How do people drown in their cars? Assuming they are still conscious why are they unable to escape out the door or window?
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Because the pressure difference blocks them from opening the door until the whole car is filled up with water. Panic, seatbelts and many other things can contribute as well.
The pressure of the water is so high that opening a door/window gets harder as the car drowns.
That’s why it’s almost always needed to break a window from inside.
Don’t know the physics, tho.
It’s pretty tough to get the door open until the car is full. If you don’t have the time to open the windows, or the windows stop working, you essentially have to wait until the car fills and then figure it out.
If you crashed the car, it could jam the door shut. It could also cause you to be trapped in the car and unable to move.
It’s a SUPER stressful situation. If you aren’t prepared for it, it’s going to be tough to think clearly.
The biggest reason is water pressure for the doors. The deeper you get the heavier the water is because there is more and more water pushing against your doors. Think of it as if you’re holding a bucket of water over your head, the more water that gets added above you makes the bucket heavier, it’s the same idea in oceans and lakes, the deeper you get the heavier it gets.
If they’re electronic windows they could malfunction/short circuit. I’m not sure if the water pressure rule above applies to windows as greatly but it would to some extent.
Basically unless you reacted quickly, it becomes very hard to escape a car. To your point though, I doubt many conscious people do die unless they’re trying to save a loved one. I imagine most deaths occur because the person is initially unconscious and wakes up when it’s too late.
Pressure. Once the car hits the water you have a very limited time to open the door before the outside pressure prevents it.
You can not open the doors when there is full of water outside. You either have to open the doors immediately as you enter the water or when the entire car is submerged. That is of course assuming that the impact with the water did not distort the frame of the car so much that the door can not be opened at all. Secondly when the car fills with water this is not the same type of water that you might know from the community pool. It is cold, dark and muddy. Even all the dirt from the carpet and trash in the car will come up and hit you in the face. You then have to find the seat belt release without being able to see and your fingers numb from the cold so you can not feel. And in the dark water with all the confusion it can even be hard to find the door even though it is right next to you.
As others have commented the water pressure outside the door makes it impossible to push it open and the water will short the electric windows pretty quickly. Once the inside of the car fills with water you do have a marginal window of time to open the door and swim out, the problem with this is that once the car has enough water inside of it to be able to open the door, many people are panicking to much to even know how to open their door anymore.
If you ever find yourself in this situation (or any unfortunate situation really) the most important thing is to remain calm and not panick. Just think things through.
Maybe try to find something to break the window out with. But if the water level is above the window, be prepared for the tidal wave of water thats gonna come rushing in.(again don’t panick, just hang on and wait a few seconds for the water to equalize and then swim out. If a person panicks they are only wasting air and energy)
To add to the replies: the water you fall into is generally not transparent. So you are also blind.
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