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Because it’s not always practical to have all the windows wide open, especially in the dead of winter, Dr Mathai and his colleagues modeled several other options as well. They found that while the most intuitive solution – having the driver and passenger lower each of their windows – was better than keeping all the windows closed, an even better strategy was to open the windows that face each occupant. This configuration allows fresh air to enter through the left rear window and exit through the right front window and helps create a barrier between the driver and passenger.
“It’s like an air curtain,” Dr Mathai said. “It evacuates all the air released by the passenger and also creates an area of strong wind between the driver and the passenger.”
Richard Corsi, an air quality expert at Portland State University, praised the new study. “It’s pretty sophisticated, which they did,” he said, warning that changing the number of passengers in the car or the speed of driving could affect the results.
Dr Corsi, who co-authored the editorial with Dr Allen last year, has since developed his own model of coronavirus aerosol inhalation in various situations. Her results, which have not yet been released, suggest that a 20-minute drive with someone who emits infectious coronavirus particles may be much riskier than sharing a classroom or restaurant with that. person for more than an hour.
“The emphasis has been on mass market events” because they involve a lot of people, he said. “But I think what people miss sometimes is that mass market events are triggered by someone who is infected coming to that event, and we don’t talk often enough about where that person is. has been infected. “
In a follow-up study, which has yet to be published, Dr Mathai found that opening windows halfway seemed to offer roughly the same benefit as opening them fully, while cracking them just a quarter of the open path was less effective.
Dr Mathai said the general conclusions would most likely hold true for many four-door and five-seat cars, not just the Prius. “For minivans and pickup trucks, I would still say that opening all windows or opening at least two windows can be beneficial,” he said. “Beyond that, I would extrapolate too much.”
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