'Live on GMA:' How to escape from a car sinking in water
Every year, thousands of people get caught up in water-related car crashes, and with extreme weather on the rise, the number of incidents continues to climb.
According to a 2019 study from AAA, an estimated 7,900 car crashes involve vehicles entering water, resulting in 429 fatalities over the course of a year.
ABC News' Matt Gutman traveled to Indiana to meet with the Indiana State Police at their logistics facility and their underwater search and recovery team to demonstrate how drivers can get out of a life-threatening situation in the water, in the event of an emergency.
Turn around. Don't Drown.
Experts say drivers should avoid driving into any water in the first place. Fire rescue crews often remind the public to "Turn around. Don't drown."
Remember: Seatbelt, Windows, Out
Experts say drivers only have a short time period of about 60 seconds and they should follow three steps -- remove a seatbelt, roll down windows and if children are in the vehicle, they should get out first.
Vehicle submersion expert Gordon Giesbrecht and Sgt. David Ploog of the Indiana State Police joined Gutman for the live demonstration, which included multiple safety measures, including an ambulance on standby, rescue divers in the water, a broken back window as an emergency exit and a tow team in place if needed.
Before the demonstration, Giesbrecht, who is also a professor of thermal physiology at the University of Manitoba in Canada, explained that water pressure can greatly impact one's chance of survival.
"When the water is even a foot or two above the bottom of the door, there's like up to 500 pounds of pressure. That's very difficult to push against," Giesbrecht said.
Car windows, therefore, are the best exit route but today, many car windows are made with laminated glass, which according to Giesbrecht, can render window-breaking tools ineffective. Giesbrecht recommends immediately opening windows upon driving into any water but drivers need to remember the clock is ticking.
"You've got about one minute to get out of the vehicle. Do not touch your cell phone until you get out. It'll waste a lot of time and it might be too late. You've got to open the window and get out," Giesbrecht said.
After getting out of a car window, experts recommend climbing onto the car roof to assess the situation.
"For rescuers, it's a lot easier to see someone on the roof of a vehicle like this than it is if you're swimming in the water," Gutman said during the live demonstration.
In a flash flood or in fast-moving water, experts also recommend finding a sturdy tree, rock, lamppost or nearby object to hold onto before trying to get into the water.
Sgt. Chris Lockman, the dive commander with the Indiana State Police, emphasized the "seatbelt, window, out" method as the life-saving tactic experts recommend.
"You take your seatbelt off first. Once the seatbelt's off, you roll your window down. Your next step is to get out of the vehicle and if you have any children in the vehicle, make sure you grab those children and make sure they're ready to get out as well before you exit the vehicle," explained Lockman.
As for electric vehicles, experts say more studies are needed but based on anecdotes and videos, the windows in electric videos should still function in the same way for the first 60 seconds to give a driver or a passenger time to get out.
There’s technology on the horizon that would automatically drop the windows when a car enters the water. With more than 400 deaths in a year, it could be a game changer in reducing human error. But until then, it is up to us: get that window down and get out immediately.
