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First it floats, then it quickly sinks: a car in the water
Photo: fotoandrius / iStockphoto / Getty Images
A car drives into a pond, slides into the harbor basin, lands in the canal - or, as happened Tuesday in Baltimore, falls off a bridge into a river. Reports like this happen all the time. At the same time, the good news is that so-called water accidents rarely occur. Especially to such an extreme extent as in Baltimore, where several drivers probably had no chance of saving themselves.
It depends on the conditions in each individual case, but there are a few guidelines that you should follow because in the event of a car accident in the water, rescue usually only takes a few minutes. So what do you do if the car ends up in the water?
First of all: wear your seatbelt and stay fastened
A car weighing perhaps two tons can generate enormous force when it hits the water, even from a height of just a few meters. The first thing you have to do is survive the impact without hitting your head and becoming unconscious. Only then should you immediately unbuckle yourself and try to get out of the vehicle.
Doors closed, windows open
The type of accident is decisive for the position of the car in the water. Depending on the height of fall, immersion angle and speed, the car will usually float with the wheels down on the surface of the water, as the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) and the ADAC car club write. This means that the vehicle can sink briefly, then resurface due to the air in the cabin and usually float briefly on the water with the wheels down. But water then gets into the car through all sorts of cracks and pulls it down. The vehicle can spin or spin uncontrollably, which can easily lead to disorientation. Ideally, you should first exit the car through the window or sunroof.
The idea of being able to get out through the door is obvious, but the water pressure from outside will quickly prevent that. The ADAC therefore warns against opening the doors reflexively. Especially if there are other people in the back seat. Even through doors that are only slightly open, water penetrates so quickly that their chances of survival decrease rapidly, according to the DLRG.
The best way out is always through the side windows or the sunroof. The electronics should continue to function for a short time even if water has already entered. At least as long as the car battery in the engine block is not yet too wet. “The requirement for the Euro NCAP crash test is that the electric side windows can still be opened after at least two minutes,” says the ADAC.
Otherwise, the only option is to try to break the window, for example with a window hammer - which of course shouldn't be in the trunk. The following applies here: The windshield is made of laminated safety glass and cannot be smashed. The (rear) side windows and the rear window are usually made of more easily breakable glass. The DLRG recommends tackling the corners of the windows first, “as there is the least amount of suspension there and less force has to be used
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” However, the ADAC also points out: "In practice, breaking the side windows, especially under water, will be very difficult or impossible."
And what should you definitely leave behind?
Call for help. Making a phone call is just wasting valuable time. In most cases, a rescue team would not be on site in time anyway.
The rescue experts also advise against intentionally waiting until the car is completely flooded so that the doors can then be opened more easily. Escaping through the doors at the very last second with the last bit of held breath in your lungs – that's more something for Hollywood films.
sak