Autobayng News Team
- A U.S. Congresswoman has proposed a bill that would regulate complex door handles on cars.
- The bill would require door handles be easy and intuitive to open in an emergency.
- This would affect automakers like Tesla, Rivian and more that have added electronically-actuated doors in new vehicles.
Human-interface controls are supposed to be simple and easy to understand. Whether its a software interface or something as critical as a car door handle, it should be extremely clear how to work the controls—in my opinion, at least. It turns out that some lawmakers feel this way, too.
This week, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois introduced the Securing Accessible Functional Emergency (SAFE) Exit Act. Kelly’s bill, which is backed by Consumer Reports, takes aim at electronic door handles, in response to concerns that the handles can delay or block access to escape during emergencies. The act calls out Tesla by name following a string of deaths that were publicly attributed to the automaker’s door handle design. Photo by: Volkswagen
Let’s cut to the meat: this bill would require automakers to ensure that vehicle door handles can be opened quickly and intuitively in the event of an emergency, even if the car loses power.
It doesn’t give specifics on what will be required in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards if the bill passes, however, it would direct the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to come up with the requirements and automakers to comply within two years of the rule being finalized.
The bill does mandate that the handles be made more conspicuous. This means better labeling, mechanical redundancies and standardization so that first responders don’t have to futz around with the handle like it’s an escape room puzzle when seconds count.
Justification of Kelly’s bill is pointed squarely at Tesla and its CEO. From Kelly’s website announcing the bill:
Profits and, least of all, style, should not come before people’s lives. 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. Just like requiring basic safety standards like seatbelts, my SAFE Exit Act will protect consumers. As the auto industry continues to innovate, we must ensure people’s safety.
The finger pointing comes just after a Bloomberg report attributed at least 15 deaths to have been compounded by Tesla’s electronic door handles. Those accidents cite the disabling of the car’s low-voltage system after a crash which renders the electronic handles inoperable.
Elon Musk, profiled by in Wired 2018, was said to be the person at Tesla who required pop-out door handles be featured in the brand’s cars.
“It was unanimous among the executive staff that the complex door handle idea was crazy,” said a former executive. It required incredibly complicated engineering, and it solved a problem that no one else thought was actually a problem. But no matter how forcefully executives objected, Musk wouldn’t yield.
The bill also cites a petition from Consumer Reports calling for safer door handles with more than 35,000 signatures. CR had to postpone its review of the Tesla Model S in 2015 because the “fancy retractable door handles refused to let [them] in.”
Many automakers saw the writing on the wall early on. Tesla has already committed to reworking its handles, as has Rivian (though that hasn’t kept owners from coming up with crafty ways of beating it to the punch). Chinese government agencies are also taking action on the tech—so it seems that two of the world’s largest car markets could force door handle safety to go into effect sooner rather than later.
Will this kill flush door handles entirely? Probably not, but it will almost certainly force automakers to add visible, obvious mechanical ways to open a car door both inside and out. More Door Handle News We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Insideevs.com? – The InsideEVs team
