Four Passengers Die in Burning Tesla After Electronic Doors Seemingly Won't Open
Four Passengers Die in Burning Tesla After Electronic Doors Seemingly Won't Open
Four people died after a Tesla crashed and burst into flames, while a fifth person narrowly escaped after a bystander broke open a window.
Some of these cases may be down to user error, since most Teslas come with manual release levers.
"Teslas have a massive design flaw that doesn't make opening the fucking doors obvious like it has been for 100 years"
Your car is on fire. The battery is burning so you have no fonctioning doors.
In the panic of your flesh getting pretty hot, you gotta remember "use the manual release lever".
Yeah, no fucking shit that it happens.
In the panic of your flesh getting pretty hot, you gotta remember “use the manual release lever”.
If you're in the front seat.
If you're in the back seat you:
- Hope your model Y is equipped with a manual lever.
- Assuming you are still alive (see (1)) - Remove the mat from the bottom of the rear door pocket.
- Press the red tab to remove the access door.
- Pull the mechanical release cable forward.
I hope your kids and passengers paid attention to the training video you had them watch.
This is the whole reason we have strict building codes for door hardware. Locks have to be able to open in a single action, and room with a larger occupancy have to have panic devices that can open the door just from falling on them. The panic devices were invented after a major theater fire killed a bunch of people thanks to their stupidly-designed fancy locks that nobody could figure out how to open during the panic.
Not to mention you might be a passenger and have no idea about any of this in the first place
Anyone who owns a car should install a life hammer. Doesn't matter if it's a Tesla or an old clunker.
Some cars use laminated glass side windows that can’t be broken by those tools.
That was helpful. Thanks for sharing that story.
This is something that can be addressed with owners, but what about passengers? Should they be carrying one around?
How 'bout Tesla just makes fucking mechanical door handles again?
Seat headrests can be pulled out and the metal guides used in a pinch.
Not on a Tesla, fixed headrests on 3 and Y.
On a Tesla, it seems like explosive bolts would be the way to go.
Alarming, and I’ve just watched a video about how to get out of mine in an emergency.
However, presumably this predicament could apply to many/most modern cars which rely on electrics/software more than ever, and isn’t particular to Teslas?
You should not have to watch a video or read a manual to open a freaking car door. The fuck are people supposed to do who don't even own the car?
You should not have to watch a video or read a manual to open a freaking car door.
👆 That right there.
The fuck are people supposed to do who don’t even own the car?
👆👆 And that even more so.
We have literally centuries of knowledge of human-machine interaction. We know what works and what doesn't. We know the importance of getting this right from watching what would be a literal lake of blood if put into one location before us. And one of those things that works is making sure the emergency tools are very obvious and in our faces. The rear door instructions for the Model Y alone are a horror show for anybody who has ever been in a crisis before. And then on top of that not all Model Ys have such a latch anyway.
Everything about Tesla's doors are horrific.
The fuck are people supposed to do who don't even own the car?
Their failure on this point is particularly concerning if they want to run a robotaxi service.
Could apply, but doesn’t apply, as the door handle is a functioning door handle in most cars.
I consider the electronic door handles to be a violation of functional safety ISO 26262. I would think that in a fire situation the doors electronics are pretty unlikely to work. The manual release is not a good control because a reasonable person isn't necessarily going to know it exists. I work in the automotive industry and most organisations I have worked with are big old manufacturers and they think extremely long and hard about this kind of thing. Sadly I doubt Tesla cares so much about ISO standards.
I think you'll find most cars have visible, obvious, manual door latches on the inside. I know the XPengs and BYDs certainly do.
Best cars ever!
Boy that's a metaphor, innit.
They forget about the mechanical latch?
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Not all Teslas have mechanical latches on all doors. Specifically some Model Ys don't have them on the rear doors, apparently. (This is addressed in the article.) ¹
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The mechanical latches have often been panned on the safety front because they're inobviously located and operated. Point 4 addresses this further, but look at the instructions for the rear door in the Model Y in particular.¹ This is complex and confusing without panic and adrenaline. (This too was addressed in the article.)
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Not everybody knows about the mechanical latches. While one could argue that the driver should know their vehicle, what makes you think the passengers are going to know this, especially given the poor placement of the latches. Especially given just how convoluted the rear door releases are. (This was also addressed in the article.)
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When people are in mortal danger, figuring out complicated things, or remembering obscure things like where the manual release latches are, is not going to happen. If the control to open the door isn't open, obvious, and in your face, you will not remember it unless you've been specifically trained to have this in your immediate-recall memory. That's why pilots of aircraft spend so much time drilling the same thing over and over again. Or people in militaries. Or people in emergency services like fire departments. (This was addressed in the article as well.)
¹ From https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html "Not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual release for the rear doors."
They really should have addressed these issues in the article.
😏
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Moreover, with the Model Y in particular, not all vehicles come with manual releases for the rear doors, as Tesla warns in the car's manual. It's unclear if the Model Y involved in the crash was equipped with the emergency feature.
from the article
They were too preoccupied with dying in a fire to pull out and read the owners manual.