Your car is sinking in water before you can get out. Where does the manual tell you to go inside the vehicle?
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A.
Into the driver's footwell, which stays dry longest.
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B.
Into the back seat, where an air pocket can form. Correct
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C.
Into the trunk area through the rear seat.
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D.
Under the dashboard for structural protection.
The answer is "Into the back seat, where an air pocket can form."
The manual says the engine's weight pulls a sinking car down front-first, and an air pocket forms in the back seat where you can take a breath before escaping through a window. Choice C tempts readers who assume the highest sealed space traps the most air, missing that the trunk is walled off from the cabin.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Into the driver's footwell, which stays dry longest.
The engine's weight pulls the front down; the footwell fills first. This answer reasons about the car sinking level, when the front actually goes under first.
C. Into the trunk area through the rear seat.
The manual points to the back seat as the air pocket, not the trunk. This answer assumes the sealed rear space traps the most air, missing that the trunk is walled off from the cabin.
D. Under the dashboard for structural protection.
The manual describes an air pocket, not a crumple zone. This answer treats the dashboard like a crash brace, applying front-collision thinking to a submersion.
This question tests your knowledge of Crash Procedures in New York. Source: New York State Driver's Manual, "Driving Emergencies: Going Into Water," p.66..
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