You're stuck in traffic
in the middle of a large bridge,
and the ground begins shaking violently.
Suddenly, the bridge cracks open,
and the cars in front
of you start falling into the hole.
This bridge is collapsing,
and there's nowhere to run.
How can you get out alive?
There are more than 617,000 bridges
across the United States,
and almost half of them are at least
50 years old.
The American Society of Civil Engineers
ranked the U.S.
bridges for maintenance and safety.
On a scale of A to F,
they earned a C+.
So perhaps you'd better prepare
for impact.
On a typical Wednesday evening
in August 2007,
the Interstate 35W bridge
in Minneapolis collapsed.
The cars and the people inside
them fell over six stories
into the Mississippi River.
The majority of people survived,
but 15 people died.
If you find yourself on one of the 128 U.S.
bridges that collapse every year,
here’s what you can do to survive.
"What?"
Whether you’re falling into the water
or onto solid ground,
you're more likely to live
if you roll down your windows.
On land,
closed windows can suffocate
you by preventing oxygen
from entering the vehicle.
Also,
they could muffle your screams
and make it harder for rescuers
to find you.
And, water's pressure will trap
you in your car once it is submerged.
So, roll down your windows
and climb out of your car
as soon as possible.
If the windows are stuck,
you can break them with something like
an ice scraper.
Aim for the edges of the window.
"What?
I put my seatbelt."
One reason why people have survived falling
dozens of meters (or feet)
is the safety features in vehicles,
such as the seatbelt.
Don’t even think of removing
it until you’re certain that the impact is over
and you’ve landed.
Prematurely removing the seat belt
could cause you to knock your head
on something and become unconscious.
If you’re not conscious,
you can’t help yourself
or scream to help rescuers find you.
"One,
two,
three."
One of the main reasons a bridge collapses
is its wear and tear.
Think of every car around you.
Those tons and tons of steel
could have weakened the bridge and suddenly,
at this very moment,
it collapses.
In the United States,
vehicles take 178 million trips
across these structurally deficient bridges
every single day.
Which one will be the final trip
before it breaks?
When you enter a bridge
it is critically important
to look for any cracks,
and listen for odd sounds from the bridge.
If you find any of those signs
do not cross the bridge.
Most bridges fall the same way,
a little at a time,
and then all at once.
To survive
you need to either get off
the bridge in a split second,
which is not always possible,
or use the resources around
you after the fall to call for help.
Use the car horn to make a loud noise.
Your battery could die
but this could help rescuers find you faster.
If you’re on a bridge
that has started to fall apart,
do not try to drive away from it.
The bridge itself
could make your vehicle drop straight
down on top of pieces of the bridge
before hitting the water.
But water can provide some cushioning,
and save your life.
If you’re severely injured,
stay put and yell for help.
And wait for the rescue team to come to you.
Don’t panic,
and remember that your odds
of dying in a bridge collapse
are one in several million.
You’re more likely to die of a lightning strike.
But don’t worry,
we've covered that too,
here on How to Survive.