NHTSA launches investigation into Tesla Model 3 emergency door handles
US safety regulators have launched an investigation into some Tesla Model 3 cars over the vehicle’s door handles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a Dec. 23 online document that it received a complaint from a Tesla owner asking it to investigate the vehicle’s emergency door handles, with the motorist saying “the mechanical door release is hidden, unlabeled, and not intuitive to locate in an emergency.”
The driver claimed he was forced to escape through the vehicle’s rear window after the 2022 Model 3 caught fire, according to his account on a local Atlanta television news show.
The survey covers approximately 179,000 Model 3 cars from the 2022 model year, according to the NHTSA filing.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time the Model 3 has come under scrutiny. In 2023, a couple crashed in Tacoma, Washington, after a design flaw in the Model 3 they were driving caused it to accelerate uncontrollably. Another problem with the door handle prevented bystanders from helping save the couple, according to court filings. The crash killed the woman, Wendy Dennis, while leaving her husband, Jeff Dennis, seriously injured.
Other reports have also surfaced describing incidents in which people became trapped in a burning Tesla vehicle following an accident that allegedly disabled the power doors, while the occupants were unable to find a manual release.
Bloomberg reported this week that there have been “at least” 15 deaths over the past decade in which motorists or rescuers were unable to open the doors of a Tesla that had crashed and caught fire.
