Three teenagers were killed when their car skidded off the road in southern France, went through a wall and crashed upside down in a private pool, trapping them inside.

The vehicle was a similar size to the pool and the teenagers - aged 14, 15 and 19 - were unable to open the doors and drowned.

  • k_rol@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 month ago

    Wtf Does anyone have an idea on how to exit in such a situation?

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      Maybe through the front or back windshield, but given that the pool and car were of very similar size (diameter), I don’t think there was a way. They were dead the moment they hit the water. They just didn’t know it yet.

    • Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 month ago

      There likely was no possible way for then to get out of the car. If they wanted to survive, their best bet would have been to not skid off a road and go through a fence.

    • MelonYellow@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      Well those kids were uniquely screwed. But I figure in a sinking car scenario, the best bet is to immediately roll down the windows. Even better to have manual windows so there’s no risk of automatic windows failing. I have that drilled into my brain, for let’s say I’m driving a car rental and by some freak accident fall off a cliff edge. Fuck waiting for the pressure to equalize, by then who knows how deep I’d be and I don’t trust how long I could hold my breath for.
      Roll. Down. The. Windows!

    • aramis87@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      The story notes that the pool was near in size to the car. That would mean that, regardless of water pressure, you wouldn’t be able to open the doors. My next try would be the windows but it’s possible that it was such a tight fit that they wouldn’t be able to get out the windows either.

      My next option would be to pull down the back seat, exit into the trunk, and use the interior trunk release to exit the trunk. However, that also may not have worked, depending on whether the car’s weight was on the trunk (preventing you from exiting the trunk), or whether there was enough room along the back or sides of the trunk (preventing you from making your way to the surface).

      My final option would be to try to kick out the windshield and exit there. I’m sure many people would try it earlier; my assumptions are that the weight of the engine would be holding the front of the car closer to the bottom of the pool; that momentum carried the front of the car close to/into the edge of the pool, limiting space to exit that way; that front airbags may make the exit awkward; and that a possibly shattered windshield and crumpled front of the car make exiting through the windshield a more dangerous route.

      Other than those options, I’m not sure what you could do.

      • whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 month ago

        they finished upside down in a small swimming pool, so really no way out

        I don’t think there is a trunk release inside french cars