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And that will (probably) be the basis of the family's lawsuit.
Gee, my dog has been in a closed car for four hours. I better go check on the dog. I think I will get in the car and shut the door. Jeez.
Car was parked close to Waffle House front door too
Tuesday, June 9 2015, 02:52 PM CDT
Police Think Man Died In Car Because The Doors Would Not Open
PORT ARTHUR -- A man's body inside a sports car in a Port Arthur restaurant parking lot sparked and investigation Monday into how he died.
Sgt. Scott Gaspard tell KFDM News, first responders discovered the man's body Monday afternoon in a Corvette parked outside the Waffle House on Jimmy Johnson Blvd. in Port Arthur.
According to Sgt. Gaspard, witnesses say the man ate breakfast at the restaurant at about 11 am Monday.
They say when he finished, the man entered the car and somehow became locked inside and wasn't able to get out.
Gaspard says investigators believe the man was trying to look at the owner's manual to find the emergency release and may have tried to get through the trunk
Investigators believe the man was overcome by the heat.
If he couldn't get out because he didn't have his keys, how did he get in? Okay, it was unlocked. If it was unlocked, and the battery was dead, how did the car have enough juice to lock itself but not unlock itself?
Very sad but I really hope that there isn't a law suit. People need to learn about their car. The Vette is my dream car too, trust me I was so excited I read the owner's manual. Yes I knew about the lever & yes I did have to use it once. Plus I know how to take the the roof panel off. No worries for me. I've the read the sticky here about interesting tidbits about the C6.
Very sad but I really hope that there isn't a law suit. People need to learn about their car. The Vette is my dream car too, trust me I was so excited I read the owner's manual. Yes I knew about the lever & yes I did have to use it once. Plus I know how to take the the roof panel off. No worries for me. I've the read the sticky here about interesting tidbits about the C6.
Back in 2004/5 right on this forum we discussed this worry. Some of us thought it only a matter of time before someone dies in this car. And here it is. We thought mainly from fire. And either panic or simply lack of the proper knowledge. And that would not be unusual especially with a second owner.
Maybe the poor man had a heart attack. Otherwise is this technology worth a life?
I knew this gentleman. He was a good guy and wasn't off his rocker. I am also confused on how this all happened. He had common sense and for the most part knew his way around cars.
Glass Breaker? Probably a good idea to read the manual!
Reading the instructions about anything is usually helpful, no doubt. I keep a knife with a glass breaker clipped to my visor in the event i am ever trapped in a more dubious situation. If you ever find yourself submerged a glass breaker may be worth 1,000 manual door handles.
Not trying to be nasty, but you do know about the handles for manual operation of the doors on each side of each seat, right? Not to mention airmed's suggestion to take the top out. Very sad and tragic for this new owner and his dog, no question about that.
Yes, I am an educated man who studied my manuel carefully. Just a suggestion no different from any of the others posted.
Reading the instructions about anything is usually helpful, no doubt. I keep a knife with a glass breaker clipped to my visor in the event i am ever trapped in a more dubious situation. If you ever find yourself submerged a glass breaker may be worth 1,000 manual door handles.
Electric windows still work in a submerged car as long as the pressure is equalized to take the stress off the glass. Floor lever always works if the door is not bent and jammed. Roof latches always work.
There is one report that he tried to get out the back. Sounds more like he knew there is a pull tab in the back to open the door but wasn't flexible enough to reach it. Again, sad but reading the manual would have saved two lives.
The article didn't say if it was a coupe or convertible. It wouldn't have helped in the Vert. Actually neither would work w/o the power.
If it was a vert. I think the guy could have ripped a hole in the canvas. And if it was a coupe why not just unlatch the top? Possible Darwin award winner. Condolences to the family.
Very Tragic, yet so avoidable if the owner's manual would of been read. There is a manual release handle for the driver and passenger doors next to the seat by the floor.
Reading many threads on the forum, there are lots of Vette owners who don't read the manual.
One thread that comes to mind was someone asking how to remove the top on a coupe. The manual gives step by step instructions.
I am leaning toward his death from natural causes (Heart attack or massive stroke). An autopsy will tell but we may never know. As one poster stated he knew the man and said that he knew his way around cars. It is the news media spin on this. They reported from the witnesses that they were locked out so automatically assume he was locked in.
Tragic. Besides the obvious of pulling the door lanyard, how about remove the top, kick the glass out. Do anything except give up and accept your fate. Very strange.
I tend to agree. He should have been able to remove the top easily, or pull on the lever on the floor to unlatch the door. Yes, very strange.
I tend to agree. He should have been able to remove the top easily, or pull on the lever on the floor to unlatch the door. Yes, very strange.
I sold him my C4 in late 2013. He had no idea the top even came out until I gave him the extra top. He said he didn't have any intensions of ever removing it.
I'm not sure how the C6 top comes out, but my C4 took a little effort. Doing this in a hot car may have caused him to pass out.
Last edited by ManBearPig; 06-11-2015 at 08:06 AM.
Perhaps he had a heart attack induced by the panic of being trapped in the car? That sounds more plausible than succumbing to the heat in just that short period of time. Sad and unfortunate.
The heat wreaks havoc on batteries, so if you have an older one instead of trying to squeeze a few more months out of it, the beginning of Summer is a great time to replace it. (Same with your coolant, too.) Get an AGM battery like Odyssey, too, as they are an overall better technology.
Also, I have a small little metal bottle opener that I got from a Sam Adams vendor while scoping out a 12 pack at the grocery store one time, and if I ever had to, it also works well to break the glass in an emergency. Keep that in my glovebox for safe keeping - sometimes I'll want one of those real sugar Coke or Dr. Pepper's in a glass bottle and it's nice to have a bottle opener in the car.
06-10-2015, 01:49 PM
Actually neither would work w/o the power.
