This new technology could save your life if your vehicle ends up in the water
New technology to help drivers escape if their vehicle becomes submerged in water, has been developed by a company that works with the startup incubator Communitech in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.
Automatic Window Opening Systems (AWOS) Technologies created the vehicle escape system that automatically lowers windows and connects to emergency services, assisting drivers and passengers with getting out safely.
A water rescue can be much more complicated when it involves a vehicle.
“What we’re finding now is more and more car manufacturers are making laminate glass as part of the door-window infrastructure,” explained Jim Petrik, the fire chief for Guelph/Eramosa Township. “What the challenge with that is, when we go to break the glass, it doesn’t shatter.”
The pressure from water pushing against a car can make it near impossible for the windows to open. And if the electrical systems malfunction, the windows may not work at all.
“If you have power-operating windows, which most vehicles have these days, sometimes that might not be operational,” added Petrik.
But AWOS co-founder Sabrina Percher said her company’s technology can prevent a vehicle from becoming a sinking trap.
“As soon as the vehicle hits the water, it will automatically lower windows within five seconds to allow people to safely exit the vehicle and call emergency services for help,” she explained.
A demonstration video shows the windows opening when the vehicle hits the water, and the driver is able to exit within eight seconds of impact.
The system is installed where the water would reach first – the heavy engine compartment. The technology is compatible with conventional, hybrid and electric vehicles and the smart sensors detect whether the vehicle is submerged upright or upside down.
If the vehicle lands upside down in the water and its windows are closed and remain intact, it will right itself by rolling to an upright position. With a built-in multi-axis inclinometer, AWOS recognizes inversion and delays the opening of the windows until the vehicle is in the upright position.
All of it is borne out of a personal story from Percher.
“When I was living in Saudi Arabia, my husband got caught in a flash flood. And I’ll never forget that phone call… to tell me that he was stuck in the car and that the water was rising,” she recalled.
Her husband survived but ever since, Percher has been focused on coming up with this lifesaving solution.
AWOS hopes it can become a safety standard system in vehicles within the next three to five years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.