A car that goes into the water floats for about a minute. It's the only minute when getting out is easy: through the window, not the door, and without calling anyone first.
ACT
Remember four words, in order: seatbelt, window, children, out.
- Seatbelt. Undo yours straight away. No phone: the call can wait until you're out.
- Window. Open the side window immediately, while the car is floating: power windows often still work. If it won't open, break it, never the windscreen (see ADAPT).
- Children. Unbuckle them, the oldest first: they can help and get out on their own. Get them through the window, ahead of you.
- Out. Climb out through the window, onto the roof if the current forces you to, then make for the bank. Call for help once you're out of the water.
Don't try the door. As soon as the water reaches the bottom of the windows, the pressure holds it shut. That's where the seconds that matter get lost.
ADAPT
The window won't open. Strike a corner of the side window, not the middle, with a window breaker: a pointed hammer or a spring-loaded punch, kept within the driver's reach, not at the back of the glovebox. Tempered glass shatters at once into small pieces.
Your side windows are laminated glass. More and more cars have them: they won't break, even with a window breaker. Check the mark etched in the corner of each window today. If they're laminated, the only way out is to open the window while it still works: don't lose a second.
The car is already underwater, windows closed. Last resort. Wait until the water is almost at the roof: the pressure evens out. Take a deep breath, open the door or the window, and pull yourself out and up. Everyone keeps a hand on someone.
You're a witness. Don't go into the water if you can't reach the car safely. Call for help, give the exact location, and guide people to the bank with your voice. See Inondation for moving water.
The person pulled from the water isn't breathing. Start resuscitation straight away, see Cardiac arrest. Someone who drowned in cold water can be revived for much longer than people think. Then warm them up: Hypothermia.
The road is flooded. The best way not to sink is not to drive in. Thirty centimetres of moving water is enough to carry a car away: turn around.
UNDERSTAND
Why the door won't open. Water pushes on the whole surface of the door, and harder the deeper it is. When it reaches the bottom of the windows, it's already pressing two to three hundred kilos against the door, while the inside is still full of air. Once the car is underwater, it's more than a tonne. The window only has to slide down or give way.
Why a minute. A car is a box full of air: it floats while water gets in through the seals, the vents and the floor. Depending on the vehicle, this phase lasts roughly thirty seconds to two minutes. Meanwhile, the windows are still above the water. It's the way out, literally a window.
Why not the phone. Dialling, waiting, explaining: that's a whole minute. In real-world tests, people who call first miss the floating phase. Outside, you call; inside, you get out.
Why not the windscreen. It's always laminated glass: two layers of glass bonded to a plastic film, made not to open in a crash. It cracks, it doesn't give way.
Why the oldest child first. An older child can hold on at the window or on the roof while you unbuckle the next one. A baby unbuckled first has to be held, and you lose a hand.