You might be surprised to learn that 300 people a year in the United States die every year in a sinking car. Whilst you might think it is never likely to happen to you, there is no harm in learning the best technique to escape should the unthinkable occur. After all, it is not just driving into a lake or the sea that puts you at risk, with all of the recent floods in various parts of the country, you never know when disaster can strike and spending 5 minutes watching this informational video could be the best investment of your life.
Good Morning America did some investigative journalism into escape methods and actually videoed an escape. First and foremost, similar to the instructions you receive on an airplane, there is a strict sequence of instructions you must follow.
STEP 1: Unbuckle your seat belt.
STEP 2: Roll down your window.
STEP 3: Unbuckle any children in the car and grab a hold of them.
STEP 4: Flop out of the open window into the water outside.
The key here is to go for the window, and not the door, as was previously thought to be the best method. The pressure of the water outside the door is increasing constantly with every centimetre the car sinks, and you simply won’t be able to push the door open. Also stupid as this may seem, ignore your mobile phone, your main objective is not to call for help at this stage, it is to get out of the car, and get your children out of the car safely. Wasting valuable time calling for help could be fatal. It is also worth keeping something sharp inside the car the use to break the window, should the winding or electrical mechanism fail. Please watch the video below and learn this very important information, and then share it with your friends and family, it could save their lives.