You’re setting up pool umbrellas on a quiet morning, thinking about nothing more complicated than sunscreen or shift rotations. Then you hear a massive crunch of metal and wood. You spin around, and there’s a sleek Tesla sitting perfectly upright in the middle of the deep end.
It sounds like a terrible action movie scene, but it just happened at the Steve Benko Pool in Waveny Park, located in New Canaan, Connecticut.
A driver trying to park his electric vehicle somehow hit the accelerator instead of the brake. The car rocketed between a couple of trees, smashed clean through a boundary fence, and plunged directly into the public water.
Lifeguard Mike D'Urso didn't hesitate. He jumped straight into the water alongside arriving local police officers. Together, they shattered one of the Tesla’s windows and dragged the conscious driver to safety before the cabin fully filled with water.
While the internet cracks jokes about "carpooling" or hidden submarine modes, this freak accident highlights a terrifying reality of modern electric vehicles. When a massive battery pack meets 100,000 gallons of water, survival isn't as simple as opening a door.
The Myth of the Easy Underwater Escape
Pop culture tells us that if your car ends up underwater, you just roll down the window or push the door open. In reality, physics fights you every second.
When a car submerges, the weight of the outside water exerts thousands of pounds of pressure against the doors. You can’t push them open. It’s physically impossible until the water levels inside and outside equalize. By that time, you're likely out of air.
With traditional vehicles, electric windows usually short out instantly when water hits the door panels. Teslas present an even modern wrinkle. They rely entirely on electronic latches to open the doors from the inside under normal conditions.
If the vehicle loses power due to a sudden immersion or battery short, the standard door buttons stop working. Teslas do have manual release levers. On a Model 3 or Model Y, it’s a physical lever located right in front of the window switches on the front doors. But let’s be honest. In a moment of absolute panic, while water is rushing around your ankles, how many people remember the hidden mechanical emergency backup lever?
D'Urso and the New Canaan police had to physically smash the window to pull the driver out. If they hadn't been right there on the pool deck to act instantly, the outcome could have been fatal.
Why Electric Cars Make Water Rescues Completely Different
When a gas car goes into a lake or a pool, emergency crews worry about fuel leaks and oil contamination. When it's an electric vehicle, the playbook changes completely.
The Stamford Fire Department’s heavy rescue and dive teams had to assist New Canaan emergency crews to pull the vehicle out. The immediate concern for the fire department wasn't just the weight of the car, but the massive lithium-ion battery pack sitting along the floorboards.
Interim Fire Chief William Perritt noted that responders had to develop a highly specific plan to extract the vehicle because of the battery. Lithium-ion batteries are sealed well, but extreme physical impact followed by submersion creates a high-stakes guessing game.
- Weight challenges: Teslas are incredibly heavy compared to similar gas cars. A Model Y weights around 4,400 pounds due to the battery pack. Lifting that dead weight straight out of a deep pool requires massive cranes and precise strap placement.
- The shock factor: While electric vehicles have automatic disconnects designed to isolate the high-voltage system during a crash, rescue workers still have to treat the water with extreme caution until they verify the battery casing isn’t compromised.
- The delayed thermal runaway: The real danger often starts after the car gets pulled out. If water breaches the battery cells, it can cause a chemical short circuit hours or days later. This leads to a thermal runaway fire that burns at over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot be easily extinguished with water.
Local officials had to load the waterlogged vehicle onto a specialized flatbed truck, watching it closely for signs of smoke or heat generation long after it left the park.
What Happens to the Pool Now
You can’t just scoop out the car, throw in some extra chlorine, and let kids back in the water.
New Canaan Parks and Recreation director John Howe confirmed that the community pool will remain shut down for days. The entire facility requires a massive cleanup operation.
First, crews have to drain every single gallon of water. They must scrub down the concrete shell to remove any traces of shattered glass, pulverized fiberglass from the fence, brake fluid, and mechanical grease. After a thorough power washing, the pool must be refilled, chemically balanced, and inspected by health officials. It's a costly, tedious process that punishes local families during peak summer weeks.
How to Survive an Emergency Submersion
If your car ever takes an unexpected dive into a body of water, you have a window of roughly 60 seconds to act before things turn critical. Don't wait for the car to sink, and don't try to call for help while inside. Follow these steps immediately:
- Unbuckle instantly: Get your seatbelt off and help any passengers do the same.
- Open the window immediately: Do this the very second the car hits the water. Your power windows will usually function for a few brief moments before the electronics short out.
- Break it if it's stuck: If the windows won't roll down, you need a physical escape tool. Keep a spring-loaded window punch tool in your center console or glove box. Aim for the corners of the side windows, never the windshield, which is made of laminated glass and won't shatter.
- Get out face first: Exit through the open window before the cabin fills completely.
Don't panic about your phone, your wallet, or the car itself. None of it matters if you're trapped inside.
