An emergency hammer is a safety device used in vehicles to break through window glass in an emergency.
It is a simple tool with a plastic handles and steel tip. Its primary use is for breaking through vehicle windows, which are often tempered, in the event of a crash which prevents exit through the doors. They are commonly found on public transport, in particular trains and buses. The example pictured also illustrates a cutting tool at the other end of the hammer. This is used for cutting through seatbelts in the event that they are inhibiting a passengers exit.
Emergency hammers are also known as bus mallets, dotty hammers, safety mallets, and bus hammers. Most emergency hammers are attached to a cable or an alarm device to deter theft or misuse.
Emergency hammers can be purchased by consumers to store in their personal vehicles to provide a means of escape should the doors become unusable, such as in a collision or if the vehicle falls into water and is sinking.
Famous quotes containing the words emergency and/or hammer:
“In this country, you never pull the emergency brake, even when there is an emergency. It is imperative that the trains run on schedule.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in
a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s
hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sis’e-ra, she smote off his
head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.”
—Bible: Hebrew Judges (l. V, 25–26)