Former Navy SEAL Clint Emerson, author of 100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation, explains how to escape if you're being carjacked. Following is a transcript of the video.
Carjackings can be volatile, and the situation really dictates, but there are some general rules that you can follow. One of which is leave gaps. Leave yourself room to escape. Meaning don’t ride the person’s bumper in front of you. Give yourself enough distance between the cars and know that all terrain is driveable.
A lot of people feel confined to the yellow and white lines or the sidewalk. You can drive over those lines, you can drive over that sidewalk in order to escape a threat. Keep that in mind, but you can only do it if you’ve left the gaps there for yourself.
Second, keep your windows rolled up. If you keep them down it gives them an opportunity to get physical with you before you know it and you can’t do anything about it or it’s too late. Acceleration, the gas pedal is your friend. Don’t feel like you just have to sit there. Once again, if you’ve left the gaps, punch the pedal and move out of the way.