Escaping a Sinking Car: A Demonstration and a Window-Glass Warning

Originally published 2017-03-18.

An estimated 400 people die each year because their car becomes submerged underwater during a crash, according to data collected by Canadian researcher Gordon Giesbrecht. A lot of people stuck in this situation end up doing the wrong thing in the moment their car becomes submerged.

In this video below, Geoff Fahringer, who is an expert diver, demonstrates what to do by rolling an older vehicle down a ramp and into an 8 foot deep canal with him inside, and later in the video, with several people. For a dozen years, he’s been on the dive rescue team for the Collier County Sheriff’s department in Naples, Fla.

According to researcher Gordon Giesbrecht, the bottom line is that there simply isn’t enough time for rescuers to reach you in this situation, you have to do it for yourself.

“We’re telling people that you have to get out of the vehicle before the water gets up against the windows, and that’s really in the first 30 to 60 seconds.”, he says. That means, don’t reach for your cell phone when you hit the water. “Don’t call 9-1-1 from inside a sinking vehicle,” he adds.

Make sure to pay attention to this video, this might save your life some day!

Gordon Giesbrecht’s steps

Gordon Giesbrecht is a thermophysiologist at the University of Manitoba who has studied more than 100 car submersions. He estimates that people have 30 to 60 seconds to get out of a sinking car, which may float for about a minute, so the escape has to start at once rather than after the car is underwater. His advice, as summarised by KUOW in 2013, is: do not use your phone; release your seatbelt, which many people forget in a panic; open or break a side window rather than trying the door, using a small hammer or punch if electric windows fail (he keeps one on his dashboard); unbuckle children, starting with the oldest; and get out with them. In his tests, escaping through a window was possible even with water flowing in.

Sources: KUOW, 24 May 2013: Video: You have seconds to escape a sinking car

Source: This Buzz via The Mind Unleashed

Learn the principle before an emergency

The demonstration emphasises acting promptly rather than waiting inside for rescue. It is not a guarantee that every vehicle will behave like the one shown. Familiarity with exits and appropriate emergency guidance matters before an incident, especially when children or other passengers may need help.

Not every side window breaks the same way

AAA's testing found that the examined escape tools could not penetrate laminated side glass, even though some broke tempered glass. Drivers should establish which glass their own vehicle uses rather than assume a tool will work everywhere. This is a consequential addition to an older demonstration: a preparation plan must reflect the actual vehicle, and a dramatic video is not enough to establish that detail.

Sources and context: AAA: vehicle escape tool testing, 2019