An investigation of Bloomberg revealed that the retractable car handles Tesla they were responsible for the deaths of 15 people after accidents considered non-fatal.
In the report, Bloomberg said it analyzed data on fire accidents in the United States since 2012 to estimate how many deaths involved doors that didn’t open.
Data from 2012 to 2023 was provided to the media by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), while Bloomberg carried out an independent analysis of data for 2024 and 2025.
Second Bloombergthe process included reviewing thousands of pages of police, fire and autopsy reports. When possible, the media outlet also examined photographs, audio recordings of emergency calls and images from police bodycams.
While Tesla is not the only car manufacturer to have adopted retractable handles, it is certainly the one that records the highest number of complaints of this type from customers.
The investigation of Bloomberg identified a dozen incidents in which occupants or rescuers failed to open model doors Tesla who had suffered an accident and caught fire.
While stressing that the 15 deaths represent only a small fraction of the hundreds of fatal accidents involving electric vehicles over the past decade, Bloomberg highlights that the list of deaths linked to electric handles is growing.
According to the analysis of Bloombergmore than half of the deaths occurred since November 2024, indicating a worsening trend.
The outlet also pointed out that there are no comprehensive, publicly available statistics from state or federal agencies tracking the number of people trapped by car doors that won’t open. This is attributed to the difficulty of establishing precisely what happens in the moments immediately following an accident.
After the fatal accidents involving car doors Teslathe NHTSA began an investigation into retractable vehicle handles on September 15 of this year Model Y.
+ Ukrainian drone hits Russian Navy Il-38N at Yeysk airport, SBU says
Electric car handles Tesla they are powered by a 12 volt battery. However, in the event of a collision in which the battery is discharged or disabled, the system becomes virtually useless.
Although vehicles are equipped with manual unlocking mechanisms for the front doors, these have no obvious indications and can only be identified by consulting the owner’s manual.
It is important to underline that, according to Bloombergthe 3 and Y models do not have the same unlocking mechanism for the rear doors. In some Tesla Equipped with manual emergency systems in the rear seats, the release devices can be located under the carpets, behind the speaker grills or under plastic parts, making them difficult to locate, especially in an emergency situation.
To address the problem, Tesla published an article on its website explaining that cars will receive a system that can automatically open the doors after an accident. However, the company did not specify which models will receive the security update.
Photo: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
