Link

Thanks for posting this, Hookpunch.

30 seconds to 2 minutes. guessing that is due to different interior capacites, IE club cab truck vs SUV. I wonder if front driver window exit holds true if you have more than one child with you. Thinking in my Explorer if I had 2 kids in back it might be easier to move them to the cargo area and go out the back wider window. Point of interest would be to know how much glass the punch would clear on the back window though.

Also I have heard many say they have "A" punch located _______ . I have not heard anyone say 1 here for me and 1 here in case I have a passenger. If you only have 1 punch are you and your passenger both going out the same window, trying to hand it off to them, or would it be a good idea to have 2 punches and break at the same time. I'm not sure sharing 1 would work so well since as soon as you puncture a window water will rush in. During that time it would be very easy to miss the hand off even if the person holding it first remembered to let go of the punch in a panicked situation. Gonna have to think about this one.

Wow--nice article. Thanks very much.

A car sinking in deep water poses one of the most difficult survival challenges that a family can face. There have been some realistic video's and tests done on this situation - they show that you've got very little time to do the right things and survive. It would be much harder still for a family minivan where there are both parents and kids in the vehicle.

Yes- the conclusion was to punch out the vehicle windows with a sharp tool. Fortunately the side windows will shatter. But you have to take this step VERY quickly. And as someone also noted, in a multiple-occupant situation you would really need to punch out several windows. I'm not sure kids could do this in a scary situation (or at all), so a parent would have to somehow get back in the vehicle. Hard to do ... maybe not impossible. But probably one of the most stressful experiences that a parent or adult would go through.

Pete

Thanks for posting the article, which I'm going to send around

My wife has first hand experience being in a sinking car... flipped upside down in a river/creek...

Anyone have questions for her I`ll gladly ask.

-Todd

One thing I did think about was carseat placement. Typically my daughter goes in the middle. Were I to be around water I would move her to either side. Reason, if you've ever tried to slide into the backseat from the front it is easier going straight back and not at an angle. Even more important if you are going to have to pass them back up to the front and then climb back up there yourself, all before you even break the window.

Thinking about a backseat it already nerve wracking. I would not like to be in a position of having a van or extended SUV (Suburban, Expidition), or anything with a 3rd row of seats with people in them. 3rd row really make you start thinking about how many punches you need. And if more than 1 punch, do you need to have a drill with your family to practice that you will all unbuckle and punch at the same time.

Good article, Hook; thanks. There are some good videos on YouTube about escaping a sinking car.

Dr. Giesbrecht has done some great work on surviving cold water immersion as well.

How long does it take you parents to get a child/baby out of a car seat under normal conditions? In a sinking car, would you be fumbling for the connections or just ripping through them with the belt cutter tool?

Was it here at ETS that someone said it's easier to cut a seatbelt on the diagonal than straight across?

Sue