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Numerous Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power.
(www.businessinsider.in)
this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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This is how the BMW a friend owns works, and it's not an EV. The unlock button in the driver's seat just stops working if the car is off.
How do I know this? I decided to stay in the car while my friend went to go get something, and it auto-locked as he walked away. After about 5 minutes of trying everything I could think of to get out (including attempting to climb into the boot, which was too small for anything except a malnourished child to fit through), he came back and unlocked it.
There is no manual way to unlock the door from the inside. I checked the driver's manual. It says it's impossible to do without "special knowledge" and does not provide any pointers on how to do so. The friend asked a guy at the BMW place after a service how to unlock it from the inside, and he said "oh, yeah, there's no way to do that," and laughed it off.
Previous BMW models weren't designed like this. I can't imagine what they'll do to the next generation...
Teslas have manual door releases on the front doors though.
Im surprised thats not a NHTSA mandate. Its a safety thing. Like why you have to have a windsheild and mirrors on a car. Even if you can remove the windshield (ie: Jeep Wranglers) if you are caught on the road with it down, you are gonna get a ticket.
Isn't there a way to submit that idea to the NHTSA?
I believe you can write them. Based on this, it does appear to mandate that you have to have a release on the inside. bUT it doesn’t say it has to be manual and it doesn’t necessarily say it has to be operable at all times.
That said, at the least, it would seem BMW would be in violation of the spirit of the law at least, and probably the letter too.
Teslas less so since they have an manual override but it being hidden and not well labeled is it’s own issue.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/08-000497-16-jan-09-rewrite
Motorcycles arent cars and arent treated as such. But anyone thats driven one knows how shitty it is to drive one with no protection on your face. Even a juicy bug at 70 mph doesnt feel awesome.
The same ones that also say you cant drive with a cracked windshield.
Windshield regulations are also done at the state level.
I’m not really interested in getting into a giant pedantic argument about the specific crack conditions you can and can’t drive with. It’s not really even the point nor is it what I stated (and let’s be serious you know what was meant). And if it makes you sleep better, whatever, you win. Your a DOT genius.
As to the windshield question. I have gotten multiple tickets for it, in my younger years when I would muck around in my shitty jeep wrangler. But im not really that invested to go digging through all the intracacies of DOT, nhtsa and state laws on the matter. Because I don’t really care.
Have a good day