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Another similar incident happened around a week after that one: https://www.channel3000.com/news/dane-county-sheriffs-office-provides-update-on-deadly-tesla-cra
by ndiddy 2y ago
Another similar incident happened around a week after that one: https://www.channel3000.com/news/dane-county-sheriffs-office-provides-update-on-deadly-tesla-crash-in-verona/article_1d7794b4-9ad7-11ef-88e4-efb51b3572e5.html https://www.channel3000.com/news/dane-county-sheriffs-office... .
One thing to note is that the car doors in Teslas are electrically controlled and a different failsafe method of opening the doors is required when the electrical system isn't working. Here's the steps for manually opening the Model Y's rear doors (car in the story the post links to): https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C... and here's the steps for manually opening the Model S's rear doors (car in the story I linked to): https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GUID-AAD769C... . Note that this involves removing the rear carpet in the Model S and the door pocket mat in the Model Y, and that the Model Y instructions note that some cars aren't even equipped with manual rear door releases. It seems like Tesla didn't account at all for what happens if passengers who aren't familiar with the car need to quickly exit in an emergency, especially if the driver's incapacitated and can't give them directions.
- rightbyte 2y ago* 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. It doesn't feel very panic friendly to have the emergency release hidden?
- beAbU 2y agoEspecially egregious considering it's likely kids will be back there. And the release is in a place thats probably impossible to get to from the front seat (in the model Y)
- persedes 2y agoMunroe on YT complained about exactly that 4 years ago :/
- Symbiote 2y agoI have written this before [1]. I had to kick the rear door of the family car after an accident when I was about 11. The car blocking both doors on the other side was on fire, and I was later told our car was also on fire. I wouldn't have known to lift the carpet and pull some release tag, and with the door badly damaged from a collision I also wouldn't have been able to kick it while pulling the tab. It was night, so finding and using a glass-smashing tool also seems unlikely. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25941750 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25941750
- redwall_hp 2y agoYou probably can't break the glass either. Newer vehicles, especially Teslas, often have laminated glass that glass breakers have been found to not break.
- thatguymike 2y agoI hear a ball bearing will do the job nicely.
- pininja 2y agoEvery Uber I take in a Tesla would practically need an airline safety briefing for this. There’s no way I’d find it on my own.
- OutOfHere 2y agoCancel and rebook (another brand).
- pininja 2y agoThey've had huge pushes to add EVs to their network, which is great but this means it’s an increasingly likely for someone to get stuck. I’d include these instructions in their in-app safety center if I were them…
- speedgoose 2y agoWouldn’t the average car safety be significantly below a Tesla Model Y anyway?
- OutOfHere 2y agoTesla has the highest fatality rate, so that is ruled out! :) Secondly, it is the coupling of electronic controls with unintuitive manual backups that create the danger.
- viraptor 2y agoThat statistic is not controlling for the drivers. It's interesting, but it may be biased by who buys Tesla and how they drive. Similar to likely "cars with aggressive custom paint jobs have higher fatality rate".
- JumpCrisscross 2y agoDoesn’t matter if you’re getting in someone else’s car.
- everybodyknows 2y agoWhy not do the first two steps, and stow the mat and access door on a shelf in your garage?
- more_corn 2y agoYeah that’s not happening when you’re literally on fire.
- pininja 2y agoRegulations are written in blood.. it’s really disappointing to see a car make it to production without an obvious mechanical way to open the door. I’ve been in many teslas and hadn’t given this much thought, figuring there’d surely be a way to open the door if I need to get out.
- nemomarx 2y agowhy are the doors electronically controlled to start with? is it cost savings?
- eptcyka 2y agoIt is more cyber that way. Also, yes, electromechanical systems are easier to design.
- stouset 2y agoThere’s still a second mechanical release so this is strictly more complicated than simply having a mechanical system to begin with.
- eptcyka 2y agoRouting the mechanical linkage to a place in the door that would make sense for a door handle to be is the difficult and expensive part.
- davrosthedalek 2y agoBowden cables are dirt cheap.
- eptcyka 2y agoThe cables are cheap, designing a door latch system to be easy to install/cheap to manufacture is not. Why do you think all parking brakes on all ICE vehicles have turned electric now?
- newaccount74 2y agoProbably because forgetting to pull the handbrake is a very common cause of accidents?
- dagmx 2y ago
- noncoml 2y agoLexus’s latest cars have electrically controlled doors as well. The mechanical failover is a bit better mind you, you have to pull twice instead of pushing, but I am not sure how panic proof it is. I live techlnology but IMHO it is overdone in modern cars. Please bring back tactile and mechanical controls where possible.
- l1tany11 2y agoI’d be curious if there’s a single brand that has no electronic door latches at this point. Every brand I can think of has them on at least one vehicle. They have been in mainstream brands (like Chevy) for like 20+ years now.
- globalise83 2y agoWhat is an "unlikely event" for any given passenger is nearly a 100% certainty for Tesla. The engineers and product managers who came up with that solution probably have trouble sleeping at night these days.
- solardev 2y agoI bet they wanted something more obvious but were overridden by someone who wanted to keep the vehicle sleek and futuristic. If so, it's the worst kind of "I told you so" :/
- renewedrebecca 2y agoBut who at Tesla would do that?
- solardev 2y agoIt's quite a mystery, isn't it?
- DrillShopper 2y agoSomeone told me something that stuck with me: "for any system with millions of users a 1 in a million event happens multiple times a day"
- theolivenbaum 2y agoI think the original quote was "One in a million is next Tuesday": https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/larryosterman/one-in-a-million-is-next-tuesday https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/larryosterma...
- giantg2 2y ago"Tesla didn't account at all for what happens ..." Tesla might not have, but you can. Always have a glass breaker and seatbelt cutter in your vehicle. Doors get crumpled and can't open regardless of make/model.
- jeffbee 2y ago"Police say area man had burglary tools and weapons in his vehicle at the time of the arrest..."
- fallingsquirrel 2y ago> Always have a glass breaker Isn't this advice becoming dated now that most new cars have side windows with laminated glass? https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28422725/car-windows-glass-aaa-unbreakable/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28422725/car-windows-glas...
- dyauspitr 2y agoStill probably easier to kick out a laminated window with cracks in it.
- OutOfHere 2y agoKick out the window with a very forceful boot kick with both legs.
- viraptor 2y agoThat advice will work for significantly limited number of population. Like, it's true, but also "hope you have enough mass/strength/flexibility". My little-old-lady neighbour could not do it.
- giantg2 2y agoUsually rear windows do not. Even laminated side windows can be defeated more easily if cracked. The lamination is pretty thin compared to many other types of laminated glass.
- 2y ago
- trinix912 2y ago> Note that this involves removing the rear carpet in the Model S and the door pocket mat in the Model Y Seriously? How many people would be capable of pulling this stunt off in a burning vehicle filled with smoke? Especially considering the fact that in this case the vehicle was packed (5 people in it)--it's hard enough to get your own feet out of the way. If this passes the safety regulations, those regulations should be changed. Not just expecting car manufacturers to do it out of their good will because they won't.
- unsnap_biceps 2y agoRegulations are written in blood. This is likely the first time a mass produced car went this far in not caring about the humans inside. I would say that they will be new regulations soon, but given the political climate in the US, I'm unsure if it will actually happen. We can only hope that Canada and other countries takes the lead and forces the improvements to passenger safety.
- trog 2y agoSomeone on Mastodon pointed out that not all Model Ys even have the manual release. I didn't believe this could be true - how could regulators allow this? But it's actually listed on the Model Y page (https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C...): "Note Not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual release for the rear doors." Not sure what the distribution is or whether it's just an "old version" problem?
- MichaelZuo 2y agoSome countries may not require it, though it does seem pretty suspicious to omit that, regardless of what regulatory quirks there are in the world.
- DrillShopper 2y agoDamn if only we had the tech to open doors mechanically. Imagine that world. I hope Elon takes a few weeks away from destroying the US Government in January to think about this./s For real though, I hope the relatives of the deceased take Elon personally and Tesla as a company for all they're worth.
- valval 2y ago> Some crazy shit with /s > Double down on the crazy shit this time for real
- semiquaver 2y ago> Note: Not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual release for the rear doors. Astounding.
- Schiendelman 2y agoI'm always surprised to see this comment without seeing a response that this is required by law in the United States. Remember child locks? They are on all cars. The manual release cannot override the child lock so it has to be hidden to meet federal law.