C. TV Documentaries: Discovery Channel – Mythbusters: Spy Car Escape

The content of the TV documentary, Mythbusters, hosted by Adam, Jamie, Kari, Grant and Tory involves testing certain myths, popular beliefs or rumours typically through a two-step process. Occasionally the mythbusters will perform a friendly competition to see which of them can develop a more successful solution to recreating the results. When a myths result fails, they label it as ‘busted’. When a myths result produces a similar result, but less intensity than the one described, they label it as ‘plausible’. When a myths result succeeds, they label it as ‘confirmed’.

Within this particular episode, Adam and Jamie decide to test the myth of escaping a car chase successfully using spy gadgets such as: spiky tacks, smoke screen and oil slick. They test this by using two separate cars, one in pursuit and one fleeing using the spy gadgets. In a guided race course, the spy car takes off first in full speed, then the car in pursuit follows. Without the pursuit car knowing, the spy car randomly releases its gadget to try and successfully stop the pursuit car and get away discreetly. The first test was releasing spiky tacks from the rear of the spy car, hoping to damage or even pop the tires of the car in pursuit. Unfortunately, this section of the myth was labelled busted. Although the spikes punctured the tires, they stayed in place, not allowing the air of the tires to be released fast enough, therefore the spy car was caught in the end. The second test was releasing canned smoke from the rear of the spy car, hoping to blind the driver and cause confusion to the car in pursuit. This test had to be done twice, for the first round the smoke engulfed the spy car, instead of the pursuit car. The second time around, they placed a long plank at the rear of the car and released the smoke this way, which did cause the driver blindness and forcing him to lose sight of the race course. This section of the myth was labelled confirmed. The final test was releasing vegetable oil from the rear of the spy car, hoping to malfunction the grip of the tires on the pursuit car, forcing it to skid or glide off track. This test did cause the traction of the pursuits car to lose grip and slightly caused the car to slid, however it still maintained momentum and was able to catch the spy car, therefore it was labelled plausible.