How To Escape A Submerged Vehicle
You can escape a sinking vehicle, but you must act immediately. That is why it is so important to think about what you would do right now and make a plan. Practice that plan while you are safe. Experts say you have about one minute to escape alive, so you better have a plan in place.
Here are five rules of survival taught by Gordon Geisbrecht, of the University of Manitoba. Geisbrecht trains law enforcement officers and others on underwater-vehicle escape.
Rule 1: Don’t call 911 until you are out of the car. Time is of the essence. You must get out immediately. Call 911 after you are out of the car alive. “Time is critical,” says Geisbrecht. “If you touch your cell phone you’re probably going to die.”
Rule 2: Unbuckle your seat belt. Do this immediately, and if for some reason you can’t unbuckle it, cut it. Remember, unbuckling is going to be much faster than cutting a seat belt, so that is always your first choice.
Rule 3: Don’t open the door. Roll down the window, and if for some reason you can’t, break the window. Opening the doors will be very difficult because of the water on the outside. Additionally, if you do get the door open, the water will come in faster. This will speed up the sinking of the vehicle. Breaking the window should be a last resort if you can’t get it rolled down. Strike the corner of the window with a glass breaker and then try to clean off sharp pieces to exit through the hole you create. There are a number of tools available, some reviewed at Survive and Defend, for breaking glass. Having one in your car in case of an emergency is a good idea. When breaking glass it is preferable to wear gloves, but when seconds count, getting out of the vehicle with a cut on your hand is preferable to the alternative of going down with the vehicle.
You will probably have between thirty seconds and one minute until the water rises to the bottom of the passenger windows as a vehicle sinks. This is what Geisbrecht calls the floating period. After that, the water pressure will force the window against the door frame, making it essentially impossible to roll down.
Remember, you have very little time. So put the glass breaking tool and gloves where you can get the quickly, and practice getting them and simulating breaking out the windows periodically.
Rule 4: Children first. Ideally, everyone goes out their own window. You can drill this just like you would a fire drill. That way if it ever happens, your kids know what is going on. Smaller children are going to have trouble getting out as water rushes in, so you may have to push them. Get the oldest kids out first, and take the youngest out in your arms if you have to.
Rule 5: Get out as fast as possible. Swim out the broken window as fast as possible if the car is going down.
What if you can’t roll down the window or break the glass?
You still have a chance. Never quit fighting to survive. It’s a slight chance, but we’ll take it and be survivors. Once water fills the car, the pressure will be equalized and you should be able to open the door. Experts, like Geisbrecht, say unless you’re a modern-day Houdini, the odds are pretty slim. He says this because you will have to be able to hold your breath in an extremely stressful situation. This is just one more reason I stress that people learn and practice combat breathing.
The key here is to get out fast before the car sinks, but also to never give up and be a survivor.
How To Escape If Your Car Is Washed Away
Here is a video from the Today Show’s Jeff Rossen that shows the dangers of a vehicle being washed away and what to do.
See also: Escape From Locked Car
Thank you to NBC for the Today Show and Rossen Reports providing information to help keep people safe.
Thank you to John Galvin and Gordon Geisbrecht for information researched for this page.