Car windows are made to be as safe and strong as possible and can resist a great amount of force before they break. Safety standards call for automobile windows to be made from laminated and tempered glass. Laminated glass is what your windshield is composed of, while side and back windows have tempered glass. Laminated glass is far superior and stronger than tempered glass, it has to be since front windshields get hit with a variety a projectiles, from rocks and debris kicked up by other cars to larger and crazier things we hear on the news.
While tempered glass used on side windows is comparatively weaker, it is nonetheless practically impossible to break without the right tools. If you ever need to break into a locked car to save a trapped child or animal, as often is the case, watch this video. It teaches how to properly break a window and is useful for when every second matters.
Brian Brushwood, host on the National Geographic show Hacking the System, explains that you need a very fine, hard point to fracture tempered glass. The safety glass is made to withstand blunt forces, like pounding fists or a rubber mallet, but not the focused energy and force from a sharply pointed object. That is why taking a spark plug and smashing a bit of porcelain off of it worked so well in the video. The sharp point on the porcelain created a tiny fracture which then spread out and caused the glass to shatter.
Many cars have spark plugs right under the hood, diesel powered vehicles do not, and they just need to be broken in order to use this hack. Check out the video for more information and pass the knowledge along!
Please SHARE With Family and Friends
