Getting railroaded

If your car gets stuck on railroad tracks, the Registry driver's manual says, get out quickly and get as far away as you can. (George Rizer/Globe Staff/file 2006)

It's fairly insane to think that your car could stall out the exact moment you're crossing railroad tracks. The chances are just so remote, the thought's hardly worth considering. But wouldn't you like to know how to escape anyway, if only to impress others with your acutely honed survival skills?

We continue this week with more worst-case driving scenarios. For further reading, see pages 110 through 112 of the current Registry of Motor Vehicles' driver's manual.

Train's a-coming

A million cars traverse railroad tracks every day in Massachusetts, but it takes just one getting struck to make major headlines. The driver's manual recommends these two steps above all others:

1) Get out of the vehicle and get as far away from the tracks as you can. Try to signal the conductor from a safe distance.

2) To avoid being hit by debris, run in the direction the train is coming from.

I spoke with Stephen Jones, deputy director of railroad operations for the MBTA, to ask his personal take on such an emergency.

He agreed that your first reaction should be to get away from the car as fast as possible. You should not try to push the car out of the way - at least, not until you have more information about when the next train's coming.

Most might phone the police if their car was stuck on the tracks, but Jones says there's someone even better to call.

"At every crossing, there's a silver box that houses the computer device that makes the crossing arms go up and down," he said. "On the side of the box is a 1-800 number that goes directly to a human, someone who will take your information and give it directly to a train dispatcher to tell them to stop the train."

Your call might even go straight to the MBTA's 24-hour-a-day dispatch center, where the person who answers will literally shout aloud to stop the train, Jones said. Once you know that no train will be coming around the bend, you can safely attempt to push your car out of the way, Jones said.

The driver's manual merely says to listen for an approaching train before trying to push your car, but Jones was adamant that drivers should stay away from the tracks until a train dispatcher stops all oncoming trains. Trains can move deceptively fast, they can run fairly quietly because of improved tracks, some communities have bans on train whistles, and track sight-lines aren't always good, he said.

If a train is already within sight - again, sounds crazy, but you never know - you can attempt to signal the driver by waving your hands horizontally back and forth across your chest, sort of like a baseball umpire giving the safe signal over and over again.

If a crash is imminent, don't stand anywhere beyond the point of impact, as the train will push your vehicle farther down or off the tracks. When it's train versus car, the car never, ever wins, Jones said.

In the drink

Two weeks ago, I wrote about what to do if your car catches fire. But how should you react if your vehicle plunges into water?

As with any emergency, try to stay as calm as possible, said Trooper Patrick Foley of the State Police Underwater Recovery Unit. Most people can last four or five minutes underwater before blacking out, Foley said, so you will have at least a little time to react to the situation.

Your first move, without question, should be to lower the windows. That might sound counterintuitive - after all, if you put down the windows, won't the car just fill up with water faster? But Foley and the driver's manual dismiss that argument rather easily.

First, your car is going to sink even if the windows are up, as water will pour in through your air vents and any other cracks in the interior. (Most cars will be buoyant for about a minute if the doors are closed, Foley said.) Second, once underwater, the pressure on your windows will be so great that you might not be able to open them - and an open window is likely your only means of escape.

"You can kick windows open but it takes a lot of strength. My wife - I don't think there's a way she could break a window without hitting it with something heavy. And typically, there's nothing in the car that's going to be that heavy," Foley said.

If your vehicle has power windows, it's imperative that you get them down as fast as possible, as your car's electrical circuitry will be one of the first things to fail once in water.

After at least one window is down, take a moment to memorize your exact location in the car (front seat or back) and your relationship to the open window (is it on the left or right side of the car). If this step sounds unnecessary, keep in mind that your visibility might be less than a foot once the car descends into underwater darkness. If others are in the car, tell them to do the same.

Then unfasten your seat belt, and swim out.

"Once you get out of the vehicle, get as far away from the vehicle as you can, as any time something sinks there's a little bit of back suction that could pull you under the water," Foley said. "Your best option is to swim back toward the shore line, but if the car is between you and the shore, go around it."

A few other notes about sinking cars. Don't try to open the doors as the car is sinking, "because doing so would cause water to rush in and your vehicle could turn over on top of you," the manual says.

Vehicles generally sink nose-first because of the weight of the engine. "If your vehicle sinks before you can get out, climb into the rear seat. An air pocket may form there," the manual says. "When the vehicle settles, take a deep breath and escape through a window."

Foley says it might be a good idea to have something in the cabin of your vehicle that you could use to smash open a side window, maybe even a "Life Hammer" or "Safety Stick," brands of small hammers designed especially for such underwater escapes.