In The Fast and the Furious films, cars burst into flames or plunge into deep water on the regular.In reality, those types of accidents are relatively rare.The National Fire Protection Association reported an estimated 643 civilian deaths annually as a result of car fires from 2018 to 2022, while commonly cited research estimates 350-400 annual traffic fatalities as a result of drowning — a fraction of a percent of the total motor-vehicle accident deaths.Still, even that limited risk, and the fear it can stoke, is real enough to inspire an industry of automotive-rescue tools and glass breakers, all marketed to save your life in a crash. The idea is that these small, inexpensive tools can sit innocuously and unused in your car or on a keychain, but in a true emergency, they could help break window glass to free you from a wrecked, fiery, or flooding car.Working alongside firefighters and first responders, we tested several such tools on junked cars in Connecticut to see if they worked to quickly break a window as a means of escape — because if there’s a simple contingency plan available, why take even a tiny risk?