EU Regulators Warn That Drivers Are Dying Inside Vehicles with Electric Door Handles | Carscoops

      Tesla is under scrutiny as European regulators call for immediate changes to the safety of electronic door handles following several fatal accidents.

      Concerns from the EU arose shortly after China suggested new regulations for door handles.

      Regulators are demanding that handles remain operable for emergency responders at all times.

      The European Transport Safety Council emphasizes the need for urgent reforms.

      The discussions surrounding the safety of electronic door handles have intensified in Europe, with regulators prioritizing design improvements. Following numerous incidents and fires that trapped occupants inside vehicles, safety agencies are urging manufacturers, including Tesla, to guarantee that doors can always be opened in emergencies.

      The RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority responsible for inspecting and approving Tesla models in the EU, indicates that “a key priority for both Euro NCAP and UNECE” is ensuring that door handles can be opened after an accident. The safety of electric door handles has been a contentious topic in Europe for several months.

      According to Bloomberg, the Working Party on Passive Safety, a branch of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, addressed the challenges of opening electrically-operated doors in a meeting this May.

      During this session, a German expert mentioned that the group had “begun to examine this issue and identified an urgent need to ensure safe door operation following an accident.”

      An RDW spokesperson recently stated that “doors must always be operable – from the inside by occupants and from the outside by emergency responders – even during a power failure. Where current regulations are inadequate due to the emergence of new door designs, this issue is being tackled within the relevant committees.”

      Globally, concerns are escalating.

      Regulators in Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands have all sounded the alarm regarding this design of door handles. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has noted that authorities in the Netherlands have already connected this issue to repeated fatalities in submerged vehicles.

      “This is not a theoretical problem – lives are being lost because individuals cannot exit vehicles when every second matters,” said Antonio Avenoso, executive director of ETSC.

      “While the UNECE discussions are encouraged, the urgency is paramount. Europe cannot afford to wait years while thousands of cars with these systems are on the road. Recalls should be considered, and safety regulations need to be rapidly updated to encompass all vehicles with electronic doors,” he added.

      Last month in Germany, three occupants of a Tesla Model S died after the vehicle crashed and ignited. An eyewitness attempted to rescue them but was unable to open the doors.

      In China, a man died after an accident involving his Xiaomi SU7, with bystanders also unable to access the vehicle's doors. This has prompted local authorities to draft new rules that may prohibit the use of such handles.