Discussion on the Safety of Electronic Door Handles
The increasingly active discussion on the safety of electronic door handles has gained new relevance in Europe, where regulators state that design improvements are now a priority. Following several accidents and fires where passengers found themselves trapped inside vehicles, safety authorities are pressuring manufacturers, including Tesla, to ensure that doors can always be opened in an emergency.
Safety Priorities for European Authorities
RDW, the authority responsible for inspecting and approving Tesla models sold in the European Union, notes that a key priority for Euro NCAP and UNECE is door handles that can be opened in the event of an accident. The safety of electronic door handles has been a subject of discussion in Europe for several months.
According to Bloomberg, the Passive Safety Working Group, a unit of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, discussed the complexity of opening electrically operated doors in May of this year.
During the meeting, a German expert stated that the group had begun studying this issue and saw an urgent need to ensure the safe opening of doors after an accident.
In a recent statement on the matter, an RDW representative noted that doors must always be functional – from the inside by passengers and from the outside by emergency services – even in the event of a power failure. If current regulations do not meet the requirements due to the implementation of new door concepts, this issue is resolved in the relevant committees.
Concerns Spread Worldwide
Regulators in Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands have raised the alarm about door handles of this design, and according to the European Transport Safety Council, authorities in the Netherlands have already linked this problem to repeated fatalities in flooded vehicles.
This is not a theoretical problem – people are dying because they cannot get out of vehicles when every second counts.
Discussions at UNECE are welcome, but the pace must be urgent. Europe cannot wait for years while thousands of cars with these systems remain on the roads. A recall must be on the table, and safety regulations need to be updated quickly to cover all vehicles with electronic doors.
Tragedies Related to Electronic Handles
Last month, three passengers of a Tesla Model S died in Germany after the electric vehicle was involved in an accident and caught fire. A witness tried to rescue the passengers but was unable to open the door.
In China, a man recently died after an accident in his Xiaomi SU7, and in this case, bystanders were also unable to open the car door. This has already prompted local regulators to develop new rules that may ban the use of such handles.
Incidents involving electronic door handles point to a systemic problem that requires immediate action not only from manufacturers but also at the international level. Implementing backup mechanical systems or unified standards could be key to preventing similar tragedies in the future, especially with the growing popularity of electric vehicles and innovative designs.