Naijacarnews is always providing you with car tips and advice to help you drive safely while plying the road, in order to avoid an accident. However, we aren't going to rule out the possibility of an accident happening. If you happen to be involved in a car crash whereby your car swerves off a bridge and the next thing is it's plunging into an ocean or river, what will you do?

Professional rescuers have told us what to do and we'll be sharing them with you here on this post: How to escape from a sinking car.

They've lined up some steps to follow, which, according to them, will have to be completed in a minute before the vehicle sinks and gets flooded with water.

Pull yourself together after the car get through the safety barrier is vital before following these steps below

Let's check out!

1. Don't open the door

It’s a waste of time when you try to do it as it won't open. This is because the pressure coming from the water will be pressing on the door from the outside.

1. Unsnap/remove your seat belt

2. Lower your car window

Professional rescuers advise that you shouldn't try to break the windshield as it’s made from laminated safety glasses. They are strong and crash-resistant too.

There's another option. Make use of a heavy object that has a spear-shaped tip (Be sure to keep such type of object inside your car for emergencies). It might be a wrench, hammer or even a heavy screwdriver. If these aren't available, then make do with a detachable headrest (use the metal area to hit the glass), your elbow or a stiletto heel if you are wearing one. The spot to aim for when hitting the windows are the corners, they happen to be more fragile in that area.

You have the most important 1 minute to escape the car before it sinks

It’s your only chance of saving yourself. If your car has a manual window, it's going to make your escape easy. But don't lose hope if it's power windows. A test conducted revealed that a car's electronics will keep working for about 10 minutes when it sinks.

If you can't open the window or break it, use the door. This escape method is the most controversial as it involves you waiting to have the car filled up with water so that the pressure that's inside the car and the one outside will equal out. When you've done that, breathe in air, open the door of your car and then swim out to safety.

3. Then climb out of the vehicle

You are not always lucky like this Chinese woman to sink into a shallow puddle

If you have children inside, the car rescuers advise that you follow these steps of actions.

Detach your car safety belt and lower the side window, unfasten the seatbelts of your older child first and shove him or her out of the vehicle. Also, do the same thing for your younger child. After doing this, you should leave your car yourself. With these steps, everyone will get a better chance of surviving.

Note this: when water starts filling up the inside of the car, hold the door handle tightly and don't forget that the door is not going to open easily. You may end up shivering with your feet.

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