They survived a Cybertruck crash. An inferno led to a race against time.

Paywall free (for those who need it): https://archive.is/O27pU

Huge report from Bloomberg on the issue [https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-tesla-dangerous-doors/](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-tesla-dangerous-doors/)

Yeesh, and... why aren't these death traps illegal?!

From the article, a brilliantly accurate quote: "It is more obvious how to get out of a trunk than it is the back seat of a Tesla after a crash"

They are in most civilised countries.

“Tesla’s vehicles have historically earned top marks on crash safety tests, and Cybertrucks built after April were named a 2025 Top Safety Pick Plus, the highest designation awarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.” Whoever made that decision at this institute should have to explain why they give this designation to a product that can so easily trap people and kill them in one of the worst, gruesome ways.

They don’t test for door handles. Whoever designed the crash safety test simply couldn’t fathom any company would be so stupid as to replace door handles with electronic push buttons.

Thanks, I posted a gift link. Didn‘t it work?

Didn't work for me.

We can hope that in a near future it will be mandatory to have doors that can be open easily in the event of a crash to achieve a 5 star rating. It just took decades and one stupid manufactor to come to this point..

I came here ready to paste this: >“It is more obvious how to get out of a trunk than it is the back seat of a Tesla after a crash,” he said, noting that U.S. automotive [regulations](https://archive.ph/o/XNUnZ/https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/10/20/00-27038/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-interior-trunk-release?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template) [require](https://archive.ph/o/XNUnZ/https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-571/subpart-B/section-571.401?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template) trunks to feature a lit release latch or similar system. Teslas [feature](https://archive.ph/o/XNUnZ/https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-3667D28B-5B3B-49CE-A1C1-3D70AC60D9F6.html?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template) an illuminated mechanical trunk release. How is it that, in the U.S., there is a regulation to make sure you can get out of the Trunk if you get trapped in there, but not one with respect to getting out of the main body of the vehicle? Cybertrucks are banned in Europe for a number of reasons, all regulations that are missing the U.S. e.g. with respect to pedestrian safety, we ban sharp corners and require crumple zones. No regs for these things, but one in place to make sure you can get out of the trunk? Make it make sense!

Same day this is published, TSLA has a new [ATH](https://robinhood.com/us/en/stocks/TSLA/) \- briefly touched $498.82 earlier. Is Tesla a death cult?

We can hope. But *a lot* of the industry holds Tesla stock and they won’t enforce safety until the stock starts collapsing.

thank you

I have no idea how to escape from the back seats of a Model X either. The safety latches are hidden somewhere, I guess.

The mechanical latch in the door to open it has no markings and that's why most don't know it exists. I had a personal tour of my car by Tesla and tell everyone who gets in how to open it in case of an emergency.

So when the want to remotely take care of problems

How about you google it? So you know, so you don't end up being a bait article like this in the future

It‘s not bait. It shines light on a dangerous design flaw that was chosen because Elon thaught that physical latches or door openers are uncool. And I googled it before and there is zero chance that I will remember this in a case of emergency. It‘s a hidden pulley under the speaker cover, that you have to remove first. You won’t test this because of the fear to damage it. have no clue how this mechanism could have been greenlit in any country. And btw. I also know some Tesla 3 drivers that were unaware how to manually open their front doors too, despite it being much more obvious. Simply because it‘s a unique design.

Can't believe it

so you are telling me, I need to google before I enter a Tesla as a passenger, because exiting in an emergency require some sort of supreme knowledge?

Just jump into front seats and pull the very obvouis emergency lever, that literally everyone automatically pulls without knowing there's a button CLEARLY PRINTED on the door handle.

Right? I often wonder what propels this stock upward. Is it just inertia from the early days, and stockholders just haven’t noticed yet that the business fundamentals no longer support an upward trajectory? Is it a Wile E. Coyote situation? How big of a crater will this make when they eventually look down and find nothing supporting this kind of valuation?

I don’t think people believe me when I say that the regulatory framework in the US is predicated on any consumer product manufacturer being a good actor that respects risk.  As someone said elsewhere today - door handles aren’t covered by FMVSS because it seemed so glaringly obvious that they didn’t think it was necessary.

It did for me, at least to read the article once.

>Just jump into front seats  Just sit back and ponder how silly that sounds. Seriously. Branch Elonians act like its a "big ask" to have door handles. SMH.

>product manufacturer being a good actor that respects risk I've always said that one of Tesla's biggest "moats" is its ability to take on risk. Everything from door handles to battery chemistry to door handles to untrained "FSD Testers" are things other companies just would not do - primarily IMHO due to lawsuit exposure (if morality doesn't rate high enough).

It is a death trap. And the worst thing is, they seem to completely die after a crash. No backup system, no nothing. Even the small scooter battery in a Prius will keep basic system alive for a while. Add “bulletproof” reinforced glass. Perfect. Now it is set to “self clean”

>Just jump into front seats Ah yes, I'll remember that next time I'm in a serious car accident, potentially already seriously injured (and thus likely to have trouble clambering into the front) and about to burn to death.

It's not just the issue from the inside either. I have in the past had to pull somebody out of a wreck. Thankfully the door still worked, and thankfully it was opened by *a handle* rather than a button.