In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a defect investigation into Tesla Model 3 over concerns that the mechanical door release is unlabelled and not intuitive to locate during an emergency. — Reuters
An Illinois Democrat is calling for a new standard for vehicle doors that would likely require Tesla Inc to modify its design, which has been tied to more than a dozen deaths as passengers struggled to exit vehicles that crashed and caught fire.
The measure introduced Tuesday by US Rep. Robin Kelly would require easily seen manual releases for each door in a vehicle.
Electronic door handles on vehicles built by Austin-based Tesla and other automakers work well when the vehicle is charged and undamaged. But in the aftermath of a crash in a Tesla vehicle, first responders and others have observed that passengers are unable to operate the door handles and become trapped, a phenomenon that has been tied to at least 15 deaths.
"Profits and, least of all, style, should not come before people's lives," Kelly said in a statement. "Elon Musk and his Tesla designs are not safe, nor efficient, and it has cost people their lives. When crashes or power loss leave drivers and passengers trapped inside their own cars, that is not innovation – it's a safety failure."
Her bill – the Securing Accessible Functional Emergency Exit Act, or SAFE – would require manual releases for each door as well as labeling to ensure drivers and passengers can easily locate the release. Manufacturers would also have to provide a means for first responders to access the car from outside when electric power is lost.
The bill comes after regulatory scrutiny of the issue. In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a defect investigation into Tesla Model 3 over concerns that the vehicles' mechanical door release is unlabelled and not intuitive to locate during an emergency. The agency has also probed 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles after reports of exterior door handles becoming inoperative due to low battery voltage, leading to instances of children stuck inside vehicles.
In addition to its investigations surrounding door handles, the NHTSA is also reviewing Tesla's so-called Full Self-Driving system for potential defects. The system has been blamed for deaths in multiple lawsuits.
The SAFE Exit Act would require the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration to issue a final rule to establish performance and labeling requirements for electric doors.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed legislation.
In Texas, Tesla's door handles have been cited in at least one wrongful death lawsuit. The family of Texas man Michael Sheehan filed a lawsuit in June, detailing a 2024 crash in Baytown in which Sheehan's vehicle left the road, struck a culvert and caught fire.
The lawsuit accused the automaker of being negligent in the design and manufacturing of the Cybertruck, alleging that the crash forces Sheehan experienced were survivable but that doors couldn't be opened once power was lost. The lawsuit also alleged that Tesla has provided insufficient warnings or training for occupants to have a safe exit after a crash.
Kelly's bill has support from the nonprofit Consumer Reports. Cooper Lohr, Senior Policy Analyst of Transportation and Safety at Consumer Reports, called the door handle matter a "growing safety risk."
"Fortunately, this problem has a solution: every car should be required to have intuitive, accessible, and easy-to-find manual releases that work even when power fails," Lohr said. – San Antonio Express-News/Tribune News Service
