Live data from Hacker News

Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

myelectricsparks.com

91–100 of 188 posts

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#91
post #67
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of cars have electronically controlled doors. It’s due to the frameless windows. Opening the door requires the windows to roll down slightly to avoid damage to the outer trim. The doors still have a mechanical release so there’s no cost savings involved. For the front door they’re right next to the electronic release. For the rear doors they’re hidden under the passenger door pocket. Edit: to everyone replying…

This is a design choice, not a requirement. My frameless-windows 2007 car uses a mechanical door latch and the window rolls down slightly as I pull the latch.

Also every convertible ever

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cancel and rebook (another brand).

Wouldn’t the average car safety be significantly below a Tesla Model Y anyway?

Tesla 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.

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#93
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bowden cables are dirt cheap.

The 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?

Probably because forgetting to pull the handbrake is a very common cause of accidents?

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#94
post #2

Another similar incident happened around a week after that one: 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): http…

What 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.

I 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" :/

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#95
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

> 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-glas...

Kick out the window with a very forceful boot kick with both legs.

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And now he's bought his way into US aristocracy so he can do whatevr he wants and no one can stop him. He doesn't like criticism from the NTHSB? Well he can deem the NTHSB "inefficient" and have it downsized and the leaders sacked. Does the FTC think he's lying about his self-driving claims? Well maybe the FTC is inefficient and he just makes a call to Trump and the DoJ won't be investigating anything either. The US…

To be fair we’ve been ruled by corporations for a while.

This is taking it to another level.

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#97
post #18

Everyone should have a glass breaker in their car. Even if the car has mechanical doors.

It is said that the glass breaker no longer helps with laminated side windows. What then. Kicking the window out, if that's even possible, could be the only way.

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#98
post #2

Another similar incident happened around a week after that one: 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): http…

Damn 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.

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#99
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* 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?

Especially 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)

I 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

Re: Four dead in fire as Tesla doors fail to open after crash

#100
post #2

Another similar incident happened around a week after that one: 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): http…

What 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.

Someone 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"
Post reply on HN