In Florida, water is everywhere.
Canals and lakes line highways and roads.
While Florida has beautiful water views and recreation, that beauty can also be deadly — especially if you get caught in a submerged car.
Vehicle crashes in canals are the third leading cause of drowning deaths in Palm Beach County, according to the Drowning Coalition of Palm Beach County, and the county has 317 miles of canals supervised by the South Florida Water Management System alone.
The most important key to survival? Have a plan and practice it.
Here’s what car safety experts, including the drowning prevention coalition, say you should do if your vehicle hits the water:
How much time do you have to escape if your car is sinking in water?
Stay calm. It seems obvious, but it’s easy to panic. Take a deep breath, of course, if you’re totally submerged.
That’s because you have essentially one minute to escape once your car hits the water.
More: Nine dead, one injured near Belle Glade in deadliest Palm Beach County crash in years
Depending on your car’s weight and design and the damage done to it, float times range from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes.
What’s next? Get your seat belt off to escape from emerged car
Unbuckle or cut your seat belt and your child’s if they are under 5. Rather than fiddle during those fleeting 60 seconds, use a rescue tool. You can get two of them for $10 on Amazon or at your local hardware store. Some can be attached to your key ring with a zip tie.
Store them where you can get to them in a jiffy — not the trunk or glove compartment.
Read the instructions for the tool before that dangerous minute can occur.
More: Drivers are drowning in Florida’s canals. Why is the water so close to the road?
Roll down your window or break it
Electric windows may still work for a little bit. If not, you can use that rescue tool to break the window. Punch one of the bottom corners of a side window.
Don’t try the front window, back window or sunroof. They’re likely to be made of laminated glass, which doesn’t break because there is an invisible layer of polymer between two layers of glass.
Side windows are your best bet because they are generally made of tempered glass, which does break.
Another thing to do ahead of time: Check your car’s manual to see which windows are the best escape hatch.
And finally: Get out!
Push children through first. Practice with older ones so they know what to do.
Holly Baltz is the investigations editor at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Your car is submerged in water: What experts say to do to survive
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