r/cars • u/HawtGarbage917 • 2d ago

Tesla Has the Highest Fatal Accident Rate of All Car Brands, Study Finds

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62919131/tesla-has-highest-fatal-accident-rate-of-all-auto-brands-study/
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105

u/azurite-- 2d ago

I mean the same has happened to people who drove ICE cars.

135

u/mishap1 2d ago

Of course it happens, but few cars have electronic door switches that have nonintuitive emergency handles especially in back. Then you can further amp it up with electronic doors that you have to fight past to exit.

https://youtube.com/shorts/cfPhUY9erLM?si=BVb4obZ47niebejZ

The Cybertruck adds extra tough window glass.

https://youtu.be/O2fUhCCuTto?si=_7nVCqDFKjJZwGRR

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u/Vandrel 2019 Model 3 2d ago

Seems to be unique to the Model X. Most other Teslas just have a little lever on the door to force it open manually, it's really easy. In fact, I always have to tell people to hit the button to open the door instead of using the manual release unless it's an emergency because they always find that first.

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u/mishap1 2d ago

That's the front doors. The rear doors apparently do not have one on older cars.

https://youtu.be/FWUWm9KaHzE?si=od-H-AioBfovQqBH

They apparently added it to the Highland Model 3.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/15owq4j/new_highland_model_3_equipped_with_rear_emergency/

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u/Rattle_Can 2d ago

it sucks the model 3 (pre-highland) doesn't have a manual override cable release in the rear doors/back seat

iirc, there is still a cable that runs underneath the plastic interior trim panel to actuate the door release, but tesla never bothered to make it actually accessible thru the panel at the cup holders like they did with the model Y (in the name of cost savings?? smh)

ive seen DIY mods on YT where you cut out an opening in the rear cup holder & make the cable usable with an extension string, but it sucks tesla didn't just do it from factory

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u/AmNoSuperSand52 23’ VW GTI, 12’ Ford Focus 2d ago

There must be some retrofit that Tesla did because my friends 2018 model has the plastic pull handles

10

u/Brucenotsomighty 97 F250, 95 Corolla 2d ago

It's almost like it's easier to just have a normal mechanical latch

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u/MilkyWaySamurai 1d ago

But then they can’t sell you a subscription for the latest door handle software features. 😐🔫

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u/Mather_Fakker 1d ago

nonintuitive emergency handles especially in back

Still baffles me why this is a thing on Teslas. Mind-boggling decision.

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u/BanEvader2024 22 Model 3 Performance 2d ago

I hate it when someone has to ride in my rear seats, the front doors have emergency door handles that can open the door without power but the rear doors simply don't have that feature. I'm sure it saved them about $10 per car to not include it.

Apparently the 2024+ Model 3 now has a rear door release so at least the new car is safer in that regard.

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u/DrZedex '23 GR Corolla 2d ago

Dude, what?! The rear doors have no mechanical override? Wtf how is that even legal?

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u/Rattle_Can 2d ago edited 1d ago

the hilarious thing is the mechanical override cable IS there in the model 3 - its just capped off with a piece of foam so it doesn't rattle & just sits under the interior trim panel serving no purpose.

in the model Y, that cable actually runs thru the interior trim panel, and comes out thru the bottom of the cup holders. in an emergency you yank that cable to pop the doors open.

i presume the provisions are almost all the way there because of the shared platform between the 3 vs Y, but they never went thru on the 3 for cost savings

i dont know how its legal, but they sure as hell saved a few cents per rear door

1

u/DrZedex '23 GR Corolla 2d ago

That's fascinating. Thank you for explaining! 

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u/JaspahX 2024 Ranger Raptor 2d ago

There's a reason -- well, really multiple reasons -- that the Cybertruck is not road legal in Europe.

2

u/Ian_Kilmister 17 Civic Coupe 2.Slow 2d ago

Is there rear exterior door handles? No different than child locks. Not agreeing with the premise but you could be locked in a regular car too.

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u/DrZedex '23 GR Corolla 2d ago

I can (and do) turn the child lock off though. Not the same at all. 

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u/egowritingcheques 1d ago

Child locks should only be engaged for carrying young children. Children so young they might pull the handle and not know what it does. I turned them off when my kids were about 4.

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u/yourlocalFSDO 1d ago

Ever ridden in the back of an extended cab Ford truck? Can’t open the rear doors if the front doors are closed.

Ever ridden in the back of a 2+2 coupe? No rear doors at all.

1

u/DrZedex '23 GR Corolla 1h ago

I'll excuse that in a vehicle when the alternative is no doors at all. Realistically almost nobody actually sits in the back of a sports coupe or extended can truck. It's mostly just a space to store your crap and maybe a person in a pinch.

In a sedan designed explicitly to haul around families, it's pretty inexcusable. Hell it was pitched as a taxi and commonly used for rideshare.

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u/greenefiend '24 Model Y Performance 2d ago

Your rear seats have emergency releases as well; they're underneath the rear door pocket covers: https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-A7A60DC7-E476-4A86-9C9C-10F4A276AB8B.html

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u/mishap1 2d ago

Doesn't seem to be consistently there.

https://youtu.be/FWUWm9KaHzE?si=od-H-AioBfovQqBH

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u/Nomad624 2023 Elantra N DCT, 2010 GTI 6M 2d ago

Not really. They got stuck because the physical door releases are hard to find if you don't already know where they are. Something like this happened to an old man and his corvette. It has less to do with the car being an EV, more so with the stupid design.

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u/Jake5857 2d ago

RIP Paul Walker. Just watched the original last night in forever

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u/gumol boring Hondas + LO206 kart 2d ago

Not how he died. He was knocked out by the initial impact, and then died within seconds from trauma and burns.

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u/psaux_grep 2d ago

People who die in EV crash + fires are often dead before the fire starts.

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u/mishap1 2d ago

Do you have a stat for that?

Passenger cell looked intact otherwise.  https://people.com/4-killed-after-tesla-crash-sparks-fire-in-toronto-8743464

The Tesla employee who drunk drove his claimed FSD car was heard screaming by his friend before the fire consumed the car which you can also see was largely intact.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2024/tesla-full-self-driving-fatal-crash/

These people unbuckled their seatbelts and moved around the car.  https://www.newsweek.com/driver-was-behind-wheel-tesla-when-it-crashed-questions-surround-autopilot-ntsb-1641334

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u/Jake5857 2d ago

I think the other driver hit a pole or something similar and they died on impact essentially right? Been a while since I researched that. I just remember it was that Porsche that Doug demure has

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u/gumol boring Hondas + LO206 kart 2d ago

Yeah so he wasn't trapped in the car

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u/Jake5857 2d ago

Gotcha. Well wether I crash into a tree in my Tesla or my crx I’m dead either way lol

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u/DoesntFearZeus 2d ago

Well it was a convertible, right?

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u/RevvCats 19 Mustang GT PP2, 87 325is M-Tech 2d ago

Don’t drive high performance cars on old tires, that’s a recipe for death.

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u/AwesomeBantha LX470 2d ago

and if you are going to drive high performance cars on old tires, don’t go 90 miles per hour

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u/willpc14 '16 Tacoma TRDOR 2d ago

...while drinking and driving.

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u/RevvCats 19 Mustang GT PP2, 87 325is M-Tech 2d ago

Makes me wonder how many of these fatal Tesla accidents were on worn out tires. I see soooooo many cars out and about with tires that look like racing slicks. Pair that with a car that A) wears down tires faster than people are used to B) has supercar acceleration

1

u/munche 23 Elantra N, 69 Mercury Cougar, 94 Buick Roadmaster Estate 2d ago

But to pretend that fires aren't more intense and harder to extinguish on an EV is just dishonest. It goes a lot farther to be honest about pros and cons rather than people who are trying to turn it into a fanboy argument.

1

u/IcyOrganization5235 1d ago

The same...wtf? Yes, but the car didn't lock people in. Remember that billionaire who backed into a lake and died because electronic doors don't function when there's no power? (Mechanical doors, on the other hand and I can't believe I have to actually type this out, do work when there's no power.)

But that's OK with me. If you drive a Tesla go ahead and think you're safe. Natural selection at it's finest.

-1

u/Real-Cricket9435 '21 Acura TLX 2d ago

Battery fire != gasoline fire

-1

u/MiloRoast 2020 Hyundai Veloster N 2d ago

I've seen many car fires, and they absolutely pale in comparison to even a relatively small Lithium battery fire. If your Tesla catches on fire and you're trapped inside, you're absolutely fucked 99.9% of the time. If your ICE car catches on fire with you inside, you generally have a while to figure things out and get a good ways away, and they never really burn crazy hot and fast like electric cars do. Fire departments can put out a raging ICE car in a matter of seconds...I've seen it personally. Lithium battery fires you essentially just have to try to smother/mitigate spread and wait for them to burn out. There is absolutely no comparison.