Why isn't there a manual mechanism for the door? Why didn't the passengers use an emergency glass hammer? Why isn't there an emergency release for the door?
this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024
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I'd expect that the passengers may not have known about the emergency releases. It's also possible the releases failed, but all of them?
The article does a poor job of mentioning that those releases are standard to the vehicle. It's discussed elsewhere in this thread too, where they also provided the Model Y's manual.
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html
When my friend was riding in a tesla they just assumed the emergency latch was the proper way to open the door and pulled that one instead, didn't even see the button.
Edit: also note, some model Ys don't have that rear emergency one. Guess you could climb out of the car using the trunk latch.
Explain to me how the engineers aren't guilty of manslaughter?
Look, I lasted one semester at engineering school, washed all the way out almost immediately. I still had to write a 10-page case study on an engineering failure, and the one I chose was the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 cargo door failures. They teach this shit in failing community colleges in purple states. The buck stops with the PE that signed the plans. Drag his ass into criminal court. The person who allowed this design to go to production does not need to be free.
The people who design the Tesla cars are not engineers. They're a bunch of tech geeks who think they're engineers.
I mean, ask yourself this why is. Every single automobile that exists today with the exception of the Tesla can handle rain and car washes with absolutely no issues and yet Teslas have to have a special button to close off certain parts of the car so that the air intake doesn't get too wet otherwise the car ends up stinking horribly of mildew.
The people who design the Tesla cars are not engineers. They're a bunch of tech geeks who think they're engineers.
There is still someone's signature.
If needed, liquidate company.
I think the company is going to liquefy itself once the subsidy that made them profitable dries up completely.
They won't because this would require a trial where rich people wouldn't benefit, which is a waste of government resources, which goes against the Department of Government Efficiency's goals. More efficient to throw these poor souls' families under the bus.
There are no PEs signing off on "consumer products," or even little things like airplanes.
(Seriously, PEs are only relevant in engineering fields where design is easily governed by standards, such as HVAC and civil.)
There are absolutely engineers (with or without PE licenses, I'm not sure if that's necessary in aerospace) signing off on airplanes, even after they're built. For a mechanic to make a major modification or repair to an airframe or power plant it needs to be approved somehow, either covered by the airplane's original Type Certificate and detailed in the maintenance manual, covered in a supplemental type certificate (STC), or they can work with an aeronautical engineer to design and approve the repair. I have forgotten the exact line between "you can get an A&P IA to approve this skin patch plate" and "You need to either call an AE to design a repair for this but it might be cheaper to buy a whole wing."
I have a degree in aeronautical engineering, but I'm not a PE. It's a very specific license in the US that isn't applicable outside of a few engineering disciplines. There are no statutory requirements for a PE to sign off on a car or plane design; their safety is governed by other means.
Where's the Safety FMEA! Show me the FMEA!
Risk 3452.7: feature, door. Function, opens during fire, failure mode: won't open during fire, trapping people inside. Cause: the darn things are electronic! So if the battery fails in a big ass fire with people inside, those fuckers are gonna cook real good! Engineering controls in place to prevent the failure mode: 200,000 units delivered in time! As in it took time to deliver the units. Risk rank: 😉 it's Frank! 😄 My name's Frank! Not rank!
Well I'm glad we took time to mitigate these risks.
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It would be crazy sci-fi villian if Musk had mobile access to everyone's Tesla and he is just killing off customers he doesn't like by doing shit like refusing to unlock the doors.
I mean if there's electronics that control the speed and steering he could just force people to drive straight into a wall at full speed
As if this is hard to believe....
The Elon Musk-owned automaker has a troubling history of owners getting locked in their cars without power. Some of these cases may be down to user error, since most Teslas come with manual release levers.
Of course, let's blame the users 🙄
most Teslas come with manual release levers.
MOST?
Yea the cheapest ones skipped the manual release for the back doors. Gotta deliver maximum value to shareholders!
Now, now, remember correlation is not causation. Maybe it's not the unintuitive design; maybe a disproportionate number of idiots buy Teslas?
In the case of the model Y referenced, this release is under a mat. You wouldn't see it in normal operation.
In case of emergency, lift the floor mat and input the 16 digit release code.
The 16 digit code can be found in the "My Data" section on x.com, assuming your account has been linked to your vehicle.
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Further investigation shows that three of the four had recently posted mean things about Elon Musk on Xitter. A representative from the company issued the following statement. "It is unfortunate that the fourth passenger, who was seemingly innocent of blasphemy, chose to associate with the guilty parties. Sometimes collateral damage has to occur in our attempt to cleanse the population."
I heard Teslas are supposed to have manual release latches inside.
In any case, doors should always be manual anyway. This isn't the first time this happened and I'm surprised there isn't a regulation for this yet.
If we investigated car accidents like we did plane accidents we’d probably have banned them by now.
We'd probably have high speed rail too instead of a vast expanse of highways
Investigators arrive on scene. Immediately notice how the infrastructure was designed for gridlock rush hour where nothing is moving. Are appalled that the only safety training the motorists received was completed 20 years ago and never refreshed. Dismayed that these circumstances are permitted in densely populated areas.
The ones in the rear are hidden under a mat in the door.
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html
The model X requires you to remove the speaker grill to manually open the door.
You know, nice and intuitive.
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The BMW manual door release is pulling the handle twice. This kind of negligence is insane and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should slap them with a punitive fine and a mandatory recall.
Oh Elon is definitely gonna kill that department.
They do have manual release latches, but if you have never used them they might be hard to find. Especially in the panic of a burning car.
Really vehicle electronic doors should operate the same way they (usually?) do in buildings - in case of power loss they default to unlatched.
Power loss isn't necessarily a good choice even in a traditional ICE car with a battery, let alone one with a bigass EV battery.
Because it makes it super easy to break into a car (pop the hood and unplug two connectors) AND very likely will remain charged throughout much of the fire.
No. The answer is you have fucking manual locks and door handles that don't require you to pry open a panel.
The article says that some Model Ys don't have a manual release on the rear doors. Can't imagine how that passes any country's safety standards.
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"seemingly"
Ye, it seemed like it so we just decided we'd rather burn alive than to actually try opening the door.
News titles sometimes
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Always have an emergency hammer in your car to break a window
I have a Civic with a manual door handle, but after reading your comment ... I think I'm going to get one to leave in the car just in case.
Should your car ever wind up submerged in water a hammer could come in handy. Make sure it's a "break glass" type hammer, which has a point. Thick tempered glass is surprisingly strong.
The spring-loaded kind are a lot easier to use in a cramped car and by people with less upper body strength. However, those won't work on newer cars with dual-pane or laminated glass
I've seen people say that emergency window hammers don't work with Tesla windows as they're laminated in current models.
Would that work in a car that purports to have bulletproof windows?
Only the tesla truck claims to be bullet proof. This happened in a model y and the 5th person in the car narrowly survived because a bystander smashed the window.
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