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:
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—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“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)