>> IT CAN BE A DRIVER'S NIGHTMARE. SOMETHING HAPPENS ON THE ROAD THAT CAUSES YOU AND YOUR CAR TO GO PLUNGING INTO THE WATER. WE SEE IT TOO OFTEN. GULF ACROSS OUR GULF COAST JUST LAST MONTH, A 12 YEAR-OLD BOY AND HIS FATHER DIED WHEN THEIR CAR CRASHED INTO A POND IN CAPE CORAL. >> WE HAVE SHOWN YOU THE MOVES GET OUT. BUT THERE IS ONE BIG FACTOR THAT COULD THROW ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE OUT THE WINDOW KNOWING WHICH WINDOW TO SMASH OPEN BECAUSE NOT ALL OF THEM ARE GOING TO BREAK AS EASILY AS YOU MIGHT THINK IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. AND IN TONIGHT'S COVER STORY, ONLY SARAH MANKIEWICZ IS SHOWING YOU WHICH ONES TO GO FOR. >> IF YOU'RE IN A CAR ACCIDENT AND YOU GO INTO THE WATER, YOU HAVE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WINDOWS ARE WORKING WITH. TEMPERED GLASS. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, IT ONLY TOOK ME A COUPLE SECONDS TO BREAK LAST, MAKING IT EASY FOR ME TO GET RIGHT OUT OF THIS CAR AND NOT SINK DOWN. >> BUT NOT EVERY CAR HAS TEMPERED GLASS AND NOT ALL OF YOUR WINDOWS IN YOUR CAR ARE TEMPERED IT OR YOUR WIND CHILL HERE IS LAMINATE. SO NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I HAD IT. IT'S NOT FULLY GONNA BREAK READY >> I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO COULDN'T SHATTERED ELIMINATE EVEN THE STRONGEST FIREFIGHTERS COULD BARELY CRACK IT. NOTHING. SO HOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOUR CAR WINDOWS ARE LIMIT OR TEMPERED? SO THE FRONT WINDSHIELD WILL BE A LAMINATED GLASS. SO THAT MEANS THAT THE GLASS IS GOING TO BE BETWEEN A ALMOST A PLASTIC LAYER. AS FOR THE REST OF YOUR WINDOWS. THAT'S UP TO YOUR CAR'S MAKE AND MODEL IN THE CORNER OF THE WINDOWS IS JUST A LITTLE SCRIPTS THAT THE CAR MANUFACTURER HAS PUT ON THERE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF WINDOW IT IS, WHETHER OR NOT IT IS TEMPERED OR LAMINATE THERE JUST IN THE BOTTOM CORNER ALL OF THE WINDOWS ON YOUR CAR, FROM THE WINDSHIELD ON TO THE SIDE, WINDOWS TO THE BACK WINDOW WAS IT SAYS TEMPERED. YOU CAN USE TOOLS LIKE THESE IN AN EMERGENCY. SO THIS WAS A HAMMER. >> SO YOU'LL JUST HIT IT ON AT THE CORNER OF THE WINDOWS. KIND OF THE WEAKEST POINT. WE RECOMMEND THAT THE TOP. >> AND THAT WILL BREAK THE INTEGRITY OF THE BLAST AND IT WILL FALL DOWN THIS YOU JUST PRESS IT UP AGAINST THE WINDOW AND THE INNER SPRING WILL PUT THE PUNCH OUT AND THEN THAT WILL SHATTER THE GLASS. >> BUT IF YOU HAVE A LIVE IN IT WINDOWS, THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO USE THESE TOOLS TO GET OUT OF SO YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO GO TO THE BACK OF THE CAR WHERE THEY'RE TEMPERED GLASS TO GET OUT THAT WAY. >> BEFORE YOU EVEN START BREAKING WINDOWS. YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR SEAT BELT OFF FOR THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IF YOUR CAR. >> GOING UNDERNEATH THE WATER IS REMOVE YOUR SEAT BELT. IF FOR SOME REASON YOU CAN'T REMOVE YOUR SEAT WANT TO CUT IT. AND REMOVE YOUR SEAT BELT. >> YOU ALSO NEED TO HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE. WORST-CASE SCENARIO, THE CAR STARTED GOING DOWN ALREADY. THE WATER IS GOING TO RUSH IN ONCE YOU OPEN THE WINDOWS. SO YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE EVERYBODY BE PREPARED BECAUSE THAT'S GOING TO BE VERY SCARY. SO JUST TALK IT THROUGH WITH EVERYBODY WHILE THEY'RE STILL AIR AND YOU'RE ABLE TO TALK ONCE YOU BREAK A WINDOW, ONE WILL START TO PUSH YOU BACK. SO WAIT UNTIL THE WATER STOPS COMING IN AND IT'S GOING TO SEEM LIKE A LONG TIME. IT'S GOING TO SEEM LIKE HOURS HAVE PASSED THAT YOU'RE WAITING FOR THIS WATER TO COME IN AND IT'S GONNA HAVE BEEN MOMENTS. SO JUST TELL EVERYBODY TO KEEP BREATHING. AND STILL, YOU KNOW, WATER HAS COME IN. AND THEN JUST WHEN RIGHT ON UP TO THE TIME. FIREFIGHTERS SAY IF YOU FOLLOW ALL THOSE STEPS, YOU'LL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF MAKING IT OUT ALIVE. REPORTING IN CAPE CORAL. SARA, MAKE WHAT'S GULF COAST NEWS. >> I'M HOPEFULLY ADVICE WE DON'T NEED. BUT THIS GOT US THINKING WHY ISLAM CLASS EVEN EXIST AND WHY IS IT SPECIFICALLY ON YOUR FRONT WINDSHIELD? HERE'S YOUR ANSWER. >> THAT IS TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM BEING EJECTED FROM T VEHICLE DURING AN ACCIDENT. THAT MATERIAL YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO BREAK WITH ONE OF THESE PUNCHES IS DESIGNED TO KEEP YOU INSIDE THE CAR. >> AND FOR YOUR WINDOWS THAT ARE TEMPERED WINDOWS. THOSE ARE GOING TO BE YOUR SIDE WINDOWS AND LIKELY YOUR REAR WINDOW. >> YOU CAN FIND ALL THESE TOOLS ONLINE. THEY'RE NOT VERY EXPENSIVE. BUT ONCE YOU GET THEM, IT MATTERS WHERE YOU PUT THEM IN YOUR CAR. WE DO RECOMMEND THAT PEOPLE HAVE THEM IN THEIR CARS IN AN EASY TO LOCATE. >> LOCATION. AND NOT LOOSELY ATTACHED. SO WE HAVE THE SIDE POCKETS. THOSE ARE GREAT. BUT IF YOU'VE BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT, STUFF'S GOING TO FLY ALL OVER THE PLACE. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THIS ONE AN ADHESIVE ON THE BACK. SO YOU CAN STICK IT INTO THAT POCKET. YOU CAN FIND THI
Do your car windows break in an emergency? Here's how to tell
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Updated: 12:45 PM CDT Jul 22, 2025
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If you’re in a car accident and go into the water, you have to know exactly what windows you’re working with.If you have laminate glass, regular window-breaking tools won’t work.So, how can you tell if your car windows are laminated or tempered?"The front windshield will be a laminate glass. So that means that the glass is going to be between almost a plastic layer,” said Andrea Schuch with the Cape Coral Fire Department in Florida.As for the rest of your windows, that depends on your car's make and model.“In the corner of the windows is just a little script that the car manufacturer has put on there to talk about whether or not it is tempered or laminate. They're just in the bottom corner of all of the windows on your car, from the windshield to the side windows to the back window as well,” Schuch said.Before you even start breaking windows, you have to take your seatbelt off and have a plan in place.“If the car started going down already, the water is going to rush in once you open the windows. So, you just have to have everybody be prepared because that's going to be very scary. So just talk it through with everybody while there's still air and you're able to talk,” Schuch said.Once you break a window, water will start to push you back, so wait until the water stops coming in.“It's going to seem like a long time. It's going to seem like hours have passed that you're waiting for this water to come in, and it's going to have been moments. So just kind of ready to keep breathing until, you know, the water has come in, and then just swim right on up to the top while holding their breath,” Schuch said.
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — If you’re in a car accident and go into the water, you have to know exactly what windows you’re working with.
If you have laminate glass, regular window-breaking tools won’t work.
So, how can you tell if your car windows are laminated or tempered?
"The front windshield will be a laminate glass. So that means that the glass is going to be between almost a plastic layer,” said Andrea Schuch with the Cape Coral Fire Department in Florida.
As for the rest of your windows, that depends on your car's make and model.
“In the corner of the windows is just a little script that the car manufacturer has put on there to talk about whether or not it is tempered or laminate. They're just in the bottom corner of all of the windows on your car, from the windshield to the side windows to the back window as well,” Schuch said.
Before you even start breaking windows, you have to take your seatbelt off and have a plan in place.
“If the car started going down already, the water is going to rush in once you open the windows. So, you just have to have everybody be prepared because that's going to be very scary. So just talk it through with everybody while there's still air and you're able to talk,” Schuch said.
Once you break a window, water will start to push you back, so wait until the water stops coming in.
“It's going to seem like a long time. It's going to seem like hours have passed that you're waiting for this water to come in, and it's going to have been moments. So just kind of ready to keep breathing until, you know, the water has come in, and then just swim right on up to the top while holding their breath,” Schuch said.
