- Electronic and flush-mount door handles are getting attention from regulators.
- Safety advocates are calling for change following several high-profile crashes where hard-to-find or impossible-to-operate door handles contributed to injuries.
- China could soon be the first country to take action.
Flush-mounted door handles might look cool and futuristic—it is cool when a car presents them to a driver when it senses their presence—but the feature has long been hailed as a potential hazard. Vehicle safety advocates are finally gaining traction on the risks of this problematic design following years of criticizing the issues presented to drivers and first responders in the event of an emergency.
Here’s the problem: a door handle isn’t supposed to be a gimmick or some sort of flashy jewelry to show off just how cool your car is. It’s there to serve a purpose. It’s supposed to be a simple, intuitive lever that anyone (driver, passenger, good Samaritan, firefighter or police officer) can rip open in a heartbeat. That problem has now grabbed the attention of lawmakers.
Bloomberg this week published a deep dive into Tesla’s door handles, and the piece explored just how hidden and electronic door handles have repeatedly contributed to the severity of injuries sustained by individuals who were involved in crashes. That includes one incident where the passenger of a Tesla Model Y became trapped after the car’s door handles (which are still technically electronically actuated) were rendered inoperable after the car’s power was automatically cut following the impact.
Bloomberg dives in with a few more examples when Tesla’s electronic door handles proved to be problematic in an emergency:
But whereas Teslas fare well in government-administered crash tests, certain hallmarks of its vehicles—flush door handles, electrical power, mechanical releases—are flummoxing occupants and first responders. This can turn moments after crashes into deadly races against time.
The Virginia crash is one of a string of incidents exposing this paradox. Last November in California, a Tesla Cybertruck slammed into a tree and a wall and caught fire, killing three college students trapped inside.
The same month, in Wisconsin, a Model S fire left five dead, with a cluster of bodies in the front seats suggesting to a detective there may have been a struggle to escape. In Los Angeles this spring, an All-American basketball player survived a Cybertruck crash by kicking through a window before bystanders pulled him out by his legs.
The report also points out just how common a failure these door handles can be. More than 140 defect complaints were found in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) database since 2018, and that one report even outlines an example of young children being trapped in a vehicle—thankfully, the parent was able to teach one unbuckled child how to operate the emergency release.
Photo by: Tesla
Regulators in China, for example, recently put basic vehicle controls (like door handles) in the spotlight. The main focus of recently released draft rules specifically targeted interior door latches so that mechanical releases are no longer hidden under paneling or required you to read the vehicle manual to know where they’re placed (because who has time to do that in an emergency?).
If the rules are placed into effect, vehicles with electronic door latch releases must also have clearly marked emergency physical release mechanisms inside of the vehicle. But it would also potentially treat exterior door handles as a core fundamental safety feature, meaning that electronic or fully-retractable door handles could also be banned in the future.
Our Kevin Williams gave the scoop on this last week:
[A]n unnamed automotive company R&D employee told the outlet that Chinese regulators are preparing to ban fully concealed door handles entirely, and that automakers that sell in China need to get on board as soon as possible.
The rumored solution would eliminate fully hidden exterior door handles, but semi-retractable door handles and traditional ones would be fine, so long as they have a physical, mechanical redundant release.
Door handles being a safety hazard isn’t just some makeshift scenario. There have been numerous occasions where people have been stuck in vehicles following a crash because the door handles failed to function.
For example, back in 2019, an anesthesiologist in Florida crashed a Tesla Model S and was trapped inside as the car caught fire. A police officer who witnessed the crash responded to help, but was unable to open the doors due to the handles being retracted. The driver was found to have suffered fatal burns, and his estate filed suit against Tesla due to the door handle design allegedly being a contributing factor to his death.
Photo by: Tesla
The NHTSA is aware of the complaints filed by consumers. And while it hasn’t made any modifications to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards prohibiting these kinds of door handles (or requiring easy-to-locate and operate fail-safes), consumer safety advocates are lobbying for a change.
Now, granted, Tesla isn’t the only automaker putting electronic and retractable door handles in its cars. Rivian, Mercedes, Range Rover and a plethora of other brands have slapped them onto new cars as an easy way to instill a premium touch. But that doesn’t make these other brands free from scrutiny, either.
Sleek or not, it’s clear that there may soon be a change. Aside from their sleek looks, electronic doors likely save on weight, cost, complexity, reliability and even improve aerodynamics. But would you really be thinking about any of those things if you were the person trapped inside?
