CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A driver suffered minor injuries after their vehicle plunged into a Cape Coral canal.
The driver was able to escape, thanks to some nearby construction workers- but it’s a scenario that doesn’t always have the same ending. At the intersection, motorists as well as residents are enduring a sense of déjà vu.
“It has more canals than Venice, Italy. You’re always driving near a canal, no matter where you are in our city,” says Master Corporal Phil Mullen, Cape Coral Police Public Affairs Department.
On Monday just before noon, a driver plunged into a canal along Surfside and Beach Parkway. Construction workers at a nearby home were working on a roof when they saw the car speeding down the road. They then heard the vehicle crash into the canal. Workers came down from the roof and jumped into the canal to help the trapped woman inside. They were able to break the windows and get her out safely.
“We have over 400 miles of canals so it’s a good thing to know, if this happens to me, what am I going to do to get out of it," said Mullen.
This isn't the first time, a scene like this has played out. Back in 2015, a young man drove into the canal. Police pulled him from the car but he later died from his injuries. In 2012, a young woman was found dead inside her car after driving into the canal.
“For a city with as many canals as we have it does happen on occasion," says Mullen. "If I had to guess- maybe 8 to 10 times a year. Most of those are non tragic- those people are able to escape. But every once in a while we do have fatal accidents where cars are in canals.”
It’s a matter of life or death, but having a plan can increase the chance of survival. Mullen says one common misconception is the ease of getting out of a submerged vehicle. Even opening the door as a last resort would be impossible.
Mullen said, “If you wind up in the water and you can’t get the window down due to an electronic shortcut, this tool here- this is a glass break hammer, a glass break tool. The window, once it has the pressure of that water behind it needs a singular impact point to break that window. This is a really fancy glass break tool that one of our officers carries, it has an included seat belt cutter if your seat belt gets jammed. This will save your life.”
Cape Police say there was one occupant at the time of the canal crash. They say the driver suffered minor injuries.
A driver suffered minor injuries after their vehicle plunged into a cape coral canal.
The driver was able to escape, thanks to some nearby construction workers, but it’s a scenario that doesn’t always have the same ending.
Fox 4’s Calvin Lewis shows us how incidents like this one keep popping up at a certain intersection, and what authorities say about how you can avoid this life or death situation on FOX 4 News at 10.
Local construction workers helped save a woman who went into a canal on Surfside and Beach Parkway in Cape Coral.
The construction workers were at a nearby home working on a roof when they saw the car speeding down the road and then heard it go into a canal.
The construction workers came down from the roof and jumped into the canal to help the woman inside.
They were able to break the windows and get her out safely.
A tow truck came a took the vehicle out of the canal.
There is no further information on the condition of the driver or what led up to the crash.
