Tesla's door handles push US regulators toward new rules

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the US auto-safety regulator, is opening a rule-making process on how drivers and passengers can safely exit vehicles, according to a regulatory filing first reported by Bloomberg. The move follows a series of incidents, including fatal ones, in which people have become trapped inside cars fitted with flush, electronically operated door handles like those on Tesla vehicles. NHTSA said the underlying petition sought a system to address the risk of occupant entrapment specifically during electrical power failures.

NHTSA’s announcement responds to a petition asking the agency to open a safety defect investigation into the emergency mechanical door release on 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles, which the petitioners argued does not comply with federal motor vehicle standards. NHTSA denied that specific request, saying the issue is better addressed through rule-making than a defect investigation.

If the agency ultimately adopts new rules, every automaker would have to follow them. But NHTSA cautioned that granting the rule-making petition is not the same as committing to a new rule: the agency said it will gather additional data and public comment before deciding whether a new safety standard under the Vehicle Safety Act is warranted.

The decision comes less than a year after NHTSA opened an investigation into Tesla’s door handles, prompted by nine reports from owners who were unable to get into their cars, sometimes with children still inside. That probe followed Bloomberg’s own reporting on a series of incidents in which Tesla drivers and passengers became trapped inside their vehicles after a crash.

Tesla vehicles have manual door releases, but they sit only inside the car. In an initial review, NHTSA investigators found the handles may fail to work if the electronic door locks don’t receive enough voltage from the vehicle’s battery system.

Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen said last year that the company was working on a redesign of its door handles. Rivian said last year that it was changing the interior door handle design on its R2 SUV, moving the manual release to a more visible spot closer to the electrically powered handle.

Why it matters

If NHTSA follows through, the new requirement would apply to every automaker, not just Tesla — turning a company-specific controversy over door design into an industry-wide safety standard.