That's just a different mindset. She doesn't turn to public services to solve her problems, she turns to elite friends. Besides, they were right there, minutes away.
Her mind may not have been clear because she was leaving a Lunar New Year party at 11:30pm, but nobody said anything about alcohol. Also, she wasn't too mechanically inclined because she'd confused the shifter before. That lack of mechanical skills probably killed her because she didn't know to use the emergency door latch. Rescuers were trying to break windows, so I assume all the doors were locked.
I'm wondering if she landed in the pond, and her immediate reaction was to call her friend through the car. She'd be on the phone, talking, then comment on the way the water was coming in, saying that the car was "sinking fast". At some point, the electronics would fail, the call would end, and neither windows nor door release would work. She doesn't know about the emergency door release, and she's doomed.