History Main / ToyotaTripwire

* This happened to Deputy Junior a few times in ''{{Reno 911}}''.

* Brian 'Memory' Lane does this in the ''NewTricks'' episode "Good Morning Lemmings": opening the door of the surveillance van to flatten a fleeing suspect.

* LouisCK talked about an incident in which he witnessed a cyclist about to run into a car door. He had several seconds to warn him, but wasn't able to come up with an adequate warning for the cyclist in time, so he just shouted "Bad thing!" to him.

* In ''{{Carmageddon}} TDR 2000'', as long as the doors are still on the vehicle they can be opened to sweep zombie crowds. Depending on the active buff/debuff, it can be useful against other cars, but that's likely to remove the doors.

* The Ewoks pull this on a speedbike-riding stormtrooper in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

* ''EmpireRecords'' uses this trope during the scene where Lucas is chasing Warren after the latter was caught shoplifting. After finding different escape routes blocked by Lucas more than once, Warren [[spoiler:his name isn't frikkin' Warren!]] finally finds himself apparently in the clear. He runs away down the sidewalk... right into the suddenly-opened door of the car in which Lucas was hiding.

* Hammond (EddieMurphy) did this to a criminal in ''[[FortyEightHours 48 Hours]]''. Then he hits him with this: "What's happening, Luther? I'm sorry about the door man. Did that hurt? [[ThatsGottaHurt It looked real painful when you slammed into it]]."

* Magda Szubanski stirred up a hornet's nest by suggesting on an episode of ''GoodNewsWeek'' that drivers should deliberately do this to cyclists.

** Although the engine isn't on, a situation which Theo is frantically trying to rectify at the time.
*** Probably the only car chase where the car is ''in neutral''.

* This is more dangerous than it sounds - a car door is a little bit sharp, and a bike has a lot of momentum. Further, a car door, when swinging, actually has lots of angular velocity (and thus momentum). Coincidental timing can cut ''halfway through the metal frame of a bike''. What it can do to human bodies is frightening to consider. Even if the door doesn't make contact, swerving into traffic is dangerous in its own right.

* A commonplace fear of many cyclists. Even if it doesn't happen that often, there are the accidents caused by swerving to avoid it.
** Depending on where you ride, it is actually frighteningly common, especially in cities like Boston where streets are narrow with on-street parking. Also, while pedestrians aren't usually seriously hurt by getting doored, bicycles have a lot more momentum. So drivers, look before you unlatch, and cyclists, assume every car is loaded.
*** You can try to look in the driver or passenger side mirror. If you're cycling next to the cars, chances are you can see the inside of the car in the side mirrors. If you see a person, you can maybe also see whether they intend to open the door or not and where they're looking. At any rate, lower your speed near parked cars just in case. You can't see the backseat of the car in the side mirrors.
*** This is an unfortunate consequence of terrible infrastructure design, where the bike lane is immediately to the left of on-street parking. It's frightening how common this flaw is even in smaller cities and towns. More modern variants have buffer zones to prevent this, but many simply paint the bike lane as an extension of the on-street parking area.
*** In many states its literally illegal to ride a bike on a side walk, and cyclist are forced to use the roadside bike lane, regardless of how close it is to parking and traffic, and the above instances of door hitting are enforced by law. And if it's not this trope, then it's a more conventional accident as many if those bike lanes go through turn lanes.
** And if you think riding a bicycle in such a condition is bad, try a motorcycle. Granted motorcycles are free to move about three lanes within one lane, but if you're the kind of person that likes lane splitting... and worse yet, many drivers who live in an area where lane sharing is ''entirely legal'' will not know this, and many have answered a survey saying they "discourage" the practice. As a writer of Cracked noted, the only way one can really "discourage" lane sharing is by weaving one's car towards the motorcycle, though hopefully they would not resort to this trope.

* There's an old Australian BlackComedy joke in which a travelling swagman is picked up by a guy in a snazzy new Mercedes with the traditional hood ornament. The driver spends a while bragging to the swagman about the various bells and whistles of his car, before jokingly saying the hood ornament is a sight for running over cyclists, before rather irresponsibly trying to get close to a cyclist and swerve off at the last moment. He hears a thump and sees the cyclist on the road in some pain...
-->'''Swagman''': Get your sights checked - if I hadn't opened the door, you'd have missed him!
** There also exists a version of the joke replacing the bicyclist with a hitchhiking [[AcceptableTargets lawyer]] and the swagman with [[CrossesTheLineTwice a Catholic Priest.]]
*** And one with a taxi driver and a tourist from the-country-we-make-fun-of-this-week.

* JeffDunham's Walter puppet talks about running down a man who parks in handicap spots to "make an honest man out of him." When his actually handicapped mother gets out of the car to scream at him, Walter takes her out with the door.

Not to be confused with a tripwire for use on cars. And no, [[IThoughtItMeant Toyota doesn't have a car called the Tripwire.]] Contrast with PedestrianCrushesCar. See also TheDoorSlamsYou.

Not to be confused with a tripwire for use on cars. And no, [[IThoughtItMeant Toyota doesn't have a car called the Tripwire.]] See also TheDoorSlamsYou.

* ''EmpireRecords'' uses this trope during the scene where Lucas is chasing Warren after the latter was caught shoplifting. After finding different escape routes blocked by Lucas more than once, Warren finally finds himself apparently in the clear. He runs away down the sidewalk... right into the suddenly-opened door of the car in which Lucas was hiding.

* You can open car doors in ''StateOfDecay'' to smack zombies. It's far superior to trying to run them over, as it results in less damage to the vehicle.

* PlayedForLaughs in Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle. FishOutOfWater George sticks his head out of a limousine window in downtown San Francisco, and promptly [[AmusingInjuries brains himself]] on the door of a van.

[[folder:Films]]

* Smith uses a car door to take out a machine-gun-toting mook hanging out of the side of a van in ''Film/ShootEmUp''.

A common variant is to have the tripper on a bike and be sent head over heels. Bonus points if the door opener leans out and delivers a QuipToBlack. A cousin to the OffhandBackhand.

* Brian 'Memory' Lane does this in the ''NewTricks'' episode "Good Morning Lemmings": opening the door of the surveilance van to flatten a fleeing suspect.

* DenisLeary talks about this when ranting about cyclists in UsefulNotes/{{New York|City}}.

* An episode of ''TheBill'' had this happen to a criminal fleeing the police. His lawyer was all set to make an official complaint against the officers involved, but the revelation that it was actually a member of the public who knocked down his client took the wind out of his sails.

* ''SledgeHammer'' caught a snatch thief in the pilot by opening the door of his car to clock the perp.

* ''HotFuzz'' uses the bicycle version on a lady rolling down the street, GunsAkimbo.

* Rizzoli's brother does this to a fleeing suspect in an episode of ''RizzoliAndIsles'', so he can keep to the ExactWords of his promise to Rizzoli that he would not leave the car.
* ''BurnNotice'': Michael does this is in "Question and Answer", driving alongside someone who is attempting to run away from him and then opening the door to knock him down when he refuses to stop.