http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-man-dog-die-after-getting-trapped-in-locked-car/

Here is how you open the door

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLDqmGQU6L0

Whatever happened to simplicity? My family actually rented a Honda one time and they told us to take the key out of the car when we get out because otherwise the car will lock itself even if you don't have it turned on while pumping gas. I sometimes think our world is getting too high tech.

6/12/2015 1:17:17 PM

Quote :

"Investigators believe Rogers got in the vehicle and shut the door before a cable came loose, cutting the power to the vehicle and causing the horn and locks not to work. "

I don't think it has to do with finding a door handle. Sounds like there's a release near the drivers' side seat that most people don't know about.

6/12/2015 1:19:07 PM

Didnt click on your link, but i think i remember hearing about this the other day. From what i remember, it had nothing to do with the guy not being able to find the door handle.... i think the locking mechanism malfunctioned or something like that.

6/12/2015 1:21:26 PM

What happened to common sense in this country. That car has 3 ways for you to get out if your battery is dead. If people took the time to learn about their vehicles instead of just pumping gas and driving stuff like this would not happen.

Pull the handle on the floor by each door, or pull the cable in the trunk.....

6/12/2015 1:30:06 PM

ddddddouble post

[Edited on June 12, 2015 at 1:30 PM. Reason : ,]

6/12/2015 1:30:06 PM

It looks like it has a power door latch and the manual door latch is on the floor. The story says he didn't know about the one on the floor.

Quote :

"Police in the Southeast Texas city of Port Arthur believe James Rogers didn't know how to manually unlock the 2007 Corvette he recently purchased."

6/12/2015 1:35:31 PM

Yes its power door and manual on the floor. There's also a manual release in the trunk, it also has a manual removable top..

6/12/2015 1:39:30 PM

I mean what happened to common sense of breaking your window before you freaking die?

6/12/2015 1:51:39 PM

Quote :

"it has nothing to do with the guy not being able to find the door handle"

6/12/2015 1:51:47 PM

^The manual door handle on the floor worked, but he didn't know about it.

6/12/2015 1:56:51 PM

See we are back to this being user error/ignorance.

Trust me theres plenty of people riding around that know jackshit about the car they are driving. Step one, read the damn manual.

I wonder if insurance is going to total the car since it killed its owner? Dibs on that LS2/6l80e.

[Edited on June 12, 2015 at 2:04 PM. Reason : ,]

6/12/2015 2:04:03 PM

Quote :

"What happened to common sense in this country. That car has 3 ways for you to get out if your battery is dead. If people took the time to learn about their vehicles instead of just pumping gas and driving stuff like this would not happen. "

Really guys? This is an old man. I doubt he could break the window in the car. He pulled the carpet up trying to get into the trunk to get out that way. And they could tell he pulled the manual out and was trying to read through it to figure out what to do. I don't think it has anything to do with common sense, but more with someone who could not physically do what he needed to at 72 in that kind of heat.

6/12/2015 2:15:52 PM

Quote :

"I doubt he could break the window in the car."

He tried...there were footprints on the window

6/12/2015 2:34:23 PM

^^He just panicked which overwhelmed him. I'm guessing the manual has a section on opening the door.

I wonder if there is an app that you could download that would help break the window?

[Edited on June 12, 2015 at 2:37 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2015 2:37:04 PM

This is some Final Destination type shit.

6/12/2015 3:26:09 PM

Windows are a bitch to break in a car, you are MUCH better off trying to force the windshield off.

6/12/2015 3:46:57 PM

Windows are a bitch to break if you try and kick them. You need something pointy, then they break relatively easy.

Also, this is what happens when you're ignorant.

6/12/2015 4:41:12 PM

sounds like there is a serious design flaw here if escape from a powerless vehicle requires reading the manual and finding a specific cable.

either way,

6/12/2015 4:55:51 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-man-72-dies-trapped-corvette-dream-car-article-1.2253934?cid=msn

Quote :

""I called my wife and daughter to let me out with the extra set of keys. They laughed so hard and told everyone about it and they have made it a town joke about this," wrote a Corvette owner with the handle "syswayne.""

6/12/2015 4:57:14 PM

Its not a specific cable. Its a damn pull handle in the same location as a old school trunk hatch, with the door painted on it clear as day.

This is a case of ignorance.

6/12/2015 5:26:46 PM

^Why not keep the manually operated handle on the door though? I could see where someone would get confused, if they didn't know.




[Edited on June 12, 2015 at 5:45 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2015 5:38:05 PM

This is sad, but could you imagine if aliens were looking down on us, what they would think? Most of us are just hapless animals pecking around the world, in our molten rocks we dug out of the ground.

6/12/2015 6:44:43 PM

Sounds like a piss poor design.

It's also another example of GM knowing about a safety problem and doing nothing to fix it. In the YouTube video the manager clearly states the dealership receives many calls about people locked either inside, or outside their corvette and cant find how to open it.

6/12/2015 11:37:26 PM

Asshole shouldn't have left his dog in the car on a 90 degree day in Texas. Carma

6/12/2015 11:59:07 PM

^^No that says more about the ownership group than it does GM. How does a guy that only spent one day behind the wheel of a C6 know more about it than the old farts that go buy them???? This is a stupid old people problem.

^This. Asshole should have read the damn manual for the sports car he bought.


[Edited on June 13, 2015 at 6:54 AM. Reason : ,]

6/13/2015 6:49:51 AM

Four things here

1) This is very clearly a design issue. I don't understand who thought it was a good idea to make the door latch require power for normal operation. It's a door latch. A handle works fine. GM invites this very problem by making a power-operated door latch, and I can't see a good reason to have that. Maybe there's some benefit to it, but I sure as hell can't see it.
2) At the very least, there should be a normal door handle, in the normal place, for situations exactly like this. An exit is considered a "safety feature," and its operation should either be intuitively obvious or have giant painted signs around it to detail its use. A small decal in a spot where you would normally find something completely different is not intuitively obvious. I expect the gas lever, hood lever, or trunk lever to be down there, not the lever to open my door. Also, hhe very first page of the owner's manual should be "here's how get out of your car if the battery dies."
3) Every car salesman who sells one of these cars should be required to tell the buyer that the door latch requires power for normal operation and to show the buyer how to open the door if the battery dies, impressing upon the buyer the importance of sharing this info with anyone else who will operate the vehicle. While the owner should read the manual, we know that no one does, so it should be incumbent upon the people selling these things to ensure that buyers know how to exit the car in an emergency.
4) Dude should know how to open his fucking car door. The first thing I would think about if someone says "the door latch is power-operated" is "what the hell happens when the battery dies and I'm in the car?"



Also, don't leave your dog in a car on a 90F day, fucker

6/13/2015 11:07:06 AM

So Tesla also has a design flaw in their cars?

GTFO, this is pure ignorance on the part of the owner. This is a dude that leaves his dog in a car on a 90F day in Texas, and you are blaming the car design for his death.

[Edited on June 13, 2015 at 11:25 AM. Reason : ,]

6/13/2015 11:24:20 AM

If they've got a power-operated door latch and a door handle in a non-standard place that isn't plainly marked with giant signs and arrows, then yes, it's a design problem. You should design safety equipment so that even stupid people can operate it.

Dude was ignorant, but the car should have been designed to take that into account so that he didn't have to die because of it.

6/13/2015 11:32:02 AM

Good design accounts for ignorance and all the other qualities a consumer might possess. Once they started getting phone calls from people "trapped" in their cars, they knew they fucked up.

Also, if it had been me, I would not have thought to read the manual. I woulda panicked and pushed/pulled every lever and button in that car until the door opened.

6/13/2015 11:36:37 AM

You can't account for every stupid person when you design something.

Theres 215k+ C6s like that one, and how many people have been stupid/ignorant enough to die from not knowing how to open the door?

6/13/2015 11:43:47 AM

Piss poor design. Safety should come first. People can become disoriented for a variety of reasons (diabetes, alzheimers, low blood sugar, concussion, car accident, car is in water, alcohol intoxication, old and senile, young child with incapacitated parent, stroke, high as fuck, etc) In some of those cases the folks should not be driving, but if they are, or even for the passengers side it should not require getting the fucking manual out to read how to open the door......

It is the same principal behind why your local fire Marshall requires emergency exits to be marked with battery backup lights and push out doors on the building. You "should" know how to get out of where you are, but if some shit goes wrong you need to be able to find that fast, even in a chaotic situation.

6/13/2015 12:57:40 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand who thought it was a good idea to make the door latch require power for normal operation. "

6/13/2015 1:36:22 PM

How much weight savings does a pneumatic powered door button offer vs real handles? Maybe 3 pounds over the whole car... This is a corvette, not a Mclaren. Sucks that the guy probably got disoriented and panicked, but GM still fucked up with their design.

6/13/2015 1:42:51 PM

Does anyone remember the lady that froze to death a few years ago because she could not get IN her car? That was some final destination shit. She went to a mtn trail to run, and accidentally locked her keys and phone in her Range Rover. She was found frozen to death outside the locked vehicle.

I feel like in that situation I would be finding a rock or something, but I guess no one will ever know her train of thought.

6/13/2015 1:48:13 PM

So my mom has actually gotten trapped in her car a few times before reading the manual and finding out about the floor latch. It's not as obvious as you may think. Our family thinks it's hilarious and we give her a hard time about it (her car had an issue at one point that caused the battery to constantly die), but this story is really sad.

Also I have had to crawl in through the trunk when the battery died and no one wasa in the car. I agree the design is stupid.

6/13/2015 2:36:16 PM

I hope that there is a huge class action lawsuit against chevy for this. what committee or safety board could have ever allowed the normal operation of a door handle to not work if the battery was dead? This is all on them. (and yes i love classic vettes... like this one )

6/13/2015 2:50:04 PM

I've never been in one of these or thoroughly researched them, much less considered fucking buying one and I knew about this. An exception, to be sure, but come on. Where's the personal responsibility? I'm a god damned bleeding heart liberal saying that, ffs.

[Edited on June 13, 2015 at 2:56 PM. Reason : ]

6/13/2015 2:55:32 PM

well most people haven't. the burden is on Chevrolet.

6/13/2015 2:56:42 PM

People should have sued honda for hiding the fuel door release on my car causing them not to be able to top up thus possibly giving out of gas in front of a rape den

okay, that's a stretch, i know.

[Edited on June 13, 2015 at 3:06 PM. Reason : ]

6/13/2015 3:06:04 PM

Quote :

"I've never been in one of these or thoroughly researched them, much less considered fucking buying one and I knew about this. An exception, to be sure, but come on. Where's the personal responsibility? I'm a god damned bleeding heart liberal saying that, ffs."

This, except I considered buying one and did my research about the car. As usual when someone is stupid in America everyone wants to blame to manufacturer instead of the dumbass that's too stupid to read the manual to their car. Honestly if you are so damn stupid that you don't know how to open a door, you shouldn't be sharing the road with anyone.

6/13/2015 3:14:10 PM

Quote :

"While the owner should read the manual, we know that no one does, so it should be incumbent upon the people selling these things to ensure that buyers know how to exit the car in an emergency."

only idiots don't read the owners manual, or at least skim through it. i mean the sumbitches have indexes. i bet he could have looked up DOOR LATCH or something and been out in 2 seconds.

also, everyone should know how to break a damn car window. it's easy and could save your life.

6/13/2015 3:16:36 PM

I'm glad none of you liberals are in charge of car design. "Why change from manual windows to power, what happens when I need to lower the window with the battery dead"

Also let me point out another fact. His car has a removable top, that has 3 latches on it. All he had to do is flip 3 latches and push the top off. So he had 4 simple ways to not roast himself.

6/13/2015 3:19:36 PM

hey, dickhead, i'm a liberal that agrees with you on this. i want to help design a car

6/13/2015 3:23:19 PM

^Yeah, it's a good idea to at least get familiar with the location of all of the basic buttons, switches, and handles before you go driving.

6/13/2015 3:26:24 PM

I wasn't speaking about you jaZon Just the blame GM crowd.

6/13/2015 3:31:45 PM

Ah, so automobile manufacturers never fuck up. Ok.

6/13/2015 5:14:56 PM

OP got rustled as hell ITT :3

6/13/2015 5:17:03 PM

brb. Gonna go read the manual of my Honda Accord! Oh Wait, the controls are self explanatory, and its never had a dead battery.

6/14/2015 12:10:48 AM

Quote :

"This, except I considered buying one and did my research about the car. As usual when someone is stupid in America everyone wants to blame to manufacturer instead of the dumbass that's too stupid to read the manual to their car. Honestly if you are so damn stupid that you don't know how to open a door, you shouldn't be sharing the road with anyone."

When the manufacturer designs a door handle in a non-standard place, for no fucking reason, you should blame the manufacturer. I give 5% of the blame to this guy for not knowing how to open the door, 10% to the dealer for not explaining it to him, and 85% to the manufacturer for a horrible design on a safety critical piece of equipment. The key point here is "safety critical." I bet we could run an experiment and 95% of people who have never been exposed to this car or done any research on it would not be able to find the door handle within 5 minutes. Meanwhile, put those same people in any other car, and they will be able to open the door within 5 seconds. That's a terrible design for a piece of equipment with major safety implications.

I'll quote myself here:

Quote :

"You should design safety equipment so that even stupid people can operate it."

6/14/2015 1:34:17 AM

absolutely. and when (if) this goes to court, the family will either win a huge lawsuit (or more likely get a huge settlement payout with a nondisclosure agreement)

6/14/2015 1:37:29 AM