Emergency Exit ?

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  • worried_jim
    worried_jim Posts: 11,631 Forumite
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    Couldn't he have just sounded the horn to attract attention? Then kicked the window out.
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
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    DoaM wrote: »
    Do they? Some BMWs didn't use to even have folding rear seats never mind split-fold, unless you chose it as an option. (I think that's changed now).

    OP initially described a situation regarding a van not a car. That said, I'd be surprised if the van rear/side door couldn't be opened from the inside.

    Indeed, from experience, every car I've hired or owned has had a manual override in the boot. Perhaps that's just coincidence, but I've driven lots of various makes and models
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Against that, I don't think I've ever owned a car that did have an internal boot release...

    The US require it on all cars new after September 2001. Nowhere else in the world requires it, though. So, if your car is a model also sold in the US, then it may well have. If not, it probably won't.
  • peter_the_piper
    peter_the_piper Posts: 30,268 Forumite
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    I don't understand this. Do modern vans have all doors autolocking? If so how did he get in without keys? Our old van could always be opened from inside. Was it a battery hoover? If not surely the cord would have prevented it shutting.
    I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.
  • angrycrow
    angrycrow Posts: 1,078 Forumite
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    Most hatch back cars do have an internal release you just need to know what it looks like. Where the lock unit meets the striker plate there will be a small cut out or access hole in the lock mechanism. Just inside is a release latch, you just need something small enough o fit in the hole.

    Most modern cars have electronic boot release buttons so this system is needed to release the boot from inside if the battery is disconnected.

    The release handle people are referring to used to be a federal requirement on all American cars. Not sure if it is still required in the states.
  • kmb500
    kmb500 Posts: 656 Forumite
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    So what exactly would be an emergency exit? An ejector seat?
    I mean, all cars have at least 2 doors, if not 4 or 5, to get out from. And that's up to 5 windows too. Many cars have sunroofs. Is that not enough openings to get out in an emergency? That's the sides and the back covered... you can't escape underneath as there's no space. Do you suggest having an exit at the front of the car? Because the windscreen needs to be extremely tough so that if you crash, objects can't fly through the windscreen and kill you.


    Cars are extremely safe these days. Of course there will be awful situations from time to time where you can't get out, and we have emergency services to help. Many cars come with emergency assistance, i.e. if you crash the car will call the emergency services.


    Cars do way too much already to protect passengers, don't really need any more.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    peter_the_piper wrote: »
    I don't understand this. Do modern vans have all doors autolocking? If so how did he get in without keys? Our old van could always be opened from inside. Was it a battery hoover? If not surely the cord would have prevented it shutting.

    I suspect he unlocked the van, opened it, went back into the house to get the hoover, and left the keys in the house.

    If it WAS external aftermarket deadlocks, then not only can the manufacturer not be blamed, but having the keys in the van with him wouldn't have helped, either.
  • z1a
    z1a Posts: 2,522 Forumite
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    worried_jim wrote: »
    Couldn't he have just sounded the horn to attract attention? Then kicked the window out.

    Not if he was in the back & it was separate to the cab.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    z1a wrote: »
    Not if he was in the back & it was separate to the cab.
    Which would beg the question how the OP's husband saw him waving...
  • parking_question_chap
    parking_question_chap Posts: 2,694 Forumite
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    Im baffled as to why there was a problem.

    I have often unlocked my vehicle with the fob, gone inside and shut door, then opened door again without needing key or fob.

    And as an aside, why didnt he honk the horn for attention rather than wave?
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