Recent international crime statistics that we just invented state that 98% of all people
will one day be locked in the trunk of a car.
Whether you're simply picking a great place for hide and seek, or have run afoul of the
mob and find yourself on the way to the docks to sleep with the fishes, knowing how to escape
from the trunk of a car can save your life.
It might not sound like a big deal, so you're locked in the trunk of a car- or the boot,
as our cousins across the pond may call it.
So what?
Eventually someone will come along and find you, and in the meantime you got a great place
to take a mid-work power nap without interruptions.
Well, getting locked in a car is dangerous to you just like it's dangerous to our furry
friends- or small children.
It's 70 degrees out, a perfectly pleasant autumn day with a cool breeze.
You're just going to pop into the store for a bit, your pooch and/or little brother will
be perfectly fine in the car alone.
To ensure their safety, you're rolling the windows up- after all, there's crazy people
out there looking to hurt pets and/or young children.
Now you know better, so you wouldn't do this in summer time, but a cool 70 (21 C) degrees
is barely t-shirt weather anymore.
Congratulations, you just killed your favorite pet, because even at 70 degrees if the sun
is out, your car can heat up to over 110 (43 C) degrees.
That's because much like our planet, cars are greenhouses, and just like global warming
will kill us all in the end whether you believe in it or not, car warming can be just as lethal
only on an exponentially faster timeline.
In just thirty minutes your car can go from a pleasant 70 degrees to 104 degrees (40 C),
and in an hour it can top out at 113 degrees (45 C).
For you, stuck in the trunk of a car, there isn't even the option of breaking open a window,
and the darker your car's paint job is, the faster you'll roast to death as dark paint
absorbs the sun's heat faster.
It's not just heat you'll have to worry about, because while trunks may not be airtight,
they can quickly fill with your carbon monoxide, leading to asphyxiation.
This was the fate of two small children on August 27, 2000 who climbed into the trunk
of their mom's car along with their pet kitten, and were found dead by their older sibling.
Even more tragically, in 1998 four children died in one trunk incident, when two boys,
ages 3 and 5, and two girls, ages 2 and 6, all climbed into their family car's trunk
after their father left it open while removing a dead battery.
They quickly began to suffer from asphyxiation and heat exhaustion, and tragically the parents
drove the car around for an hour with the children dying in the trunk as they desperately
searched for them.
So it's clear, car trunks are serious business, so you better know how to escape from one-
but how?
Odds are you're probably in luck nowadays if you get stuck in a trunk, as nearly every
vehicle dating back to 2002 features a glow-in-the-dark handle that can be pulled for a quick escape.
These were installed in response to the growing rash of incidents of children getting accidentally
locked in trunks, but also to help victims of kidnapping to free themselves.
In Alabama in 2017, a woman escaped from the trunk of her car after being kidnapped.
She waited until her kidnapper stopped for gas and then popped the emergency release,
fleeing for her life.
Incredibly, this is far from a rare occurrence, with another victim in Alabama literally leaping
out of a trunk while the vehicle was in motion and fleeing for her life
Clearly Alabama has a serious kidnapping problem so all our Crimson Tide fans should pay special
attention to this video.
But what if your vehicle doesn't have this safety release mechanism, or perhaps your
kidnapper is also an Infographics fan and removed it before the kidnapping.
Well in that case, you can still free yourself by finding the trunk release cable which runs
from the front of the vehicle to the rear.
Typically you can find that cable along the driver's side of the vehicle, and it will
likely be along the floor, possibly under the false floor of the trunk hiding the spare
tire compartment.
Tugging the cable towards the front of the car with enough force will make the latch
pop open, but you may need tools in order to pull that off.
Maybe your kidnapper removed the emergency release hatch, and you're having no luck finding
the trunk release cable.
A last option will be to pry the trunk open from inside, but for that you'll need tools.
Search for screwdrivers, pliers, hammers, anything that can give you some leverage,
and then simply get to work on any gap you can find on the actual trunk door.
The latch won't hold up for long against such force, and with a bit of muscle power you'll
be able to pop it open and make your escape to freedom.
What if the trunk is a no-go though?
You can't find tools, or you've pried and pried and no luck.
Well, you're not helpless yet.
It's time to start thinking about exiting the trunk through the car itself.
Brace yourself and begin kicking at the back seats.
Most cars have back seats that fold down so you can fit long items inside the trunk, and
the switches that hold the seats in place are nothing more than plastic.
A minute or two of strong kicks will bring the seat down and you one step closer to freedom.
Of course that's probably not wise if your kidnapper is still inside the car, in which
case you're going to have to forget about escaping and start thinking of ways to get
noticed.
Feel around for the wires that run to the brake lights and push against them.
With enough force you can pop the brake light off and stick an arm through the hole, signaling
to bystanders that you need help.
If you can't force the light out entirely, then rip the wires out.
By doing so you increase the odds that a law enforcement patrol will spot the vehicle and
pull it over for faulty brakes.
Lastly, if all the above fails, it may simply be best to make as much noise as you can every
time the vehicle comes to a stop.
Sure, your kidnapper may threaten you with violence if you don't shut up, but let's get
serious- nobody throws another person in the trunk of a car because they're taking them
for ice cream.
If your kidnapper shoved you in the trunk, you can be assured that no matter what he
or she might say, your ultimate fate is a deep dark hole and a bucket filled with lotion
that you're encouraged to put on your skin or else you get the hose again.
What we're saying is, no matter what your kidnapper says, if you don't want to become
a stylish skin suit, make as much noise as possible every time you can and hopefully
get discovered.
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