Being trapped in cars can be pretty scary in many ways. Moreover, if it is a child or pet that remains confined, it may result in much more severe consequences. So why is it so dangerous to be locked in a car? Do cars really take no air at all?
In fact, they do, and what causes us to die when we are in such a situation is not actually ‘stuffiness’. When you’re stuck in the car, you may not even realize what’s going on for a very long time.
Note: All images in the content were made via Midjourney.
After a few hours, your head will start to hurt.
When you are closed in the car, the air inside never runs out. So you may not even understand what’s going on. When you begin to understand what is happening, you first feel a headache. Because the oxygen level inside your car starts to drop.
Under normal conditions, 21% of the air consists of oxygen. However, as you breathe in and out, the oxygen level in the air decreases and the carbon dioxide level increases. When the carbon dioxide level in the air reaches 15%, you will actually die.
It takes about 6 hours for you to die.
The interior of an average car takes 10 cubic meters of air. This air contains 0.05% carbon dioxide. It will take about 6 hours for you to increase the carbon dioxide rate to 15% with your breathing. After this point, the breath you take almost poisons you and you will lose your life in a short time.
So is such a thing really possible?
It’s almost impossible to die from asphyxiation when you’re trapped in a car. Because almost every car produced today has ventilation holes. In other words, even if your vehicle’s windows and doors are closed, air continues to enter.
It’s not the lack of oxygen that kills you, but the rise in temperature.
Think about your car parked in the sunlight for a while. When you get on again, you may even have difficulty holding your overheated steering wheel. Let’s think about the summer months… Sitting in a sun-drenched car feels like torture, especially in the first moments.
When you stay in a car, even if it is winter, the interior of your car, which has closed doors and windows, starts to heat up. Within 1 hour if you are in the sun and 2 hours if you are in the shade, the temperature inside will increase greatly.
Depending on the region you live in and the location of your vehicle, the interior temperature of your vehicle can reach 30-40 degrees higher than the weather within hours. Especially in summer, temperature change occurs much faster. As a matter of fact, this change in temperature can be lethal for pets, children and babies, even if it is not lethal for adults.
The temperature rise inside the car becomes the biggest factor that puts your life in danger.
The temperature increase inside the vehicle you are locked in rises above the seasonal normals in a very short time. As a result, your body begins to lose more fluid. If you have water with you, you may be a bit lucky, but you can still start to have hyperthermia at any time. Hyperthermia (or heat stroke, as people call it) is one of the most dangerous situations to experience. Because most of the people who were locked in the car died as a result of the increase in the temperature inside.
The reason for this is that your body temperature will increase in direct proportion to the increase in the temperature inside, and you will start to sweat more than the amount of water entering your body. The rise of your fever starts to harm your body long before thirst. In a short time, the cells and enzymes in your body are damaged, and after a while you begin to lose consciousness. After this point, it is almost certain that your body will suffer permanent damage.
While it may seem like a simple thing, being locked in a car is pretty scary and can have deadly consequences. For this reason, automotive companies continue to develop technologies against locking in the car. For example, Tesla automatically turns on the air conditioner if there is a pet or person inside when the car is locked. Of course, perhaps first of all, it is necessary to find a solution to people’s ‘forgetfulness’.
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