hard in the centre. (A lady had locked her keys in the car and was desperate to get in).

My SAK is always in my pocket (unless flying on a commercial airline), secured to my belt with a chain and a snap clip. They are expensive to replace if they fall out of the pocket.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yiu will be charged for carrying a concealed offensive weapon.

[Colin Bignell]

It is a non-locking pocket knife with a blade not exceeding three inches, so it can be carried without a valid reason. However, submerged car escape tool could probably be put forward as one.

[Rod Speed]

But an automatic center pop kept in the car would work much better, particularly for women and kids and would be completely legal.

[Colin Bignell]

Carrying kids would be illegal, as I don't have the requisite child safety equipment, but the SAK is perfectly legal.