Ultimate Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

by David Borgenicht

  6 Lift your feet off the pedals.

  Remove your feet from both the brake and accelerator pedals to avoid having your ankles and shins crushed on impact.

  7 Close your eyes.

  Protect your vision by closing your eyes tightly. Most cars have shatter-resistant glass, but it may not hold together in certain impacts.

  HOW TO BAIL OUT OF A CAR AT HIGH SPEEDS

  1 Look for the best place to bail out.

  Try to bail out into a body of water or into foliage. Failing that, drive as close to the curbside as possible to avoid leaping into traffic.

  2 Unbuckle your seat belt.

  Steer the car with one hand as you unbuckle the seat belt with the other. Bring the lap and chest belts fully clear of your body to avoid entanglement.

  3 Tuck your chin.

  Close your mouth tightly and angle your neck down until your chin rests on your breastbone.

  4 Brace your feet.

  Remove both feet from the pedals and place them squarely on the floorboards of the vehicle, in front of the pedals.

  5 Open the door.

  In one swift movement, grasp the door handle and fling open the door of the vehicle.

  6 Spring out of the car.

  As soon as the door is completely open, push against the floor of the car with both feet to throw your body upward and outward from the car.

  7 Cross your arms.

  With each hand, grab the opposite shoulder tightly, keeping your arms across your chest.

  8 Land and roll.

  As you hit the ground, roll as far from the car as possible, to avoid your rear wheels and other cars.

  HOW TO SURVIVE A ROLLOVER

  1 Pull your feet off the pedals.

  As the car starts to roll, lift your feet from the brake and accelerator pedals and tuck them under the seat to keep your ankles from breaking against the floor of the vehicle.

  2 Let go of the wheel.

  If you are hanging on to the wheel when the car slams into the ground again, the impact will be transmitted through your entire body. Once the car has begun to roll, turning the wheel will not have any effect.

  3 Cross your arms over your chest.

  Keep your arms and hands as far as possible from the windows of the car as the window side slams into the ground.

  4 Brace yourself with your feet.

  Once the car is upside down, find purchase somewhere with both feet, either on the windshield, the driver’s side window, or the ceiling of the car.

  5 Count to 60.

  Remain still and suspended from your seat belt until you are certain that your vehicle has stopped moving, and that any other vehicles involved in the accident have stopped moving and are not sliding across the roadway into yours.

  6 Check yourself for injuries.

  While hanging on to the seat belt with one hand, pat your body with the other hand to check for injuries. Run your hand through your hair and over your scalp. In case of any injury, do not move.

  7 If you appear to be uninjured, reach up and stabilize yourself.

  As you are dangling from the seat belt, slowly bring one hand up and lay it firmly against the ceiling of the car.

  8 Unfasten your seat belt.

  When you are certain that your weight is fully supported by your hands and feet, undo your seat belt and drop down onto the ceiling.

  9 Get out of the car.

  Check for oncoming traffic. Open the door and exit the vehicle. Get clear of the roadway and await emergency personnel.

  Support your weight against the ceiling of the car and unfasten your seat belt.

  WARNING!

  Rollovers occur when a driver loses control of the vehicle and it slides sideways and hits a “trip,” such as a curb or guardrail. A second common cause is when a driver takes a turn or curve too quickly.

  Rollovers account for only 3 percent of total accidents but cause about a quarter of fatal crashes. More than half of the people killed in single-vehicle crashes die in rollovers.

  Many rollover injuries occur after the accident itself, when the victim unbuckles her seat belt and falls to the roof of the car.

  Rollovers are more common in pickup trucks than cars—mostly in SUVs, defined as passenger vehicles with high ground clearance (generally eight inches or higher) and with the same platform as a truck.

  Always wear your seat belt.

  CAR MANEUVERING

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  HOW TO RAM A CAR/BARRICADE

  1 Disable your air bag, if you can.

  It will deploy on impact and will obstruct your view after it deploys.

  2 Wear a seat belt.

  3 Accelerate to at least 25 mph.

  Do not go too fast—keeping the car at a slow speed will allow you to maintain control without slowing down. Then, just before impact, increase your speed to greater than 30 mph to deliver a disabling crunch to the rear wheel of the obstacle car.

  4 Ram the front passenger side of your car into the obstacle car at its rear wheel, at a 90-degree angle (the cars should be perpendicular).

  5 If you are unable to hit a car in the rear, go for the front-right corner.

  Avoid hitting the car squarely in the side; this will not move it out of your way.

  6 The car should spin out of your way—hit the gas, and keep moving.

  WARNING!

  Ramming a car to move it out of your way is not easy or safe, but there are some methods that work better than others and some that will minimize the damage to your vehicle. The best way to hit a car blocking your path is to clip the very rear of it, about one foot from the rear bumper. The rear is the lightest part of a car, and it will move relatively easily. Hitting it in the rear can also disable the car—with the rear wheel crushed, you have time to get away without being pursued.

  HOW TO DRIVE DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS

  1 Aim.

  Set your eyes on a spot dead center over the horizon of the staircase. Steer the car toward that spot.

  2 Floor it.

  When you are 20 feet from the stairs, slam your foot down on the accelerator to get a burst of speed approaching the lip.

  3 Shut your mouth.

  Pull your tongue back in your mouth and grit your teeth to keep them from knocking together as the car bounces down the stairs.

  Ram the obstacle car with the passenger side of your car, and deliver a disabling crunch to its rear wheel.

  If you are unable to hit the car in the rear, go for the front-right corner.

  4 Grip the wheel.

  Hold on to the wheel tightly, and steer to counterbalance each time the car jerks one way or the other as it bounces forward.

  5 Lift your foot from the accelerator.

  As the front bumper crosses the lip of the top stair, lift up your feet. Further acceleration is unnecessary as gravity pulls your vehicle forward, and leaving your feet on the pedals will cause your shins to absorb the shock as the car bangs down the steps.

  6 Floor it again.

  When you feel the back wheel hit the bottom stair, bring your right foot back down on the pedal and give another burst of speed to keep your back bumper from catching on the lip of the bottom step.

  7 Even out.

  Hold tightly to the wheel, and steer to regain control of the vehicle.

  HOW TO PERFORM A FAST 180-DEGREE TURN

  From Reverse

  1 Put the car in reverse.

  2 Select a spot straight ahead. Keep your eyes on it, and begin backing up.

  3 Jam on the gas.

  4 Cut the wheel sharply 90 degrees around (a quarter turn) as you simultaneously drop the transmission into drive.

  Make sure you have enough speed to use the momentum of the car to swing it around, but remember that going too fast (greater than 45 mph) can be dangerous and may flip the car (and strip your gears). Turning the wheel left will swing the rear of the car left; turning it right will swing the car right.

  5 When the car has complet
ed the turn, step on the gas and head off.

  From Drive

  1 While in drive, or a forward gear, accelerate to a moderate rate of speed (anything faster than 45 mph risks flipping the car).

  2 Slip the car into neutral to prevent the front wheels from spinning.

  3 Take your foot off the gas, and turn the wheel 90 degrees (a quarter turn) while pulling hard on the emergency brake.

  4 As the rear swings around, return the wheel to its original position and put the car back into drive.

  5 Step on the gas to start moving in the direction from which you came.

  *At speeds no greater than 45 mph.

  The 180-degree turn while moving forward is more difficult for the following reasons:

  • It is easier to swing the front of the car around, because it is heavier and it will move faster with momentum.

  • It is harder to maintain control of the rear of the car—it is lighter and will slip more easily than the front. Spinning out of control or flipping the car is a potential danger.

  • Road conditions can play a significant role in the suc cess—and safety—of this maneuver. Any surface without sufficient traction (dirt, mud, ice, gravel) will make quick turns harder and collisions more likely.

  HOW TO EVADE A PURSUING CAR

  Escape Method

  1 Identify the pursuer.

  Note the make, the model, the color, and any other distinguishing features (including the number of passengers) of the pursuing vehicle to help keep track of it in your escape, especially if it is a common vehicle type.

  2 Drive to a high-traffic environment.

  3 Drive fast.

  Stay ahead of the flow of traffic.

  4 Weave in and out of lanes.

  Look for gaps between cars, and suddenly speed up to shift into the gaps. Do not signal your lane changes.

  5 Turn frequently and unexpectedly.

  When possible, turn right out of the far left lane, or left out of the far right lane.

  6 Seek cover near large vehicles.

  Get as many large, eye-line-blocking vehicles as possible between you and your pursuer. Ride with one truck or bus in front of you and another behind, and then follow the front vehicle into a turn.

  7 Accelerate through yellow lights.

  When you see a traffic light turn yellow, slow until just before it will turn red, then accelerate through the intersection at the last moment. Watch for oncoming traffic.

  8 Pitch your pursuer through a yellow light.

  When you see a traffic light turn yellow, and your pursuer is slightly behind you but not in your lane, speed up to the light as if you intend to speed through it. At the last second, slam on your brakes and let your pursuer speed through the light. Check for oncoming traffic, and then turn.

  Disabling Method

  1 Drive normally.

  Do not let on that you know you are being followed.

  2 Situate your car so that your pursuer is directly behind you.

  If your pursuer is trying to maintain his distance, slow down sufficiently so that the traffic between your cars will accelerate to pass you.

  3 Accelerate gently.

  Once your car is directly in front of your pursuer, accelerate gently to put 20 or 30 feet of road between your vehicles.

  4 Slam on the brakes and throw the car in reverse.

  Weave in and out of lanes. Do not signal your lane changes.

  5 Accelerate backward into your pursuer’s car.

  Striking your pursuer’s front bumper going at least 15 mph will cause his air bag to deploy, locking the starter of his vehicle.

  6 Put the car in drive and accelerate forward.

  Drive away quickly.

  TRAPPED IN THE CAR

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  HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A SINKING CAR

  1 As soon as you hit the water, open your window.

  This is your best chance of escape, because opening the door will be very difficult given the outside water pressure. Opening the windows allows water to come in and equalize the pressure. Once the water pressure inside and outside the car is equal, you’ll be able to open the door.

  2 If your power windows won’t work or you cannot roll your windows down all the way, attempt to break the glass with your foot or shoulder or a heavy object such as an anti-theft steering wheel lock.

  3 Get out.

  Do not worry about leaving anything behind unless it is another person. Vehicles with the engine in front will sink at a steep angle. If the water is 15 feet or deeper, the vehicle may end up on its roof, upside down. For this reason, you must get out as soon as possible, while the car is still afloat. Depending on the vehicle, floating time will range from a few seconds to a few minutes. The more airtight the car, the longer it floats. Air in the car will quickly be forced out through the trunk and cab, and an air bubble is unlikely to remain once the car hits bottom. Get out as early as possible.

  4 If you are unable to open the window or break it, you have one final option.

  Remain calm and do not panic. Wait until the car begins filling with water. When the water reaches your head, take a deep breath and hold it. Now the pressure should be equalized inside and outside, and you should be able to open the door and swim to the surface.

  BE AWARE!

  You can purchase and keep in your car a purpose-built window-breaking hammer or a spring-loaded center punch, either of which will be much quicker and more reliable than your foot or a random blunt object.

  Drive with the windows slightly open and the doors unlocked whenever you are near water or are driving on ice.

  Recommended Items Always to Have in the Trunk

  Local map, atlas, or GPS system

  Crank or battery-powered radio and batteries

  Large flashlight and batteries

  Matches or lighter

  Basic automotive tool kit

  First aid kit

  Emergency flares

  Spare tire

  Jack

  Jumper cables

  Three days’ worth of non-perishable food

  Six quarts of water per adult passenger

  Duct tape

  Pepper spray, emergency whistle

  Collapsible shovel

  Ice scraper, rock salt (for cold weather)

  Insulated sleeping bag

  Two two-by-fours

  Rain poncho and boots

  License and registration

  Phone charger

  Emergency roadside assistance phone number

  Car owner’s manual

  HOW TO ESCAPE FROM THE TRUNK OF THE CAR

  1 If you are in a trunk that has no wall separating the backseats and the trunk, try to get the seats down.

  Although the release for most seats is inside the passenger compartment, you may be able to fold or force them down from the trunk side. (If not, continue to step 2.)

  2 Check for a trunk cable underneath the carpet or upholstery.

  Many new cars have a trunk release lever on the floor below the driver’s seat. These cars should have a cable that runs from the release lever to the trunk. Look for the cable beneath carpeting or upholstery, or behind a panel of sheet metal. If you locate the cable, pull on it to release the trunk latch. (If not, continue to step 3.)

  3 Look for a tool in the trunk.

  Many cars have emergency kits inside the trunk, underneath or with the spare tire. These kits may contain a screwdriver, flashlight, or pry bar. Use a screwdriver or pry bar to pry the latch open. You can also pry the corner of the trunk lid up and wave and yell to signal passersby. (If there is no tool, continue to step 4.)

  4 Dismantle the car’s brake lights by yanking wires and pushing or kicking the lights out.

  Then wave and yell to signal passersby or other cars. This method is also recommended if the car is moving and you need to signal cars behind you.

  WARNING!

  No car trunk is airtight, so the danger of suffocation in a car trunk
is low. Breathe regularly and do not panic—panic increases the danger of your hyperventilating and passing out. Keep in mind, however, that on a hot day the interior temperature of a car trunk can reach 140°F. Work quickly but calmly.

  If there is a trunk cable beneath carpeting or upholstery, pull it to release the lock. If not, look under the spare tire for tools to pry the latch.

  Bring only what you really need.

  HOW TO SURVIVE A FAMILY CAR TRIP

  1 Line the seats with a large bath towel or sheet.

  The cover will protect the backseat and expedite cleanup later.

  2 Leave early.

  Start a long trip early—before dawn—to ensure that kids will be sleepy and will nap for the first few hours of the ride. If they awaken at or near rush hour, pull over to avoid traffic and get a break from driving.

  3 Bring along a few key items, but only what you really need.

  Essential items include snacks, games, open-ended creative toys, and passive entertainment devices (such as music players and portable DVD players).

  4 Make frequent stops.

  Do not expect small children to sit still for more than an hour or two at a time. Make frequent rest stops to switch drivers, stretch, throw a ball, run around, and use the bathroom. These stops also serve to fend off carsickness and keep the driver alert.

  BICYCLES

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