History Main / FreeWheel

* ''Film/BlackPanther2018''. Ulysses Klaue first his ArmCannon at a pursuing vehicle driven by [[Action Girl}}s Nakia and Okoye, causing it to literally get blown to pieces around them, including the requisite inclusion of the trope [[FunnyBackgroundEvent in the background.]]

* Dane Cook mentiins an incident where a woman was killed by a freewheel from a race car crash. The tyre struck her in the face, and her LastWords were "[[BigWordShout OOOOOOOOH!!!]]" which he found hilarious.

* An unusual variation occurs in ''TheLoveBug'', where the racers driving Herbie see a lone wheel roll away after getting sideswiped by Thorndyke's car, only to discover moments later that it is ''their'' wheel that has just fallen off (thanks to some earlier VehicularSabotage). Naturally, this ''causes'' a crash.

->''"Wheels on fire, rolling down the road."''

* WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffgirls, In "Octi-Evil" Buttercup throws a water tower into a monster that then lands on a senior citizen riding a power scooter. A loose tire rolls to Buttercup's feet and then the senior citizen pokes his head out of it, showing that he's just fine.
* In WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse, a flaming tire rolls by after Steven and Connie defeat the training robot in "Lion 2: The Movie".

-->-- ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'', SurrealThemeTune

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' short film "Mike's New Car", when he finally zooms offscreen and crashes, five of the six wheels come bouncing back, followed by the sixth one which is just rolling.

* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/03/27 this]] {{Garfield}} strip, Jon wound up crashing while roller skating. One of the stray wheels from his skates bounces past Garfield.

* At yearly film festival B-Fest, whenever a car crashes in one of the films shown, there's a roughly fifty-fifty chance that someone will roll a wheel across the stage.

* In the New Zealand-made action film ''Film/NeverSayDie'', a fleet of police cars drives into a one-way bus tunnel to pursue the protagonists - not realising that there actually is a bus heading towards them. Predictably, a wheel can be seen rolling out of the tunnel not long after.

* Used for a spoof on Australian comedy series ''Full Frontal'' about Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger doing a road safety video. He appears as the Terminator and blows up the vehicle with a rocket launcher. Cue flaming tire. "Now it is safe to cross."

* In ''/Film/Deadpool'', Deadpool emerges from a vehicle that rolled over and crashed on a bridge, after a rogue rim spins out to the side.

** In ''/Film/Deadpool'', Deadpool emerges from a vehicle that rolled over and crashed on a bridge, after a rogue rim spins out to the side.

* Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. After TheMafia makes the mistake of firing on the Ripoff church, only to get a hail of bullets in response (including from an M60 machine gun), they beat a hasty retreat in their shot-up cars. A wheel comes off in the process, but they (wisely) don't stop.

** In ''/Film/Deadpool'', Deadpool emerges from a vehicle that rolled over and crashed on a bridge, after a rouge rim spins out to the side.

->''Wheels on fire, rolling down the road''

* Once on ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' this happened to an '''airplane''' that was landing (single-engined light airplane). On landing, the nose-wheel started wildly wobbling like a dodgy caster on a shopping cart. Eventually the nose wheel strut collapsed, and as the camera man panned to follow the plane, just as the plane stopped, the nosewheel came to a stop ''just'' in front of the camera, with '''perfect''' comedic timing. Nobody was injured, fortunately. Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!

--> --SurrealThemeTune to ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous''

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[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' short film "Mike's New Car", when he finally zooms offscreen and crashes, five of the six wheels come bouncing back, followed by the sixth one which is just rolling.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', after the villains have taken over, one of the things shown in the scenes of destruction is a single wagon wheel rolling down the street. The accident that caused it to fall off isn't shown.

* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', when Indy blows the front end off a jungle-clearing heavy vehicle, one of its giant circular saws breaks off and, like a FreeWheel, bounces along the road cutting other vehicles in half. In ''The Last Crusade'', when Sallah's car gets blown up by a shot from a tank, one of its burning wheels rolls past where the heroes are taking cover.
* Occasionally {{lampshaded}} during B-Fest screenings of ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'', when someone will roll a single tire in front of the screen after the SoundOnlyDeath of the 'grieving old man'.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/03/27 this]] {{Garfield}} strip, Jon wound up crashing while roller skating. One of the stray wheels from his skates bounces past Garfield.
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* Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld/SoulMusic'' hangs a lampshade on it when describing the carriage crash that kills the heroine's parents. In fact, due to ''Discworld'''s [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality Law Of Narrative Causality]], this happens in every single crash. Not just the ones featured in the books - ''every'' one.
-->''Then the oil from the coach lamps ignites and there is a second explosion, out of which rolls -- because there are certain conventions, even in tragedy -- a burning wheel.''

-->'''Garovel:''' Maybe it still runs. ''[Tree falls on motorcycle. Wheel rolls out.]'' As a unicycle.
* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'': The Visser's latest plan is to unleash a living tornado that's attracted to morphing energy, pursuing Marco morphing to gorilla as he drives a truck. The monster eats a minivan, with Marco seeing the wheel following him.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Several times on ''Series/TopGear'' - for example, when Clarkson tries to use his SpikedWheels in the "alternative police car" challenge.

* Once on AmericasFunniestHomeVideos this happened to an '''airplane''' that was landing (single-engined light airplane) On landing, the nose-wheel started wildly wobbling like a dodgy caster on a shopping cart. Eventually the nose wheel strut collapsed, and as the camera man panned to follow the plane, just as the plane stopped, the nosewheel came to a stop ''just'' in front of the camera, with '''perfect''' comedic timing. Nobody was injured, fortunately. Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!

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* Happens in the Music/{{Gorillaz}} MusicVideo "19-2000"

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[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' This occurs in the episode ''Something Smells" when [=SpongeBob=] tries asking a boat driver if he is ugly. When his breath distracts the driver, he crashes the car and it explodes to leave one tire to land on [=SpongeBob=]'s face.

* This is fairly common in car crashes in general.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-5pPEq7O4k&t=0m58s Here's]] a peculiar case : during a high speed police chase with a lumber truck, the rear of the trailer caught fire, causing one of the flaming tires to blow loose and roll free alongside the ''still moving'' truck.

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* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' This occurs in the episode ''Something Smells" when SpongeBob tries asking a boat driver if he is ugly. When his breath distracts the driver, he crashes the car and it explodes to leave one tire to land on SpongeBob's face.