this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
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Three teenagers were killed when their car skidded off the road in southern France, went through a wall and crashed upside down in a private pool, trapping them inside.

The vehicle was a similar size to the pool and the teenagers - aged 14, 15 and 19 - were unable to open the doors and drowned.

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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

That's some final destination shit.

[–] velindora@lemmy.cafe 9 points 6 days ago

Right? Everything had to work out perfectly for that Car to slide off the road at the exact moment and flip into a pool that was the same size as the Car to prevent them from being able to open the doors and also be just deep enough to submerge the entire vehicle without leaving oxygen inside

[–] prettybunnys@piefed.social 11 points 6 days ago

Fuck. That’s fucking awful.

[–] saimen@feddit.org 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Tragic, but also preventable probably:

Unconfirmed reports suggest the youngest of the three victims was at the wheel of the car at the time.

Canisters of nitrous oxide were found in the car, according to French reports. The substance is used by recreational users as it can make people feel relaxed, light-headed or dizzy.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wait, that's the impact of nitrous oxide? Relaxed I can understand, but why would anyone seek out "light-headed and dizzy"?

As always, I don't mean to criticize anyone who is safely enjoying their time as they desire, but that doesn't sound fun to me. It sounds like being uncomfortably drunk.

[–] saimen@feddit.org 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sounds a lot like drunk to me which a lot of people seek out as well, even the uncomfortable degree.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I don't agree, but I suppose that's a fair assessment.

[–] flightyhobler@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

My thoughts exactly.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Geez. Good thing they weren’t using the pool at the time.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Well, it appears that they were doing drugs and letting the 14 year old drive.

That’s still to be confirmed, but the articles states there were empty NO2 cans in the car and due to positions it looks like the 14 year old was driving.

But if you are going to be driving around on drugs, I don’t have sympathy for you.

[–] insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have sympathy for teenagers making stupid mistakes.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

Sure, but not when they are putting other people’s lives at risk. Luckily, they didn’t kill anyone.

[–] qevlarr@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago
[–] k_rol@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Wtf Does anyone have an idea on how to exit in such a situation?

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The story notes that the pool was near in size to the car. That would mean that, regardless of water pressure, you wouldn't be able to open the doors. My next try would be the windows but it's possible that it was such a tight fit that they wouldn't be able to get out the windows either.

My next option would be to pull down the back seat, exit into the trunk, and use the interior trunk release to exit the trunk. However, that also may not have worked, depending on whether the car's weight was on the trunk (preventing you from exiting the trunk), or whether there was enough room along the back or sides of the trunk (preventing you from making your way to the surface).

My final option would be to try to kick out the windshield and exit there. I'm sure many people would try it earlier; my assumptions are that the weight of the engine would be holding the front of the car closer to the bottom of the pool; that momentum carried the front of the car close to/into the edge of the pool, limiting space to exit that way; that front airbags may make the exit awkward; and that a possibly shattered windshield and crumpled front of the car make exiting through the windshield a more dangerous route.

Other than those options, I'm not sure what you could do.

Edit: since one of my options seems to be unique, y'all should know that, since 2001,2, all US cars with trunks (excluding hatchbacks and similar) are required to have an interior trunk release that is easily visible and that has a label that ?luminesces? (is visible) for at least five minutes after exposure to light. And while that's a US regulation and this accident took place in France, a lot of these kinds of regulations are copied across regions (it's possible the EU has this regulation earlier, I don't know). I found another article that said it was a Peugeot 207 which does seem to have an interior trunk release.

The article I found also said that none of the kids had a license, the youngest (a 14 year old) was driving, they had nitrous canisters in the car and, shortly before the accident, had sped past a police checkpoint.

Anyway, yeah: when you get a new car, check out how to fold down the back seats, and look for an interior trunk release. I feel so sorry for those kids, and their families :(

they finished upside down in a small swimming pool, so really no way out

I don't think there is a trunk release inside french cars

[–] Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

There likely was no possible way for then to get out of the car. If they wanted to survive, their best bet would have been to not skid off a road and go through a fence.

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

In this case there was no way to exit as the car was upside down in a swimming pool that was the same size

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[–] datavoid@sh.itjust.works -5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

What kind of asshole builds a swimming pool the size of that car

[–] Loco_Mex@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 days ago

What kind of asshole drives high on nitrous oxide, weed and alcoho

[–] MBech@feddit.dk 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

At that point it's just a hole with water in it.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

Like some sort of.... Pool.... Of water

[–] MelonYellow@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Well those kids were uniquely screwed. But I figure in a sinking car scenario, the best bet is to immediately roll down the windows. Even better to have manual windows so there’s no risk of automatic windows failing. I have that drilled into my brain, for let’s say I’m driving a car rental and by some freak accident fall off a cliff edge. Fuck waiting for the pressure to equalize, by then who knows how deep I’d be and I don’t trust how long I could hold my breath for.
Roll. Down. The. Windows!

[–] s@piefed.world 2 points 6 days ago (5 children)

unable to open the doors and drowned

If you find yourself in a car sinking in water, conserve your energy because the doors will not open until your cabin is submerged. Take a deep breath at the last second that you can (you will need it) and wait until you are fully underwater to try to open the doors. This may not have been possible with the shallowness of the pool in the above news story. There are also specialized tools for breaking car windows that you can keep in your glove compartment for emergencies.

None of this helps you if there are concrete pool walls keeping the doors from opening

[–] Kabaka@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 days ago

There are also specialized tools for breaking car windows that you can keep in your glove compartment for emergencies.

Definitely do this! I have bought these for myself and all of my family members thanks to the Mythbusters car submerging episode and news stories like these.

But also, be aware that they may not work at all on modern cars as many have switched to laminated glass for the side windows. Even Adam Savage has spoken about how this invalidates his recommendations and makes cars less safe in certain circumstances.

https://www.acg.aaa.com/connect/blogs/4c/auto/car-escape-tool-laminated-window-glass

Recently saw this on Lemmy, too. https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/35078257

This is a result of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 226, "Ejection Mitigation" in the US. It doesn't explicitly require laminated glass, but the requirements it imposes leave basically no alternative.

[–] velindora@lemmy.cafe 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The article mentioned that the pool was roughly the size of the car and that it would’ve been too snug for them to open the doors.

This is one of those one in 1 trillion situations where everything had to work out exactly for it to happen.

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 3 points 4 days ago

This particular manner of death is one in a trillion. The odds that these three were going to die in a car together was quite a bit closer to parity.

the car was the size of the swimming pool, and upside down, so they had no chance to exit it

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca -1 points 6 days ago

Sorry if the link is not allowed, but after reading about a family drowning after skidding off a slippery road into a large pond and drowning because they couldn't get the doors open, I bought two of these. A spring loaded hardened steel tip, you just press against the glass and it shatters your door window so you can escape. Also has a seatbelt cutter.

https://resqme.com/product/resqme/

This is why in addition to a sunroof, I always insist upon my new cars coming with an earthfloor.