On Sat, 24 Sep 2011 09:42:04 -0700 (PDT), Larry Fishel
wrote:

On Sep 24, 11:24*am, "Robert Green"
wrote:
Not sure what happens to fancy power doors and locks when
they're shorted.

All the cars I've had with power windows and locks had fairly hardy
circuits that did not run through the computer (likely for exactly
this reason). I would be very surprised if they didn't work underwater
for a few minutes at least.

I agrree. Water and river water aren't perfect insulators but they
don't carry current as well as wires do. At least once I've had a
non-waterproof flashight under water, and it worked for the few
minutes I used it. Then I dried it out and it still worked. .

OTOH, who knows when the windows will stop working, and the window has
to be open a little to let water in to eventually open the door.

Of course unlock the doors when the flooding starts.

After a colllision, when everything is scrunched together and the
person may have broken bones, it can be hard to get to the seatbelt
latch, but during a flood, it shoudln't be much harder than normal,
except you may be floating off the seat an inch or two.

I think I remember someone running tests
on this (Mythbusters maybe) and it wasn't usually a problem.

On the other hand, I wouldn't lose much sleep over paying $2.50 for a
punch just in case...