Behind the Baltimore bridge collapse is a familiar story of a corporation cutting corners

jeffw@lemmy.worldmod to News@lemmy.world – 384 points –
Behind the Baltimore bridge collapse is a familiar story of a corporation cutting corners
salon.com
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On Wednesday, Maryland State Police recovered the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera inside a pick-up truck submerged 50 feet beneath the Patapsco River.

Fuck, i have nightmares about this kind of shit. Poor guys

In the early 2000's I was working at a saw mill in northwestern Ontario that was a 200 km (120 mile) round trip from home, on a 2 lane highway that zig-zagged through the Canadian shield. There were often lakes on one side and steep ravines on the other, and we often had to dodge moose in the winter (who were kneeling in the middle of the highway licking salt off the road).

One of my crew taught me a valuable lesson then ... that the minute you put the vehicle into drive you also unlock your electric doors, so that if you do end up in the water there is a chance you can get out of the vehicle.

I still do it to this day.

That fucked me all up when I rolled a car.

I was upside down and the emergency fuel pump shutoff had already triggered, but I was freaking out because I couldn’t open the door.

I tried punching out the glass and that didn’t work so finally I thought I had better shut this car off before it catches on fire.

Then I reached up to turn the key off and heard the doors unlock.

Shit that’s good advice. My car does the auto lock shit and I bet if the electronics got fried when we went into the water I’d be screwed

My mother used to keep a brick in the car for this reason. I probably should too.

they make glass break tools that are much better. They usually also have integrated seat belt cutters. Probably less expensive than a brick. They look like tiny plastic hammers with a hardened bearing as the striking surface.

Resqme is the best from what I’ve heard. No hammer shape, just press to the window and push.

If it works, it works.

The spring loaded things are basically automatic center punches.

Whatever you do get, simplicity and ease of use should be top of mind.

Remember , in a crash you’re probably dazed from the impact (and air bag,) and jonsing on adrenaline. Basically, you become a total moron.

Further to this if you have an old spark plug at home, crack the white ceramic part off the spark plug with a hammer and the little shards (also known as ninja rocks) will break glass when thrown or hammered against the window.
They work because their 'hardness' is higher than the window glass and cause it to shatter. Also breaking a car window with a brick is much harder than it appears (i locked my keys in my car once a few hours from home, and it didnt work after repeated attempts).

Another thing (if your ever in the situation) car windscreens are designed to be pushed out from the inside, so if trapped just put your feet against the glass and push and it will pop right out.

Get a quality glass breaker and seatbelt cutter instead. Make sure you clip it or stick it somewhere so it can't move. Things have a tendency to shift around violently in a car-wreck, which is exactly why you shouldn't have a loose brick in your car.

50 is an interesting number, considereding it's only about 35 feet deep under the bridge. I wonder if they were swept down stream a significant way