Nhtsa Considers New Car Door Safety Rules After Fatal Tesla Crashes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering caller car-door information rules aft reports that group were incapable to flight burning Teslas, but immoderate changes could beryllium years distant from taking effect.

On July 24, NHTSA denied a citizen’s request, revenge successful November, that nan agency initiate a information defect investigation into 2022 Tesla Model 3s. The petition alleged that nan cars’ manual emergency doorway releases, intended to activity erstwhile nan electronic controls fail, were not readily accessible aliases identifiable.

The petitioner said their Model 3’s physics door-opening controls grounded aft nan car had a head-on collision and caught fire. They were besides incapable to find nan manual merchandise and was forced to climb done nan backmost spot and exit done a rear rider window.

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Tesla occupants usually property an physics fastener to unfastened nan beforehand doorway from inside. If nan conveyance loses power, a abstracted mechanical lever beside nan model controls provides a backup—but its creation and location whitethorn beryllium unfamiliar to passengers.

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A December 2025 Bloomberg investigation identified astatine slightest 15 group who died successful crashes successful which Tesla doors could not open.

In its decision, NHTSA said nan rumor would beryllium amended addressed done a broader rulemaking process than done a defect investigation. Current national rules govern doorway locks, latches and hinges, but do not specify wherever an emergency mechanical merchandise must beryllium located aliases really intelligibly it must beryllium labeled. The agency is now considering a caller norm mandating a “robust and evident doorway egress system” successful each cars.

“NHTSA does not judge that nan issues presented by nan Petitioner bespeak nan likelihood of a safety-related defect that would warrant a defect investigation, and nan rumor is champion addressed done nan rulemaking process,” it wrote.

The process began pinch a abstracted petition from a California resident who called connected nan agency to require each cars to person afloat operable manual releases that are “intuitively obvious” to occupants and activity moreover erstwhile nan car’s electrical strategy has wholly failed.

NHTSA has granted nan rulemaking petition, but that is “not a determination by NHTSA to rumor a caller information standard, but commences nan process of gathering input to make an informed decision,” an NHTSA spokesperson said successful a statement. The agency said it will stitchery further accusation and solicit nationalist comments earlier deciding whether a caller modular is warranted.

The petition called for immoderate caller norm to use to each cars sold connected aliases aft January 1, 2030, but it’s not clear erstwhile NHTSA could decorativeness its rulemaking process. Hitting that day would beryllium unlikely, says Peter Kurdock, wide counsel for Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety.

“It is not presently portion of nan 2026 regulatory agenda, truthful we person nary target day aliases explanation of precisely what this rulemaking would entail,” he says, noting that different vehicle-safety rulemakings person taken up to 15 years. NHTSA could move faster connected doorway safety, but “this is really nan first measurement successful what very apt will beryllium a very agelong journey,” he says.

Congress could unit nan process to move faster. In May, nan House Committee connected Energy and Commerce precocious a measure that would require NHTSA to rumor a norm mandating readily accessible mechanical interior doorway releases successful cars equipped pinch physics latches. The authorities has not passed either enclosure of Congress.

A Tesla spokesperson did not instantly respond to requests for comment.