WEBVTT - How Should You Escape a Sinking Car?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbam here. Preparing for potential emergencies is stressful. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really unlikely that you'll ever be in a car

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<v Speaker 1>accident that winds up with your vehicle being submerged in water.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, in the US, driving heavy country, it only

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<v Speaker 1>happens less than one thousand, five hundred times a year.

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<v Speaker 1>That's less than zero point zero three percent of car

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<v Speaker 1>accidents here. But as with all potential emergencies, having a

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<v Speaker 1>plan in place will help keep you calm and increase

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<v Speaker 1>your chances of getting yourself out. So if you drive

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<v Speaker 1>in areas with bodies of water or the risk of flooding,

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<v Speaker 1>it's worth going through the stressful planning process. The experts

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<v Speaker 1>of the American Automobile Association or Triple A a reckend

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<v Speaker 1>keeping in mind what they call the SURE method that

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<v Speaker 1>stands for stay calm, unbuckle or cut your seat belt,

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<v Speaker 1>roll down or break windows and exit quickly. Helping children first.

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<v Speaker 1>But let's back up a little. The problem with being

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<v Speaker 1>in a sinking car is that water is heavy. So

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<v Speaker 1>if your car is sinking, the pressure of all that

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<v Speaker 1>water on the outside of the car will prevent you

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<v Speaker 1>from opening the doors until the car's cabin fills with

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<v Speaker 1>water and the pressure equalizes. But you don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>wait for that if you don't have to, because breathing

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<v Speaker 1>is good. The best thing is to try to get

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<v Speaker 1>a window opens that you can escape through. There, cars

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<v Speaker 1>sink quickly. You may only have thirty seconds to a

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<v Speaker 1>minute before the water level reaches the passenger windows, so

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<v Speaker 1>you have to act fast. If you can roll a

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<v Speaker 1>window down, that's great, but it may bring you extra

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<v Speaker 1>piece of mind to store an emergency window breaking tool

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<v Speaker 1>in your car though. Back in twenty nineteen, the Triple

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<v Speaker 1>A ran a study about the different kinds of glass

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<v Speaker 1>being included in modern car designs and the ability of

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<v Speaker 1>different tools on the market to break them in case

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<v Speaker 1>of emergency. They overall recommend buying spring loaded style tools

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<v Speaker 1>because the hammer style tools they tried out sometimes broke

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<v Speaker 1>during the test. But their key finding was actually that

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<v Speaker 1>the type of glass your car contains matters the most. Traditionally,

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<v Speaker 1>car windows and rear windshields were made of tempered glass,

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<v Speaker 1>which is designed so that when it breaks, it shatters

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<v Speaker 1>into small chunks that are less likely to cut you

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<v Speaker 1>than normal glass shards. The type of glass in the

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<v Speaker 1>front windshield, meanwhile, is usually laminated glass E. Laminated glass

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<v Speaker 1>is made by sandwiching a layer of polyvinyl butterol between

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<v Speaker 1>two pieces of glass. The glass and the pv BE

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<v Speaker 1>are sealed by a series of pressure rollers and then heated.

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<v Speaker 1>This combination of pressure and heat chemically and mechanically bonds

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<v Speaker 1>the PVB to the glass. That inserted layer of polyvinyl

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<v Speaker 1>allows the glass to absorb energy during an impact and

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<v Speaker 1>gives the glass resistance to penetration from flying projectiles, meaning

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<v Speaker 1>that laminated glass can break and be punctured, but it

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<v Speaker 1>will stay intact because of its chemical bond with the polyvinyl.

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<v Speaker 1>It also deflects up to ninety five percent of ultraviolet

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<v Speaker 1>rays from the sun and helps deflect road noise and

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<v Speaker 1>help quiet down a vehicle's cabin, which is all great

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<v Speaker 1>at preventing flying objects from coming at you through the windshield.

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<v Speaker 1>Anyone who grew up with the Final Destination movies is

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<v Speaker 1>still traumatized from that and at preventing you from being

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<v Speaker 1>ejected out through the windshield in case of a sudden stop.

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<v Speaker 1>But it also means laminated glass can't be shattered by

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<v Speaker 1>escape tools, and an increasing number of new vehicles have

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<v Speaker 1>switched from using tempered side glass windows to laminated side

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<v Speaker 1>glass windows in response to federal safety standards A but

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<v Speaker 1>don't panic. Most new cars with laminated side windows include

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<v Speaker 1>one tempered side window. Stickers near the bottom of each

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<v Speaker 1>window should tell you what the glass is made of.

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<v Speaker 1>If there are no stickers there, you can check your

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<v Speaker 1>owner's manual or get in touch with the manufacturer. If

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<v Speaker 1>your side windows are all laminated glass, you'll know that

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<v Speaker 1>you'll have to roll one down as quickly as possible. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>it's most important to have a plan in place beforehand.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know you can break a window, have an

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<v Speaker 1>escape tool at the ready and know which window to break.

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<v Speaker 1>Just consider watching an online tutorial to familiarize yourself with

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<v Speaker 1>how the device works, and you can test your spring

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<v Speaker 1>loaded escape tool on a notepad or a piece of

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<v Speaker 1>spare wood. If it's working properly, you'll hear a click

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<v Speaker 1>and be able to see a hole or indent in

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<v Speaker 1>the paper or wood. Escape tools can also come in

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<v Speaker 1>handy in case your seat belt buckle gets jammed during

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<v Speaker 1>an accident. Look for tools that include a device for

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<v Speaker 1>safely and easily slicing through seat belts. You want to

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<v Speaker 1>get out of your seat belt before opening or breaking

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<v Speaker 1>a window because water can rush in very fast through

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<v Speaker 1>a window. Again, remember the sure method, Stay calm, unbuckle

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<v Speaker 1>your seat belt or cut it if it's jammed, Roll

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<v Speaker 1>down or break a window, and exit the vehicle quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>Helping children first, don't call nine one one until after

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<v Speaker 1>you've escaped, because cars again sink quickly. Time is of

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<v Speaker 1>the essence. If you can't get a window open, head

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<v Speaker 1>to the backseat of the car, where water will fill in. Last,

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<v Speaker 1>take a deep breath, and try to get a door

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<v Speaker 1>open once the pressure is equalized. It's scary to think

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<v Speaker 1>that you might need to prepare for an incident that

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<v Speaker 1>traps you in your car, but experts do agree that

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<v Speaker 1>it's better to acknowledge the possibility. If you have a

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<v Speaker 1>tool with an easy reach and you have some idea

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<v Speaker 1>of what to do, you'll save crucial seconds that could

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<v Speaker 1>make all the difference. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article how to Escape a sinking car on how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, written by Scherise three. Whit brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts from my Heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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