Drivers are just realizing virtually every car has a hidden feature that could save your life – but some will hate it

MOST cars have a simple but very important life-saving feature built into them that is rarely talked about but requires tight spaces.

As cars become more advanced, so do their safety components – but most cars have a feature that most people may not even know is there.

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Dash Yamamoto (@dash_yamamoto), a TikToker who posts humorous car videos for his 6,000 followers, used his platform to educate his viewers about an important safety feature hidden in the trunk.

“Now if you’re driving a sedan and you ever get kidnapped or thrown in the trunk, the good news is that there’s always a hidden latch somewhere in every single sedan,” Yamamoto said.

He then locks himself in the trunk of his car and the camera goes dark.

“Now you want to look around and feel, but usually it’s really obvious where it is,” he said.

Almost right in the queue, the trunk’s emergency release glows brightly in the dark.

He pulls hard and the trunk flies open.

“And this is how you get out,” he concluded.

Luckily, what Yamamoto says is true – although it should be noted that all vehicles in the United States have this emergency call feature, not just sedans.

According to CarParts.com, after 2002, the federal government required automakers to implement an emergency trunk release in order to sell them on American soil.

Therefore, all vehicles manufactured after 2002, regardless of country of origin, have an emergency release in the trunk.

And while it doesn’t seem that long ago that cars had this feature as standard equipment, drivers have been fighting for this feature since the 1980s.

It wasn’t until the late 1990s that the movement gained traction, when Janette Fennell and her husband were kidnapped at gunpoint and stuffed into the trunk of a car.

The couple were lucky to escape, and Janette added fuel to the fire by launching the Trunk Releases Urgently Needed Coalition (TRUNC).

However, it took their efforts and 11 unfortunate accidents involving children in 1998 for the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration to begin pushing for change.

Because Janette is a major force for change, she has also advocated for other safety features in cars, such as rear window safety switches, setting rear visibility standards, and seat belt safety reminders.

She also urged studies to be conducted on a warning system to notify drivers about children in the back seat.

Some automakers, like Ford, had already been producing cars with this safety feature long before the law took effect. However, it is important that your car has this feature unless your car is older than 2002.