it is literally a nightmare scenario for some parents your car in the water your child in the back but experts say there is a way to help your child survive if you can remember four words in this order seat belt window child out rescue workers visibly upset unable to save two little girls from this car submerged in the Petaluma River a painfully familiar scene just last week sisters Caitlin and Hailey drown when the truck they were riding in plunged into another Northern California waterway a woman came up shortly after that screaming my babies my babies it's a scenario that automobile submersion researchers say is far too common in the United States about 300 to 400 people a year drown in cars and that accounts for up to 10 percent of all drownings and dr. Gordon Giesbrecht says 10 percent is significant especially considering his research shows these accidents are survivable if you can remember seat belt window children out you can't go anywhere if your seat bills didn't he says as soon as you hit the water seat belt off unbuckle immediately next the window open it or break it then get the kids out unbuckling them oldest to youngest the key pushing them out before you once you get out of the vehicle it becomes very difficult for you to get back into the car to get somebody though when it comes to accidents involving kids he believes a car seat chest clip is likely to blame for many deaths critical to keeping kids safe in a crash he says the non-uniform clips can be cumbersome and prevent a quick escape while emergency release technology was patented nearly a decade ago manufacturers point out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't require car seats have emergency release there needs to be something standardized and simple where everybody can do it now we are unaware of any car seat on the market that has quick-release technology we asked Nitsa the agency that regulates car seats if it has ever researched or considered mandating quick-release technology the agency says it is researching an answer to that question for us in the meantime experts say consider practicing unbuckling your child with your eyes closed and make sure that anyone who drives around with your child knows how to quickly get them out of their car seats in San Francisco I'm Julie Watts