"Door Handles Wouldn't Work": Tesla Driver Dies in Burning Car after Crash

YeuEmMaiMai said:
again do you see gas cars catching fire after high speed impacts? Fuel tanks are very well protected from impacts even when high speeds are involved. The battery is literally a structural component of the car and can be compromised fairly easily by comparison
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Yeah, about 170,000 - 280,000 times a year over the past 15 years... But I mean it's not like anyone's counting... Except the government.

A Tesla catches fire and it's the end of the world. 100k+ other cars catch fire, no big deal, it's business as usual.
 
because GAS powered cars NEVER catch fire right? the fact A tesla does now and then is news should show how safe they are i wonder how many car fires there are a day of ICE powered cars

also why not break the window and cut the airbags car is totaled any way? WTF where these guys doing even bothering with the door? not like doors can get jammed closed or any thing in other cars

sounds like poor training on the part of the fire crew
 
I love the idea that the “inertia switch” is the life saver here and batteries are bad. Let’s ignore that every accident is not the same and each car/component can fail differently, even when the impact conditions are the same. Hell it was cited above that even insulation can fail and start an electrical fire.

Honestly you can replace the Tesla in this scenario with a gasoline vehicle and it would have ended the same. Especially if the fire department was not there to put out a fire and cut the car open.

I understand that batteries are a different beast but let’s stop acting that all the flammable liquids in a ice vehicle are not any less deadly.
 
nightanole said:
Model S door handles suck in when not in use, and are notorious for breaking. There are companies out there to rebuild/upgrade them. These door handles are electronic only.

The model 3 has mechanical door handles, however one needs to know how to use them. The are always sucked in, and you need to push one end, to have the "handle" end pop out.

Still as others noting, why didnt the air bag deflate? It should have deflated in a few seconds after deploying.


And as far as i know, tesla is paying/training state fire fighters on how to deal with teslas. They train them how to pop the hood and shove the hose in the "incase of fire hose goes here" hole.
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Why should Tesla be paying them to train? Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Toyota all have electric vehicles. I got an idea, how about rescues services adapt to the ever changing world?
 
slowstuff said:
Yeah, about 170,000 - 280,000 times a year over the past 15 years... But I mean it's not like anyone's counting... Except the government.

A Tesla catches fire and it's the end of the world. 100k+ other cars catch fire, no big deal, it's business as usual.
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Lol you could not even put in the right search

https://www.bing.com/search?q=car+f...B&PC=EMMX20&refcv=yxC7jcFdzudN5Qxz.0.0.96.297

want to try again?

And of those fires how many were due to lack of maintenance... a lot
 
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YeuEmMaiMai said:
again do you see gas cars catching fire after high speed impacts? Fuel tanks are very well protected from impacts even when high speeds are involved. The battery is literally a structural component of the car and can be compromised fairly easily by comparison
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I'd like to think Paul Walker and Roger Rodas would have something to tell you about this, but they can't.
 
I doubt the jaws of life would let door handles be in anyway a hindrance to it. And adding that the air bags are not deflating causing people to die. okayyyy....
 
At some point the media will get over reporting on every single instance where a Tesla is involved in a collision. 10 bucks says at least 3 Fords also caught fire today after a crash.
 
I always love the Tesla fanboys jumping in like any suggestion of a design flaw is a vast conspiracy theory by the oil companies. Yes, sometimes doors can’t be opened after an accident, but that doesn’t mean that an inability to open a door due to a malfunctioning fancy door handle that would otherwise be easily opened isn’t a potential problem. Did you all say the same about the Ford Pinto back in the day?

You can like Tesla cars and still point out design problems. Identifying a problem is the first step towards solving it.
 
IRSmurf said:
Breaking News: Tesla cars aren't invulnerable. Every fatality in a Tesla must be reported in the national news and every tech blog. And Tesla is responsible for every vehicle crash and casualty until attention has moved on and the clicks have paid out.
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And the reason for this repeated reporting is because they are:

1. the first mass-produced all-electric cars in the world, and could be subject to unforeseen issues with major crashes like these.
2. have a self-drive mode that has not yet been validated by any real statistical analysis. Everything released by the NHTSA has been proven to be false (Tesla provided them bad data), so this is still a very real concern.

Until the "new car smell" finally wears-off the Tesla and the Autopilot feature, you're just gong to have to get used to it.
 
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YeuEmMaiMai said:
again do you see gas cars catching fire after high speed impacts? Fuel tanks are very well protected from impacts even when high speeds are involved. The battery is literally a structural component of the car and can be compromised fairly easily by comparison
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What do you think protects gas tanks?
 
Y’all talking about gassers like they aren’t fire risks. Here’s some anecdotal evidence. The day I totaled out my truck it had caught fire. I locked my brakes up on iceand rear ended a semi-truck after traffic on the freeway all slowed to gawk at......drumrolllll....another car fire on the on ramp that same morning.

That was a few years ago. A week ago though heading home I saw a burnt out truck still smoldering underneath an underpass.

Gas fires happen just the same. Sure they aren’t self supplying lithium, but once they start, without some sort of extinguisher the entire vehicle will engulf very quickly. I’ve seen it, I’ve been part of it. It’s not a fun situation at all. Gas or battery.

Speaking of battery, to destroy my own post, the little 12v Wet Cell most cars have, still causes fires itself. It’s suspected that in my truck the fire was partly caused by the battery being impacted and shorting out near the engine.
 
IKV1476 said:
Driver dies in crash because he was speeding. That's what I get out of this.

People get trapped in car crashes all the time and some even die from the car catching fire and no one being able to get them out of the car in time.
It most certainly is not the fault of the car.
Depending on how the car was damaged from hitting the tree the door could have been compressed in a way that not even a normal door handle would have worked.
Random people saying door handles didn't work is a non point in this. It is why they have "jaws of life" to open up cars with trapped people because the door handles and door are damaged into a non working condition.

Just more sensational "Tesla bad!" story.
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You are proven what wrong with "Smart" people today
Tons of people getting opions and fanboysime before checking any amount of facts.

Why check what went down when i can go on a sevlrightouhs hate train against a brand..
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
Lol you could not even put in the right search

https://www.bing.com/search?q=car+f...B&PC=EMMX20&refcv=yxC7jcFdzudN5Qxz.0.0.96.297

want to try again?

And of those fires how many were due to lack of maintenance... a lot
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from your own search:

Collisions and overturns account for 60% of car fire deaths.... So, plenty of them do happen.

From National Geographic article on your same search:


When do car fires become deadly?
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Although crashes are the least common trigger for car fires, they are the most deadly. Close to 60 percent of the 300-400 deaths in U.S. car fires each year follow a collision or overturn. In many cases, the crash itself may be survivable otherwise, but it leaves the driver unable to act before being overcome by smoke or flames. "Collisions or overturns are the scenarios that are most likely to be fatal, and because speed is such a factor,” said Ahrens. “Basically good driving can prevent an awful lot of those." Significantly, the least experienced drivers, older teens and young adults, are at the greatest risk of highway vehicle fire death.


A fire after a crash is somewhat different from a mechanical fire, but the basic ingredients are the same. "In a crash, everything gets moved around," Ahrens explained. "Maybe the fuel line breaks, or maybe something in the engine compartment breaks, so you have something that is very, very hot coming in contact with something that can burn pretty easily."
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Finally... you use Bing as a search engine? Really?!
 
seanreisk said:
It's biggest hazard is not its battery, but its furious hyper-car acceleration.
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This so much. Everyone person I know with a Tesla drives like an asshat. My brother in law took me on a Costco run today in his model x and hit 80 in a 45.
 
The news here often reports serious car fires, but you only hear about the make if its a Telsa. Weird.
 
ya figure the average redneck who carry knifes everywhere could have busted the window and cut the airbag even if the door was smashed. Must have been a very quick fire or no red necks were present.
 
Must be a fun way to die in a lithium battery fire. It was inevitable to happen.
 
Okay, crashing a car aside, I learned that whoever walks the streets in Miami (citizens, tourists, non-citizens), if my life were at risk and only a piece of safety glass was between my death by immolation and my rescue...I'd burn.

C'mon people. Doesn't anyone have an every day carry knife? A good EDC has a window breaking point. Pop the window, use the blade to deflate the bags, cut the seatbelt (if even in use), then extract the guy.

An EDC knife is a very useful tool.
 
Hakaba said:
Why should Tesla be paying them to train? Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Toyota all have electric vehicles. I got an idea, how about rescues services adapt to the ever changing world?
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They trained them back when the S came out, and NOONE had mass produced EVS, other than the mandate from CA. An to this day, only teslas have "water holes", good luck getting to a Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Toyota, when it starts burning. Not that you can but out a fire with water, but you can keep it contained.
 
Ocellaris said:
This will look like child’s play if we ever have hydrogen powered cars where a high speed accident ruptures the tank and kills everyone within 75 feet.
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On another forum I had an argument I had to walk away from with a very unreasonable albeit smart person who said hydrogen by itself isn't flammable and when properly stored in a tank is 100% safe. Apparently in some people's worlds, tanks can't leak, high voltage switches don't spark, and oxygen isn't EVERYWHERE.
I for one am glad gas stations don't have 2500L tanks of hydrogen. I feel safer living downstream from the nuclear plant.
 
c3k said:
Okay, crashing a car aside, I learned that whoever walks the streets in Miami (citizens, tourists, non-citizens), if my life were at risk and only a piece of safety glass was between my death by immolation and my rescue...I'd burn.

C'mon people. Doesn't anyone have an every day carry knife? A good EDC has a window breaking point. Pop the window, use the blade to deflate the bags, cut the seatbelt (if even in use), then extract the guy.

An EDC knife is a very useful tool.
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Where I live you can't go most places with something that looks like a knife. Unfortunately. I do like having one in my car however, for this reason exactly.
 
IKV1476 said:
Driver dies in crash because he was speeding. That's what I get out of this.

People get trapped in car crashes all the time and some even die from the car catching fire and no one being able to get them out of the car in time.
It most certainly is not the fault of the car.
Depending on how the car was damaged from hitting the tree the door could have been compressed in a way that not even a normal door handle would have worked.
Random people saying door handles didn't work is a non point in this. It is why they have "jaws of life" to open up cars with trapped people because the door handles and door are damaged into a non working condition.

Just more sensational "Tesla bad!" story.
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So much this. I do not understand why the media likes to attack Tesla so much. Any other car, nobody would give a fuck. It's just another drop in the bucket of fatal accidents that happen every day. Nobody would blame the car, they would blame the driver that caused the accident. But when a Tesla is involved it's a front page news story all about what the car did to the poor innocent driver. It's stupid.
 
travm said:
On another forum I had an argument I had to walk away from with a very unreasonable albeit smart person who said hydrogen by itself isn't flammable and when properly stored in a tank is 100% safe. Apparently in some people's worlds, tanks can't leak, high voltage switches don't spark, and oxygen isn't EVERYWHERE.
I for one am glad gas stations don't have 2500L tanks of hydrogen. I feel safer living downstream from the nuclear plant.
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DUmb question. But i was under the impression that if a hydrogen tank ruptures, it cant explode, just like if you cut a natural gas line, it cant explode. It cant mix with oxgen fast enough to cause an explosion. Well at least if it was leaking outside the car. Pretty sure if it ruptured inside the cab, or inside the house, yea everyone would be dead of deaf.
 
Reading the actual article, it sounds like bystanders had "minutes" to try to get the guy out of the car, but couldn't because the handles didn't work. If Tesla's mechanical release in a crash "feature" didn't work properly, that's a problem for Tesla. The notion that the only reason that bystanders couldn't open the door is because of physical damage to the car is just as speculative as believing that the mechanics didn't operate properly.

In fairness, as a first responder, I've never had a car burn with a living person inside when there were minutes to save them even in "high speed" crashes. That's a problem.
 
Does any car have door locks that automatically unlock in an accident? I don't think I'd want that myself. It would be easy to exploit for theft and vandalism. I know a lot of cars have automatically locking doors.

It would be interesting if Tesla has telemetry from the crash on their servers somewhere.
 
Poseur said:
Does any car have door locks that automatically unlock in an accident? I don't think I'd want that myself. It would be easy to exploit for theft and vandalism. I know a lot of cars have automatically locking doors.

It would be interesting if Tesla has telemetry from the crash on their servers somewhere.
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"Alot" of cars auto unlock/open the doors in the event of an air bag release. This is so prevalent that thieves learn where exactly to hit the bumper of a parked locked car, to set of the air bags and steal everything inside.
 
First I am sorry to the family that lost thier loved one. Horrible outcome.

However this anti Tesla bullshit has to stop. This is clear propaganda.

Al cars can kill you. It's a risk you take when you drive at 100mph in a 3800 lbs kinetic warhead in a collision.

You hear nothing about gasoline powered crashes as if the car is at fault unless it's a Tesla. Only Tesla is capable of actual killing and not its irresponsible drivers.

Same argument with guns. People kill people all the time. If they use a hammer to kill it was an AR15. If they use a baseball bat it was an AR15. If they hit you with a car it was the AR15s fault. Poison your wife with draino and she dies.. man killed wife with Ar15.

Man hits bus full of kids and kills a few.. man was responsible for killing kids... man hits bus in a Tesla and the Tesla exploded killing all the kids because the batteries are unsafe and he had an AR15 in the trunk.

What's the fucking difference in the propaganda.
 
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kirbyrj said:
In fairness, as a first responder, I've never had a car burn with a living person inside when there were minutes to save them even in "high speed" crashes. That's a problem.
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There you made the point... you never found them living to begin with. If the speed is high enough fire is the least of the drivers concern as they're already gone.
 
Vega said:
Uhh, smash most cars into a tree at speed and their "door handles won't open the door". Stupid sensationalist "reporting" by morons.
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Well, I would assume it depends on location of the impact as well as how crumple zones are engineered. As for the door handles and such, some things should always be mechanical in a car. I think Tesla has manual release but not in a typical area like a latch that you pull on. Good luck with the stupid wing doors on a Tesla SUV though. These are a massive safety issue in any card that uses them, just like scissor doors.
 
Shadowed said:
The obvious example is the infamous Ford Pinto. Not exactly recent!
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To be fair, the Pintos were notorious for catching fire when they were rear ended; not when they solo'd into a tree.

tunatime said:
Can they not put somekind of self spraying fire foam around the pack that deploys after a crash It only has to keep the pack form going up for a couple minutes before fire department shows up.
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Ford was putting those into the later batches of Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, although, again that was for when they got rear ended (which is more frequent because of common parking practices during police stops)
 
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/02/28/tesla-fiery-crash-closer-look-door-locks/

During crash, Tesla does "normally" unlock all doors and extend the outside handles. (This case obviously didn't work as intended). EDIT: Same thing could happen on ICE auto lock/unlock feature if 12V is gone before this security routine engage.
There's a manual latch inside the car for the front seats in the Tesla 3, break window, reach and open.

EDIT2: just for fun :)

It's also widely implemented. FCA has an accident response system that unlocks the power door locks as long as power remains intact for the split second it takes to unlock them. Volkswagen and Mercedes systems also unlock all the doors in the event of an accident. Ford and Lincoln'sautomatic door unlocking system is on a six second delay. This allows the doors to be locked for longer if there's a secondary crash, but then there's the question of power afterwards. Honda's system doesn't unlock any doors automatically. GM says that given a crash of "sufficient severity," the doors will unlock; they are also meant to never lock during or after airbag deployment.
 
tangoseal said:
There you made the point... you never found them living to begin with. If the speed is high enough fire is the least of the drivers concern as they're already gone.
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That wasn't my point at all. Minutes should be plenty of time to get someone out of a crashed car baring some other factor. Whether or not it was a defect in the car is something that should be looked into. I mean if the handles stay recessed and people outside can't open doors...that's a problem. I'm not saying it did or didn't happen....just that it could very easily be a car defect.
 
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