Electronics should work to open the doors

THE electronics in an Audi similar to the one that sank in the Buncrana drowning tragedy should work for several minutes in water, according to a report by the manufacturer.

And a technical expert representing the firm, Gerard Boyle, told the inquest yesterday that the door should open if the handle was used from the inside.

Other evidence suggested the car must have been locked at the time of the accident since rescuers were not able to get the door open. Doors can be set to lock when the car is driven, as a safety measure.

And when the control unit became wet it would have shut down and the door would have been left in its original condition, whether they locked or unlocked.

Audi’s report stated: ‘The panic of occupants of the vehicle must also be taken into consideration.’ In explaining how the door handle should have worked from the inside, Mr Boyle said: ‘That is how the door should work.’ But he added that he was unable to comment on the vehicle in question.

Mr Boyle said the firm did not ask to examine the car after the accident and could not comment on how its doors behaved during the tragedy.

Testing in water only began on later models.

He said once the 4x4 lost friction with the slipway it would behave uncontrollably. Handbrakes, footbrakes, gearing would not have made any difference.

He added: ‘The vehicle can only work within its capabilities.’

Meanwhile, a water safety expert has pleaded with people to buy certain inexpensive items which could save their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, if their cars become trapped under water.

Irish Water Safety chief John Leech, a naval officer for more than 20 years, gave a moving account of how he has recovered many bodies in his career from both cars and fishing trawlers.

He showed the inquest, at the Lake of Shadows Hotel in Buncrana, some items that could help get people out of their cars if they ended up under water.

These included a seatbelt cutter and a window breaking device, which can easily be used.

‘These items are very inexpensive. I got some of them for as little as €10, and they can save a life,’ he said.

He also gave a step-by-step guide of what is recommended to people who become trapped in their cars. Surprisingly, he first advised not to use their phones to contact the emergency services. Instead, people should free themselves from their seatbelts, then break a window and allow children to escape first.

He added: ‘People have to remember that cars float for a long time in the water and people should get out as quickly as possible and then they can hang onto the cars.’

He also revealed he is in discussions with the Irish Coast Guard Service on advice to people trapped in cars in water.

If someone is trapped in their car and do contact the Coast Guard Service, they could be given this advice to acted upon immediately, he added.

‘It is an issue in Ireland and we have people drowning every year,’ he said.

He also told how he supported a new system called an Automatic Window Opening System, which will see cars open their windows if it pitches to a certain level when in water.