You may have heard about the three college students who recently burned to death inside their crashed Cybertruck. But you may not have heard why. It wasn’t so much because of the fire.
It was because the device locked them inside.
Tesla programs its devices to do that as soon as they’re rolling faster than 5 MPH – for the sake of saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety! So when the device crashed, the doors were locked – and so they stayed, apparently because they could not be unlocked on account of them being electrically actuated.
Tesla is not the only manufacturer that does this. It’s an example – among the worst – of this intolerable (to any adult who isn’t a child) ethos of electric parenting embedded in pretty much every new vehicle. The doors lock as soon as you start driving because it’s saaaaaaafer that way. They lock again as soon as you park and get out – also for saaaaaaaaaafety.
Buckle up for saaaaaaaaaaafety! If you don’t, the car will “remind” you to do so – implying you’d forgotten to as opposed to choosing not to – until you give up and put the damned thing on. Like a good little boy or girl.
Ding! ding! ding! goes the annoying chime when the car thinks you’re about to back up into the bush in your driveway you already know is there – and know from years of experience just exactly how far you can back up before bumping into it. Never mind. The car knows best and will pester you if it thinks you’re getting “too close.” Some will even forcefully slam on the brakes for you.
This will get worse, soon.
A federal edict will shortly go into effect – unless rescinded by President Trump – that requires all new vehicles be programmed with automatic emergency braking – a system that is already embedded in pretty much every new vehicle, in anticipation of the requirement. When fully activated – come 2029 – every new car will automatically slam on its brakes whenever it thinks you’re too close or following too closely. Expect many rear-enders to ensue. And then expect everyone’s insurance to go up (again). It will of course all be blamed on the vehicles that lack this “technology,” which will be framed as unsafe and either banned from the roads or effectively banned from the roads via the clever expedient of jacking up the cost to “cover” them such that few will be able to afford the “premiums.”
Back to the self-locking Tesla.
After it wrecked, it could not be unlocked – at least not in time. A friend of the three college students who’d been following the Cybertruck when it crashed tried to open the device’s doors, but could not. As designed, you see. For saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafey! The idea being that locked doors prevent anyone on the outside from opening the door and gaining access to the inside.
And that’s just exactly what happened.
In the pre-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety era – the doors not only didn’t lock unless you locked them (imagine that!) they also were locked mechanically rather than electrically. Even the ones that had power door locks – which had secondary mechanical levers and/or a physical knobs mounted on the top of the interior door panels you could pull up to unlock the door. It required no electrical actuation and – key point – would operate even in the event of an electrical failure, as might occur as result of wrecking the car.
These “safe” new cars with their push-button locking mechanisms don’t work when the electric-actuation doesn’t work. Some have back-up/emergency mechanical unlocks but in an emergency – as when the car is on fire and you’re desperately trying to get out – there may not be time to remember how to unlock the door that way, perhaps because you never read the manual or tried to do unlock the door this way when it wasn’t an emergency.
And just like that, it’s too late.
The friend of the three who couldn’t get out of their locked-for-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety device, Matthew Riordan, said he “pulled for a few seconds, but nothing budged at all.” Of course not. The doors were locked.
And besides, there was literally nothing to pull on. Tesla pioneered the use of flush-mounted door pulls that retract when the doors are closed, leaving a smooth surface and thus nothing to grab in order to pull. The handles are designed to automatically deploy when the driver approaches (the device detects the smaller device – the transmitter fob or sailfawn app carried in the pocket or purse of the big devices’s owner) and this is considered very sophisticated vs. a physical key – so primitive! – one must insert in a lock and turn to unlock the vehicle.
But when the electrical system that powers the deploying external door pulls is de-powered, then there is no way to open the doors from the outside unless you are able to smash open the windows and get at the back-up/emergency release, which is hard to do because Tesla’s devices have laminated door glass that is much harder to smash. Once again, for saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety! 
Several other vehicle manufacturers have copied the flush-mounted/electrically-deploying exterior door pull design and have also laminated the side glass.
There are very few – if any – late model vehicles that have pull-up buttons mounted on the tops of the interior door panels that can be used to manually and mechanically unlock the doors from the inside or outside. They were gotten rid of to make it harder to break into a locked car. And because it’s “cool” to have haptic-tap buttons to electrically lock and unlock the doors.
Unintended consequences, phone home.
. . .
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So many bad “features” being added to cars lately.
Some I think are particularly stupid and dangerous.
1. Brake and turn signal lights in rear bumpers. (easily broken, when rear ended)
2. Airplane style steering wheel. (another bad design trend from Tesla).
3. Single pedal for braking and acceleration. (leads to more slow driving and poor braking)
4. Thick pillars (harder to see out, smaller windows).
5. Lack of real buttons for common controls (too many things touchscreen).
6. High rear ends on cars. (hard to see out of, requiring back up camera).
It makes one wonder how many lawsuits there will have to be in order for manufacturers (and perhaps gov’t regs) to fix these issues. Unlike the Covid “vax” manufacturers, they don’t have immunity from such legal actions. The automatic braking “feature” totally sounds like it will be a field day for ambulance chasers….
It is unfortunate that newer cars are so full of such garbage as to make them totally undesirable. My 2016 Honda HRV was made right around the dawning of such “features”…it has the pushbutton start (which still has me suffering from the “where’s my keys” anxiety), a small touch screen for the radio and phone connection, and a back up camera, but luckily nothing else.
But I’ve gotten a taste of these miserable additions in what I like to call “the car that cried wolf”. This is one of my client’s 2019 Subaru Forrester. I have to drive her (and run errands for her) in this car, and it makes all sorts of annoying chimes and dings while being driven. I’m used to only hearing a chime in a car if there is something really pressing to be concerned about, like the gas light coming on, the engine light, the oil light, , tire sensor, etc. But those rarely ever come on because I keep an eye on such things. This Subaru dings if you get too close to the yellow line to avoid a pothole or a dead raccoon in the road. It also dings if it thinks I’m not looking right at the road…And it has that stupid ASS – first time I drove it I thought for sure we had broken down!
But the more I drive it, the more ignoring I am of those noises. And from the passenger seat I hear her mutter under her breath “aww, shut up!” Which leads me to think she also pretty much ignores them as well when she was able to drive. Gee, if the a tire sensor or engine light came on, I might not notice it for a while. Not unlike the boy who cried wolf. Eventually no one paid attention to him, as there was no wolf. But of course, when there really was a wolf, he was also ignored… and for good reason.
Lawsuits are irrelevant. Who will you sue? You can’t sue the government as a practical solution. Sue the car manufacturers? They have the perfect defense ” we didn’t want to do that but the gubbmint made us.
No, the solution is to stop buying new cars. Yes I know 95% will still do it, but there is a lot of power in that 5%. The car business is more marginal than you might think. 5% will get someone’s attention.
The regulatory agencies cannot make law anymore after the Loper-Bright decision and congress will do whatever the lobbyists pay them to do.
It’s time to say NO in a way that cannot be misinterpreted.
The automakers would have some defense for the automatic braking, but not for the door handles that cannot be opened from the outside. The latter is just a high tech gizmo that isn’t required by any government agency.
But yes, not buying cars that have any of that sort of crap can be an effective way to force change. Coca Cola didn’t get very far with their “New Coke”, and so in order to stay in business they had to quit making it and they went back to their original Coke. New cars aren’t selling well even now due to their high prices.
‘This Subaru … has that stupid ASS.’ — Lee R
My introduction to ASS was in my brother’s Subaru, driving around Austin. At every traffic light, it goes silent … then when the accelerator pedal is pressed, it starts with an annoying stumble and lurch.
At first, I thought it needed servicing. Clogged fuel injectors, maybe. Then I realized: this is a feature, not a bug. I wouldn’t tolerate that stumbling p.o.s. in my driveway for five minutes.
It reminds me of a Houston used car dealer named Art Grindle, who (dressed in a clown suit) used to jump on the roof of junkers that he was flogging for two hundred dollars, then holler ‘Take it away!‘ as he was gassed in a cloud of blue smoke.
I stopped watching TeeVee after Art Grindle went off the air.
>Houston used car dealer named Art Grindle
In SoCal, nothing could compare to Cal Worthington
“and his dog, Spot.”
It was always an exotic animal, never a dog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HJALwCNbco
Go see Cal!
Whistlindiesel was testing a CyberTruck, the frame broke on the truck, 16,000 dollars in repairs. Basically destroys the CyberTruck.
A Ford F-150 could take the brutal treatment.
The F-150 doesn’t look very good after Whistlindiesel is done with it.
Breaks all of the rules.
Don’t call me after 5 o’clock
Change my name in your phone
Pay cash for all our drinks, we don’t need those receipts
Followin’ us home – Midland, Cheatin’ By The Rules
Well that’s reason number 5,645 why I won’t ever be be buying a new car. With my newer old cars when you pull on the inside door handle the door unlocks and opens, on the antiques if you never locked the door it’s the same as the newer cars but if you locked it, just lift the knob and then open as usual. Simple.
So how come they can’t put in a visible release lever that will unlock and open the door? Of course on a Tesla you probably have to use the touchscreen so that a small actuator will release the cover on the manual lever……
Electrically retracting, electrically locked doors are not something I want in my cars. But if some people do, isnt that a market choice? For the same reason I’m absolutely without interest in recreational mind altering drugs, but absolutely opposed to laws and force used against them. And that I don’t want the seat belts I won’t use in them.
Personally I prefer no doors in clement weather. And always thought gullwing doors were cool.
It’s interesting, though, that the lying media scum are reporting on Tesla’s faults and failures now. 3 years ago Saint Elon could do no wrong, he was iron man/Tony Stark to a lot of media immersed kids. Now there’s horns starting to grow out of his head, and a distinctive tail forming.
Hi Ernie. The auto locking doors are due in part to GovCo regulations dealing with anti car jacking regulations. In my car I carry a hatchet and an entrenching tool. At least one of these can be used to break a window to help extract some one. Safety third.
Yes, there are specialized window breakers, I carry one with a seat belt cutter on it. Highly recommended.
I’ve got one of those too but I don’t think they work with laminated glass. Perhaps I’ll have test one on a windshield at a U-Pull-It auto wrecker but I doubt it would work as based on the number of cracks I’ve seen in a windshield the glass stays in place unlike a tempered glass back window that falls to pieces. Don’t forget safety glasses and gloves if you need to break laminated glass though.
Mine’s in 45acp
“Anti car jacking regulations”??
We have an 2008 F-150 now, and I absolutely abhor the auto-locking doors. Only one key hole as well. I’ve had enough of this bullshit already, and this truck doesn’t even approach the amount of technological balderdash in more recent vehicles.
They must be stopped. I’d much rather all the locks be manual than to have auto-locking doors.
I’m with ya on the auto-locking doors. My ’98 Navigator has them and while there is a key hole on every door, seldom do I have my keys in my hand when I want to open the auto-locked door/hatch. It’s a little irritating.
…But, at least it has the manual pulls inside, so if the window is down the irritation is less.
Another error, it’s a 4-door with a hatch, only a keyhole on the front doors & the hatch.
Also, can hardly stand it that the back 2 doors the windows only go 1/2 way down.
I wonder if there’s just a stop [an easy mod.] or if it’s a short track?
‘always thought gullwing doors were cool’ — Ernie
I always thought so-called suicide doors (hinged at the back, not the front) were sensible and practical. It’s easier to swing your legs into the vehicle when the opened door is behind instead of in front of you.
‘The UK State Bentley of 2002, meant for the Queen, had a wide rear-hinged passenger door, which allowed the Monarch to enter and exit with dignity.’
https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/why-are-they-called-suicide-doors
Dignity? That term provokes howls of laughter from today’s automotive engineers, as they incorporate new nanny devices such as automated emergency braking.
The so-called ‘driver’ is just a bit player in their passive-aggressive, dystopian movie.
Musk has been Phony Stark the entire time.
It’s just now (perhaps) becoming apparent to the normies – but for different reasons.
“Phony Stark” – Excellent, Flip.
It is almost like ‘safety’ is the new ‘dangerous’
All this fake and gay garbage is coming at a hefty price for us common folks.
Yeah, all this “saaafety” stuff is just going to get us all killed. But maybe that is the end goal.
“Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety” reminds me of the claim from corporate media & the elites a few years ago regarding the COVID jabs…….”Nobody is safe until everyone is safe!”, meaning that for people to be Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe, EVERYONE had to be vaxxed with an experimental pharma product.
Five people were killed in a crash on I-35 in Austin that involved 17 vehicles.
‘Edgar Viera told the KXAN television station that he was at a nearby store when he heard the crash and went to try to help those involved.
“We didn’t have the proper tools to open the vehicles, so we just did what we could,” Viera told the station. “It was hard to see this.”
https://tinyurl.com/25zehs3k
If this chain-reaction wreck had happened fifty years ago, bystanders could have used ‘the proper tools’ — THEIR FREAKING HANDS — to extricate victims.
At this point, ol’ Ralph Nader has become, with the passage of time, at least partially right: contemporary self-locking, flush-handled vehicles have become unsafe at any speed.
Thanks, NHTSA — you abject retards.
How come it is never the drunk guy that dies?
RG,
Drink up for saaaaafety?
In order to be safe we must make things unsafe.
I watched a video last year on issues involving the Cybertruck, and this story about those college students who burned to death in a crashed Cybertruck because it was on fire and the door couldn’t be unlocked is yet another reason NOT to get one. Nevertheless, I see one every now and again on the road. What is it with people who buy one or any other Tesla for that matter? Is it virtue signaling? Trying to show themselves off as cooooooooooooooool to modern American society? Showing loyalty to Musk & Trump? Being enamored of whatever the latest automotive technology is?
Or maybe people who buy a Tesla think they look cooooooooooooooool.
I think that’s the reason John, especially with the Cybertruck. I see a couple around here every now and then but rather than thinking it’s coooool my thoughts run more towards what an idiot that guy is.
I see Cybertrucks every now and again myself and, quite frankly, I find the Cybertruck to look more like a futuristic looking garbage can than a truck.
My thoughts exactly! There’s one I see around where I live on occasion, and I refer to it as a “dumpster-mobile”.
The coolest BBQ in town!
‘[vehicles] had secondary mechanical levers and/or a physical knobs to unlock the door.’ — eric
An FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) would disclose that a visible and easily-accessed physical backup to unlock doors remains necessary in a wide range of emergencies. Why do you think passenger aircraft doors have those big interior levers? DUHHH!
Apparently today’s auto saaaaaaafety regulators don’t even do or require such analyses. They are patently incompetent … and in this Cybertruck incident, plausibly could be charged with negligent manslaughter.
Both of my late-Nineties ‘golden era’ vehicles have keys and physical unlock buttons on the inside door panels. Purblind regulators will peel these apotheoses of auto design from my cold, dead hands.
‘Open the pod bay doors, HAL!’
‘I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave. You’ve selected auto-da-fé mode.’
Best take ever on the auto da fey…
https://youtu.be/LnF1OtP2Svk?si=Ci6ZrUPTXhNPvsmL
“Cool” is far more important than any concerns about someone breaking into the car.
Patents are another driver of “progress”, but I’ve beat that expired equine to death here.
I remember how Mercedes Benz and Volvo resisted having flush door handles for safety reasons, would you believe. They were something to pull on to get out in an emergency, weren’t dependent on electricity, and were strong enough to be used as anchor points to pull a door off via come-along.