“The laminated glass on the side of a car is difficult to break in an emergency… There are concerns about trapped accidents.”

A survey has shown that as the use of laminated glass with strong shock absorption is increasing on car side window glass, it may become difficult to escape in emergency situations such as flooding or accidents.

It is pointed out that since it is difficult to break laminated glass even with an emergency escape hammer, sufficient information related to this should be provided.

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 4th that as a result of a survey of 47 types of vehicles sold by 6 domestic automobile brands, 76.6% (36 types) were found to be able to apply laminated glass to one or more rows of side window glass.

The number of car models equipped with laminated glass as standard on the first and second row side window glass was 25.5% (12 types), and two car models, including the Kia K9 and Genesis G90, applied laminated glass to all window panes, including the rear glass, as standard, making it virtually difficult to escape by breaking the window in an emergency.

Laminated glass is made by pressing a polymer film between two sheets of glass, which reduces external noise and is stronger against impact than tempered glass.

As a result of a test conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency by dropping a 2.26kg steel ball, the tempered glass was broken and penetrated from a height of 5m, but the laminated glass was not penetrated even if broken at 5m, and only penetrated when it reached 10m.

In tests using four types of emergency escape hammers, all tempered glass was destroyed, but the laminated glass did not break except for cracks on the surface. Escape using the metal bars of the headrest can also be difficult, the Consumer Agency explained.

The problem is that consumers are not properly aware of the difference.

In a survey of 1,000 consumers, 76.5% responded that they did not know that laminated glass could be applied to side window glass.

Automobile manufacturers also emphasized the noise reduction performance of laminated glass, but did not provide sufficient guidance on the difficulty of damage during an emergency escape or on specific installation locations.

The Consumer Agency recommended that automobile manufacturers improve the display of safety information on window glass, strengthen the option of side laminated glass, and provide a hammer for emergency escape at the time of shipment. All five manufacturers responded that they would improve the display of safety information.

The Consumer Agency also urged drivers to have emergency escape tools in their vehicles in advance and check the locations of windows equipped with tempered glass.