Escape from trunk of car??

In a novel I am reading, a man's hands & feet are tied. He is in the trunk of a car parked on a railroad track. He does not survive.

Is a man with ordinary strength capable of forcing open the trunk of a car?

The femoral muscles seem close to strong enough to do the job if they can be put into use.

Any thoughts on this? The man in the novel panicked & did not make much of an attempt to extricate himself.

 

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Depends upon many factors. Was he tied up with his hands behind his back? Was he unconcious or impaired in any way? How long was he tied up and what killed him, a train or someone open the trunk and shoot him? How old was he? :shrug:

 

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If he has some familiarity with lock mechanisms, it's possible. Especially if there were any tools back there.

 

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Some cars have small trunks as well, perhaps if he couldn't move he would have no way of reaching the trunk opener. If the car was made prior to 1990 it doesn't have a trunk opening latch mechinism either which makes opening a older car very difficult if your tied up.

 

Typical movie plots

 

Even with hands behind the back, for instance myself I can get my hands around to the front. (don't ask me how I know that, I'll just say once upon a time I was a wild young man) Then can one pull the cover off the locking mechanism, better yet can you get your hands on the cable that runs to the trunk popper up front, if you can that is by far the easiest way out. And normally the covers are snap on things you can rip off to access the mechanism. Also newer cars actually have a popper lever inside the trunk, but if he was intentionally placed in there I am guessing thats not the case.

Even in a small space one can use there strong leg muscles a little bit, you would have to pull your knees into your chest then roll over to put your knees against the lid. If you can't get good leverage or use the strong part of the muscle then try rolling onto your stomach so you can place your feet on the trunk lid, with proper room then you can use your strongest muscles in kind of a reverse curl. Still your best option is getting your hands on the lock and pulling the cable for the popper.

 

Tied is not ver likely...BUT stranger things have happened. Considering that it would be pitch black? Forget that part?

If untied your legs may be able to break it by brute force.

 

Even an average human can smash the rear quarter with their leags, jus past the rear tire to separate it enough for an opening. Remeber you legs have 3-4x more power and i would estimate in a prone postion that number goes up.

 

YOu have to smash it enough for it to open, being able to dent sheet metal is far different than being able to rip a trunk unlatched. One way or another the latch has to be manipulated.. if you can get your hands free and can find a crowbar.. if you can get your hands on the latch itself. Or if you can deform the trunk lid enough to do so. I've actually tried to rip a trunk open before and its not easy by brute force from the outside let alone from inside the thing. And that was with a sledgehammer..

I advise if you are really into research for your book to actually try it with someone handy to let you out when you fail or if you fail.

 

that's assuming you don't damage it so much that the jaws of life have to be used..

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i would agree that brute force would not work, unless it is an older car with deteriorating latch mechanism..

the latch would have to be manipulated to get out..tire iron is usually in the trunk,use it to pry latch away from latch bar..

then again in the older cars, there is a chance of removing the back seat and climbing through to the passenger compartment.

conclusion:
if your gonna get locked in the trunk,make sure it is an old car..(or a hatch back..)

 

the latch is pretty strong, but at least in my car, it's only held on to the lid with three screws which have a tendency to fall out on their own. If you can identify the latch, you might be able to unscrew it from the lid, without ever unlatching it.

If the car was on/moving, kicking out a tail light should be an option, if to only stick a hand out and get someone's attention.

 

There was a real life case on "Forty-eight Hours" (iirc) a week or two ago. A young women beaten, raped and choked unconscious. He locked her in the trunk and was driving her into the desert to dispose of her. Came to on the way. She wasn't tied up and managed to trip the latch with her fingers, pulled on the cable I think. Managed to get away with the help of the approach of another vehicle. Gutsy lady.

 

Adrenalin boosts a person's strength maybe 2× or 3× (among other things), so although a person might normally be able to push with their quads at twice their body weight (~150 lbs × 2 = ~300 lbs), stoked up on adrenalin, they might be able to push with 600 to 900 lbs.

Offhand, I think the last resort would be to kick/force the trunk lid because, by deforming it, it might cause the latch/etc to jam even if a key were used from the outside.

The victim might also get the idea to use the taillight wires to signal SOS (∙∙∙ --- ∙∙∙) repeatedly to alert other people on the road. (Fiendish abductors are always driving around with victims in the trunk at night — at least in movies).

 

Most cars have this type of emergency trunk release so that anyone can operate it although there are some manufacturers that are a bit more complex.

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...and many autos have an easily accessible fold - down rear seat one can get into from the trunk.

We get a lot of dead folks found in stolen car trunks around the big city here. They are usually dead before they are put in the trunk, though not always.