You and a friend are driving back
from a hike.
The road is twisty
and you’re going downhill.
You come around a curve and there’s
a rock in the middle of your path.
Panicking, you swerve around it.
But you swerve too fast and too far,
and now you don’t have control of your car.
It breaks through the guardrails
and comes to a sudden stop.
You’ve just had a run-off-road,
or ROR, crash
Out of the 3 million people a year
that are injured in car accidents,
ROR crashes make up a large portion
of fatalities and serious injuries.
Take Matthew Sitko,
who in 2015 careened off a cliff in
Lewiston, Idaho.
Luckily for him,
Jason Warnock spotted his SUV
dangerously teetering off the
9m (30ft) cliff from below.
Warnock quickly came to Sitko’s rescue.
He was able to convince the disoriented
man to roll down the passenger window.
Warnock grabbed Sitko’s arm
and pulled him out of the
dangling vehicle to safety.
Take a deep breath and orient yourself.
If your vehicle is stable
and you’re in a populated area,
then you should stay put.
Someone will notice you soon,
if they haven’t already,
and help will be on the way.
If help is not available,
or your vehicle is moving,
then you need to exit the car.
"Nobody move!"
Whatever you do,
move cautiously and slowly.
It’s also important to keep the car
balanced to avoid any further shifting.
So if there are multiple people in the car,
you need to exit on opposite sides
at the same time.
Your priority is making sure that the
car doesn’t lose the precarious grip
it has on that cliff.
If the front doors are over land,
then this is your best bet.
Slowly open the front door
and cautiously escape the car.
Remember to coordinate your movement
with your buddy to keep the car balanced.
Unfortunately, the front of your car is
hanging in air
You’re going to have to exit through
the back doors.
First, carefully recline your front seat.
Now slowly crawl over that
front seat to get to the back seat.
Open the back door and
escape the dangling death trap.
So, you can’t exit through the doors at all.
That’s too bad.
Your next best option?
Any windows.
Front, back, side,
whichever ones are safely over land.
If lowering the back window isn’t possible,
then you’re going to have to break it.
This would be a great time to have
a handy vehicle escape tool within reach.
But if you don’t,
then use your headrest.
Detach it from its seat,
aim the metal prongs at the center of the
car window and smash it.
Knock away any sharp,
lingering glass from the window frame
before scrambling through.
Good job.
Now you and your friend are out of the car
and are once again safely on solid ground.
Except it seems your car has landed
on a ledge below the road
and there’s no way back up.
Basically, you’re stranded,
and it might take a while before anyone
drives by and notices you.
But fear not.
Learn what to do in this new situation,
and others,
by watching How to Survive.