History Main / TrappedInASinkingCar

* Del Spooner has a mistrust of robots in ''Film/IRobot'' because he ended up in a car accident which caused his car to be fused (thanks to the speed of cars at the time) to one with a little girl inside (her parents apparently died instantly) and end up in the water. A passing robot (which automatically intervened thanks to the first law[[labelnote:1]]A robot may not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm by inaction[[/labelnote]]) could only save one of them and rescued Spooner (damaging his arm in the process), who had a slightly higher chance of survival, despite his [[GreaterNeedThanMine pleas to save the girl]] (since the first law overrode the second law[[labelnote:2]]A robot must always obey a command given by a human unless this would conflict with the first law[[/labelnote]]). This situation is the root of [[DoesntTrustThoseGuys his hatred towards robots]] - even though prioritizing treatment for people in accidents [[TruthInTelevision is very much a real thing]], called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage Triage]], Spooner felt that a human rescuer would [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl try to save a child over an adult no matter how futile the attempt would be]].

* Del Spooner has a mistrust of robots in ''Film/IRobot'' because he ended up in a car accident which caused his car to be fused (thanks to the speed of cars at the time) to one with a little girl inside (her parents apparently died instantly) and end up in the water. A passing robot (which automatically intervened thanks to the first law[[labelnote:1]]A robot may not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm by inaction[[/labelnote]]) could only save one of them and rescued Spooner (damaging his arm in the process), who had a slightly higher chance of survival, despite his pleas to save the girl (since the first law overrode the second law[[labelnote:2]]A robot must always obey a command given by a human unless this would conflict with the first law[[/labelnote]]). This situation is the root of [[DoesntTrustThoseGuys his hatred towards robots]] - even though prioritizing treatment for people in accidents [[TruthInTelevision is very much a real thing]], called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage Triage]], Spooner felt that a human rescuer would [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl try to save a child over an adult no matter how futile the attempt would be]].

* After spending 9 days in the fall of 1994 claiming that her children had been abducted by a carjacker, [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith Susan Smith]] finally confessed to invoking this on them by allowing her car to roll down a ramp into a lake with them strapped in their car seats and unable to escape [[note]] And at only ages 3 and 1, would have undoubtedly drowned even if they ''had' been able to get loose. [[/note]]

* This is realized to have happened in the plethora of FinallyFoundTheBody cases that involve a missing person's car being found submerged in a body of water, [[http://www.candidslice.com/vanished-missing-persons-discovered-in-submerged-cars/4/ with the person's remains]] still in it.

Want to show a character struggle for survival in a dangerous DrowningPit situation that is easy to set up? Look no further, simply have the victim trapped in a car shooting off a cliff or bridge straight into a large body of water below. Often preceded by [[VehicularSabotage malfunctioning brakes]], [[PopTheTires blown tires]], an [[DeadfootLeadfoot incapacitated driver]] or the car [[VehicularAssault being rammed off]] by another vehicle.

** In the final epsiode, [[spoiler:Odokawa drives his taxi off a bridge and plunges into the water, where he lies, passively, seemingly accepting his death as it fills up with water, until Shirokawa dives in to save him, breaking the car window and carrying him out.]]

* In ''Film/TheThieves'', the police van drives into the harbour when the thieves attempt to escape. Everyone manages to get out when it hits the water, except for Pepsee, who ends up handcuffed to the inside of the van and is trapped in the sinking van.

** In season 7's 'Party Down,' a killer locks 20 party goers in the back of a semi truck and deliberately drives it into the Hudson. Fortunately only four people drown.

* The heroine in ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' (2003) passes out at the wheel from a loss of blood, sinking into the river together with Michael.
* In ''Film/{{Unknown 2011}}'', due to a freak accident in Berlin traffic, the hero's taxi goes off a bridge and into the river Spree. He hits his head on the window and goes unconscious as the car sinks deeper and deeper into the water. Gladly, his taxi driver is a BadAssBystander and manages to free herself and then pull Martin out through the cab's rear window.
* Small scene in ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds''. The ship carrying Ray (Tom Cruise) and his family capsizes with all of the survivors going into the water, some trapped in cars.

TruthInTelevision in the sense that plunging a car into water can be [[DoNotAttempt very, very dangerous]]. The pressure of the water against the door could make it physically impossible to open if the passenger does not open the door immediately. Indeed, the pressure of the water against the ''window'' may make it impossible to open via conventional means, whether it's a manual crank or electric. There are two ways out of the situation: SoftGlass (which can be invoked by using a tool meant to shatter tempered glass) or waiting for the pressure differential between the inside and outside to stabilize, which won't happen until the cabin is filled to the brim. Watch Series/MythBusters [[JustForFun/TropesExaminedByTheMythBusters demonstrating this trope]] in episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YaMEW30bv4 Underwater Car]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3_HEKMgqbE Inverted Underwater Car]].

** In an earlier episode, a body is found in a submerged car. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the victim was in an interracial lesbian relationship, and she and her girlfriend were being pursued by the girlfriend's insanely possessive brother when they found that the bridge ahead of them was out. With nowhere else to go and unwilling to risk being caught by the brother, the pair decided to [[TogetherInDeath commit suicide together]] by driving off a bridge -- only it was the 1930s, cars were a lot more open than they are now, and there were no seatbelts, so one of the girls somehow got out, or was pulled out by the force of the water, and survived.]]

* ''TheThreeStooges:TheMovie: Everyone, including the stooges, Teddy, his father, Lynda, and Mac, are stuck in the car as sinks into a lake. It was caused by Curly's rat Nippy. Curly farts in the car after he ate some lobster with Pepto-Bismo. This gave Moe an idea, he uses some water proof matches to light a fire and blew up the car so everyone can get out.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/TheGame'', Nicholas' car is plunged off a pier as part of the super-scary "game" to make his life more exciting. He manages to escape by pulling down the window using a crank that was left in his possession [[ChekhovsGun earlier on]].

* At the climax of Mildred D. Taylor's ''Mississippi Bridge'', a commuter bus skids out and crashes off a bridge and into a rain-swollen river. A HeroicBystander jumps in to try and assist any survivors, but by the time he's able to get into the bus, he finds only bodies.

** Odokawa has nightmares about drowning in a car, [[spoiler: which turn out to be flashbacks to a childhood incident in which his mother tried to kill the whole family by driving their car into the ocean.]]
** In the final epsiode, [[spoiler: Odokawa drives his taxi off a bridge and plunges into the water, where he lies, passively, seemingly accepting his death as it fills up with water, until Shirokawa dives in to save him, breaking the car window and carrying him out.]]

** A variation in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', where Bond and Felix Leiter are left to die on a sinking cargo ship by a traitorous CIA agent. [[spoiler: Bond escapes, Leiter, having also been shot by the agent, doesn't]].

* In the climax of Chapter 1 of ''VisualNovel/{{Psycholonials}}'', Z. drives a [[spoiler: stolen, evidence-covered police]] car off a pier. Unlike most examples, the underwater portion isn't shown and she escapes easily with little explanation.

* ''Series/MythBusters'' Episodes 72: Underwater Car & 155: Inverted Underwater Car both experimented with this trope.

* Mac on ''{{Series/CSINY}}'' in the season 5 pilot. A hostage-taker kidnapped him and the guy abandoned Mac and the car in the river. Naturally, Mac escapes.

* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** Bond had to escape one of these in ''Film/AViewToAKill''. He is able to open the car door once the cabin is flooded with water. Bond then realizes that he cannot surface immediately because the baddies are waiting ashore, so he opens the wheel valve and inhales the out-rushing air.
** Invoked in ''Film/LicenceToKill''. While in custody, villain Franz Sanchez offers $2 million to anyone willing to help him escape. Naturally, some baddies jump at the call. As Sanchez is being transported across a bridge, the armoured truck is forced into the water where scuba divers rescue him from the back of the truck.

* Nemo Nobody's car in ''Film/MrNobody'' loses control and falls into the bottom of a river after a bird crashed against the windshield.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', a young Clark Kent saves a bus of his classmates from meeting a watery fate despite the wishes of his adopted father to remain incognito.

* In ''Film/BlowOut'', a car tire gets shot which sends the car into a river. The hero observes the accident and dives in to save the female lead who almost drowns.
* ''Film/CarnivalOfSouls'': The movie opens with a car driving off a bridge during a drag race. One of the car's three passengers -- our protagonist -- manages to survive but she doesn't know how or why. [[spoiler:Turns out she didn't.]]
* In ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'', Sarah and Dani are trapped in a Humvee that has dropped into a reservoir. The pressure issue gets resolved by the pursuing terminator using his superpowers to rip out one of the doors. Sarah ejects a parachute onto him which gives her and Dani a chance to exit the car and surface.

* At the climax of Mildred D. Taylor's ''Mississippi Bridge'', a commuter bus skids out and crashes off a bridge and into a rain-swollen river. A HeroicBystander jumps in to try and assist any survivors, but by the time he's able to get into the bus, he finds only bodies.

* The fate of Devin Westin in ending C of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''. Trevor, Michael, and Franklin lock him in the trunk of one of his luxury cars and push it off a cliff into the ocean. [[EveryCarIsAPinto And then the car explodes]].
* ''VideoGame/Battlefield4'' starts its campaign mode early on with one of the player's platoon members' death by him being trapped in a car, unable to flee.

* Happens towards the end of the ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' episode "100 Proof Highway" when [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] guest character Eric loses control of his car and crashes it into a lake -- with himself and Jedda trapped inside. Luckily, Rick and LJ rescue them and the experience convinces Eric that he needs to quit drinking.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Dream", Gumball is so mad about a dream he had where Darwin kisses his crush Penny that he and Darwin travel through their dreams to stop the kiss from happening. One of the dreams they visit has them both stuck in a car sinking in water for what's apparently been the past five days, with Darwin getting so hungry within that time that he's taken a bite out of Gumball's arm. When Darwin turns on the car's air conditioning, it drenches him and Gumball in a strange liquid that takes them to the dream they were looking for.

* In TheRemake of ''Series/TheFugitive'', Lieutenant Gerard is plagued by nightmares of failing to rescue a woman in this situation. [[note]] We eventually learn that the woman was his first wife (they were run off the road by a DrunkDriver) and it becomes obvious that the reason he's so obsessed with capturing Richard Kimble is his rage that Kimble would destroy what he would give anything to have fact. Plus the fact that the guy got off easy thanks to an AmoralAttorney, leaving him extra angry at those who evade justice. Too bad Kimble's ''innocent''. . .[[/note]]

** "The Ghost Of the General Lee": In this second-season episode, Rosco pursues the General Lee – unknown to him, driven by a couple of hicks who had stolen the car while owners Bo and Luke were skinny-dipping in a nearby pond – before the car thieves drive the car into a lake. The thieves escape unharmed and, while hiding behind some tall weeds, laugh hysterically as Rosco and Enos search frantically for the Duke boys. Of course, Bo and Luke were unharmed, but Rosco and Enos presume the two Duke boys have drowned when all Enos can find is their clothes inside the submerged General Lee.

%% * ''Film/MrNobody''

* Nemo Nobody's car in ''Film/MrNobody'' loses control and falls into the bottom of a lake after a bird crashed against the windshield.