You’ve seen it in the movies: a car slides off a road, cliff or bridge and into the water, trapping everyone inside as they try desperately to escape. Do you remember how action stars get out of sinking cars? And do you know how you would survive if you find yourself in the same situation? According to a survey of 2024 cooperative election study (CCES), chances are good you don’t know the safest way to escape a sinking car – most Americans don’t.
The survey asked 1,000 adults across the country to rate the way they came out and their confidence in their answers and found that only 3% of respondents were both confident and correct. Less than half of those surveyed identified the correct method of escape: through the back side window. And nearly two-thirds thought they had more time to figure out the problem than they actually did.
This indicates a huge hole in the country’s collective knowledge about how to find a way out of this dangerous situation. Although this may seem like a far-fetched event that may never happen to you, it is still better to be equipped with the knowledge of how to survive successfully. Finally, a report National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that 1% of all traffic deaths in the United States were due to drowning, and if your Tesla Autopilot could crash into a pond, you should know how to get out in a hurry.
How to successfully escape from a sinking car?
According to the child vehicle safety advocacy group child and car safetyDeaths due to vehicle drowning occur when a car crashes into a body of water and when someone is swept away by flood waters. Deaths due to drowning in vehicles also occur quickly. The moment a car hits water, you usually have one minute to take action before it completely submerges. If you’re lucky, you’ll get just a few more seconds.
Kids & Car Safety recommends using the SWOC method for a successful escape. Its short form is: seat belt on, window open, out immediately, children first. As soon as possible after entering the water, take off your seat belt and open the back window. The rear side window is important because most cars tend to sag first due to the extra weight of the engine on the front of the car. Opening the rear side windows gives you the most time to organize your escape. Make sure all other passengers have successfully removed their seat belts, and then help all the children, from oldest to youngest, escape first. This helps the elder children in taking the younger children to a safe place.
This method of survival is both simple and effective, but a survey conducted by CCES shows that adults are not widely aware of its efficacy. Many respondents still believe that old, deadly myth that you should wait until the car is flooded before attempting to escape. Do not wait for the car to fill with water then try to open the door. it’s urgent. The varying pressure makes it nearly impossible to open car doors underwater, but once the pressure equalizes, there is not enough time or air to get out.
Wait, didn’t MythBusters cover this?
If you’re a fan of MythBusters, you’ve probably seen the episode where Adam and Jamie repeatedly dunk themselves inside a car in a pool. If not, it’s worth seeing how difficult it is to open a car door that’s even partially submerged. They show that it is possible to wait until the pressure equalizes, but it requires remaining calm and breathing deep enough to wait out the water. This isn’t really feasible if you’re caught off guard or have children in the car.
The episode also shows that automatic windows continue to work surprisingly long after being submerged in water, so the SWOC method is reliable even on new cars. Don’t try to test the Cybertruck by driving it in the lake, otherwise you may end up in jail. The big lesson from this episode is that, while the crew were able to escape under controlled circumstances, their methods involved a lot of preparation, foresight, and resourcefulness. They may work in a pinch, but it seems much less reliable than the SWOC method that Kids & Car Safety, as well as professional rescue teams, recommend.
As Amber Rollins explains child and car safety SWOC performance, deaths due to vehicle drowning are devastating. It often takes weeks or months to find sunken vehicles. Sometimes, it takes years, like when a ’70s Camaro Z28 was found by an underwater drone at the bottom of a main lake. The best way to avoid this tragedy and all the pain and uncertainty that comes with it is to prepare yourself with the knowledge to survive safely.
