I'm Rosie Garron, and you're listening to The Wirecutter Show.

Today we're doing one of those bonus episodes about something scary, but we think pretty important.

We're talking about tools that can help you break out of your vehicle in the event of an emergency.

The data we have shows that civilian traffic fatalities resulting from fires or drowning are a small fraction of total

motor vehicle accident deaths. But still, this limited risk has led to a whole class of tools

marketed to save your life in the event of this kind of an emergency. I personally have seen

loads of these ads come across my social media for these

brightly colored plastic wands and keychains that are meant to help you break the glass of your

car window and free you from a wrecked, fiery, or flooding car. And the ads themselves are kind of scary.

But did these tools actually work?

That's what my colleague, Jen Gushu, wanted to know. Jen is an editor covering emergency

preparedness here at Wirecutter, and last year, they headed out to a fire station in Connecticut

to break some glass. And we sent along our producer Abigail to capture some of the sounds.

The most important thing Jen found out is that not all car windows or window breakers are created equal.

So when we come back, we're going to hear from Jen about what you need to know about your car before you buy one of these tools.

And of course, which ones Wirecutter recommends?

We'll be right back.

Welcome back.

My guest is Jen Gushu.

Jen is a supervising editor of cleaning and emergency prep here at Wirecutter. I usually like to talk about things that our colleagues have written and reported on. You were telling me about how you tested and reported on emergency food rations. What's the headline?

They don't taste great, but they're going to last forever.

Love that. Okay. So I talked a little bit about this in my open. The glass breakers are,

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