How to Escape from a Car Window (Slow Motion) Tempered Glass vs Non Tempered

The Smarter Every Day channel on YouTube is an excellent source of educational videos about a wide array of subjects, from archery marksmanship to Prince Rupert’s drops. Huntsville Alabama native Destin – a full-time rocket scientists by day – is the host of the channel and the star of most of the videos, many of which are shot in and around his home.

This video features some great information about the types of glass used in automobiles and how its made, as well as a potentially life-saving tip about how to escape a car when you’re unable to roll the window down. Destin’s kids help him capture some amazing ultra-slow motion footage each of the two types of glass breaking, one of which was a little more stubborn than that other.

So what did we learn? If you’re trapped in a car and have something to try to break the glass, you want to strike the side window around the edge, not in the middle. Thanks to the tempering process, the glass is harder to break in the center.