This is the easiest way to escape your sinking car, according to the pros.
Any professional who knows what to do when a car is sinking will say the same thing: get out before the car sinks. This may seem scary, but what’s more is that the window of opportunity lasts less for less than a minute, with only 30-40 seconds of optimal time to make it out using this method.
Approximately 400 people in North America alone die in sinking cars each year, and many of these people are victims during the season of flash floods. That’s why it’s so important for people to know exactly what they should do if they ever find themselves in this situation.
The basic steps are as follows: take off your seatbelt, roll down the window you are closest to, and slide your way out and into the water. This may seem easy, but even the professional divers who were employed to demonstrate the method found the task more difficult than they anticipated.
One of the divers said, “It was very intimidating. The car went down quicker than I thought it would. I had a real inflow of water that I had to work against to get out, but it can be done.”
As another diver points out, all 4 divers were able to get out in 20 seconds because they knew exactly what to do. For most, this isn’t the case, and that’s why more people need to be informed about what to do. The instructional video also covers how to handle the situation if there are children in the car.
One more important thing that drivers should know is not to waste time with calling 911 while you’re still in the car. There are just a matter of seconds between when you hit the water and when the car sinks, and it’s crucial to escape the car during this time.
