Terrified friends burn to death trapped in Tesla as doors won't open after crash

When I first learned that Teslas (and almost all other EV's) have electronic only doors, I knew this kind of situation would happen.
I hope this gets laws enacted that force manufacturers to install mechanical latches on all of their vehicles. I know Teslas have manual overrides on their front doors, but the rear doors still have this issue.

There is a manual override in Tesla cars but the feature is not widely publicized, experts say.

Tesla isn't the only culprit here. Any manufacturer that makes cars with electric doors should be required to also have a prominent and easily reachable manual override, instead of hiding a tiny lever underneath the armrest or on the floor, or behind the person's seat on the pillar somewhere, or any fucking place that isn't where you would expect a door handle to be.

Killed by the department of efficiency

This is what it says on their website. Hope you've got the link handy if you're in a crash, and also that you're not in one that doesn't have this...

Friendly reminder that everyone should have one of these seatbelt-cutter-window-hammer things in their glovebox

In my neck of the woods a couple weeks ago five people burned to death in a Tesla. Apparently called 911 from inside the car too. No national news on this either.

https://www.veronapress.com/townnews/highway/update-on-nov-1-town-of-verona-crash-that-killed-five-people/article_39070b78-9ad8-11ef-8de9-a7707b602caa.html

I can't believe there isn't an NHTSA regulation about manual egress from an unpowered vehicle. This is just bonkers.

What fucking idiot builds fail-deadly electric door controls into a very flammable car

what a metaphor for America

Yeah but mechanical car door handles aren't "Cool." You don't want to have a car that isn't cool, right?

I put two window smashers with seatbelt cutters in my Wife's Model Y for this reason. The back seat door releases are HARD to notice as they are buried in a door pocket. We are getting rid of the car next year for something made by an actual 100 year old car company and not run by a fucking greedy dork.

Always have an emergency tool in your car to break your windows in case this shit happens to you. Even if you're in a car not designed by a god damn moron.

So happy my car is not a tesla.

Hell yeah let’s put this guy in charge of something

Any car without manual door locks and handles is a death trap. They should be required by law.

"Fuck elon musk"

Car: "Error: Electronic Lock Malfunction. Please say 'I love Elon Musk' to begin troubleshooting."

Here's another instance from two weeks ago

In the US there are nine investigations involving the Tesla Model Y, ranging from “unexpected brake activation” to “sudden unintended acceleration,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nice

This reminds me... I need a glass breaking hammer for safety in my non Tesla car.

Turn onto your back with your feet towards the door/ window, grab the steering wheel and the doorward edge of the seat, and kick out the window with both feet. This can also be done from a passenger seat as well.

Ah when you try to reinvent the the wheel, fail, and then kill people with it

Find a good lawyer and sue the living shit out of Tesla and "Leon." I agree with the majority of the comments.

See? This. This is why I don't trust my safety to electronic systems. The fancy computer controlled locks and latches are great when they work. When they don't, shit like this happens.

At least most cars still have a physical connection between the door handle and the locking mechanism. Not Tesla, for no good goddamned reason.

"when a crash disabled its electronic doors."

Female AI voice: Please stay in your seats with your seat belts on until Elon has been notified of this incident.

This isn’t a Tesla or EV problem though. How many back doors have child safety locks?

Who could see this coming, other than literally everybody

"For god's sake call customer service!!!!"

That one’s a deal breaker. Never getting in an Tesla again. And yes, that means a lot of taxi cabs 🤷‍♂️🙄

Fyi, your seatbelt buckle should be able to smash a window in an emergency

Is this satire?

Everyone keeps commenting mad about "mechanical doors". Y'all. All Tesla's have mechanical release doors. There is caveat on the rear doors:

Model S: Front and rear doors have manual release

Model 3: Front doors; rear doors only on the Model 3 Highland update

Model X: Front doors and rear Falcon Wing doors

Model Y: Front doors; some rear doors

There was one commenter smart enough to caveat the manual release should be easily accessible. I think that's a much better argument, because you can't think straight when you're panicking. But for the love of God, spend 2 seconds thinking before writing your comment.

I actually like Musk, and when the Tesla came out, I def wanted one. But man, stories like this make me sooo happy I was way to poor ever to afford one!

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