Resqme emergency tool
The Resqme emergency tool is insurance against the worst-case driving scenario: a serious car crash that renders your door inoperable (Rolled over? Pinned? Underwater? Fire? Resqme!).
The key-chain-size tool has a protected blade that will slice through your seat belt if you're stuck, and a spring-loaded hard spike on one end that will smash open the safety glass in your window.
I have one, but here's the rub: I can't ever look at the thing without thinking about its grim utility. Like a lot of safety gear, you may never use it (and it's probably better if you don't). And who's going to test it? Are you going to shatter one of your windows to see if you have the technique down?
But even if serious injuries and fatalities on Canadian roads have declined steadily in the last decade, there are still more than 120,000 crashes that result in injury every year.
Grim or not, the Resqme is about $10, and is the kind of device every driver should have. But don't keep it in the glove box – when you need it, you may not have time to root around.
If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, please contact our experts at globedrive@globeandmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @Globe_Drive.
Add us to your circles.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Shane Dingman