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DANGER: Automatic Locks

It seems impossible to purchase a new car in the U.S. without electronic locks and automatic windows.  At the very least, there should be a manual way to unlock and open the doors.

NBC-2 reports on a recent accident in which the driver was fortunate to escape a car fire:

“I was just driving and suddenly I smell smoke burning,” said driver Jose Garcia.

Then Jose started seeing flames.

“I tried to get out, but my doors got jammed and locked up,” he said.

He had to break the lock to get out. He thinks the electrical system failed when the fire started.

IndianExpress.com reports on a separate similar incident:

Hours after Anup Gulati, a security equipment supplier to the government and hotel industry, was charred after his car caught fire and the central locking system jammed him in, the family is planning to raise the issue with the car manufacturers — Hyundai.

…“The petrol leaking from the fuel tank due to the impact caught fire and my father could not come out since the central locking system had jammed.”

“The firemen had to break open the window to get the body out,” he said.


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